San Antonio Beer Magazine

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2 019 // I S SU E 9

TABLE OF CONTENTS

06

12

22

LETTER from the EDITOR

THREE TIERS for DISTRO

A SOUR CONVERSATION

46

72

86

A WEST TEXAS LOVE LETTER

DIA DE LA MUERTA XI

DIRECTORY of BREWERIES

Harrison Civick Founder/Creative Director

CONTRIBUTORS Harrison Civick

JoMando Cruz Editor in Chief/Photographer

JoMando Cruz Lance Higdon

Alexandria Rutledge Designer

Nathan Martinez

CON TAC T US S A B E E R M AG

S A B E E R M AG

I N F O @ S A B E E R M AG . C OM

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S A B E E R M AG

S A B E E R M AG . C OM

freetailbrewing.com

.LACOL A

HANG WITH A LOCAL. SAN ANTONIO, TX

San Antonio’s

Original Area Code

Pecan Porter Find it at drink512.com

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2 019 // I S SU E 9

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR “A thing long expected takes the shape of the unexpected when at last it comes.”

—Mark Twain The gap between Issue 8 and our latest Issue 9 is the longest period we’ve gone in between print publications. But that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy. In this period, and after two years exclusively as a print publication, we have developed and devoted a full year to our website and blog. We’ve increased our presence at events and even had the privilege of officially covering several of them.

To wit: We started in 2016 as a quarterly, 32-page zine. We evolved in 2017 into a quarterly, 52-page magazine. We expanded in 2018 by adding our website and blog. Now it’s 2019 and we are evolving into a biannual, 100-page magazine. And we are really excited about it. Having 100 pages to work with gives us the larger creative space that we’ve been craving.

We have proven to be quite adaptable going into our fourth year, and it has helped us navigate this issue’s many evolutions. We’ve abandoned entire story ideas, modified features to fit unexpected circumstances, and we have traveled far and wide (expanding our coverage in the process).

We’re really proud of Issue 9 and hope that you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed creating it. And stay tuned for Issue 10 (or should we say Issue X?). We’ll be fulfilling another couple of longstanding goals with that issue. But that’s a story for another day… ¡Salud!

JoMando Cruz, Editor in Chief/Photographer SA Beer Magazine

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T H R E E T I E R S for DI S T RO

THREE TIERS for DISTRO Words: Lance Higdon Photos: JoMando Cruz

Since 2015, Hops and Vines Distributing has been a sterling example of distributors doing right. Repping both local darlings and independent breweries from around the state, this San Antonio distributor marries the nuts and bolts of delivery to an evangelical commitment to craft.

“I don’t want to be a brand collector,” CEO and co-founder Tristan Maldonado said in an interview with SA Beer Magazine. “It does not excite me to have 500 brands in my portfolio. What does excite me is to have unbelievable breweries in my portfolio that can do what maybe 500 could do.” But why is this mindset important?

The distributor’s job is obvious: to pack up our most beloved beverages and make sure they make it to the friendly neighborhood bar/bottle shop/grocery, cold and fresh. How those brewskis get to market, though, is not so simple; rather, it’s a complex route that traverses redtape roadblocks and shifting intersections of culture and commerce.

Luckily for us, dedicated craft advocates and a few independentminded distributors (precisely like Hops and Vines Distributing) are working hard to make that path straight.

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T H R E E T I E R S for DI S T RO cont .

Texas’ beer laws are complicated, but its regulatory structure is not.

Known as the “three-tier system,” it divides the industry into those who brew (producers), those who move (distributors), and those who sell beer to the public (retailers). Legislated after the repeal of Prohibition, the system aimed to thwart the return of ill-reputed “tied houses,” saloons or taverns which enjoyed direct relationships with particular producers (and whose 1920s stepchild, the speakeasy, attracted the muscled embrace of the Mafia). Think of it as the separation of powers for suds.

There are definite advantages to working with the middle tier. Once a brewery hits a certain degree of production or geographic market footprint, it makes sense to partner with a distributor to do the legwork; if you’re managing a beer section or bar menu, consolidated deliveries are preferable to a daylong stream of brewery vans.

The problems arise when legislation fails to keep up with the times— or, much worse, tilts the field in one tier’s favor. It’s a particular problem in Texas, when distributors can legally acquire and sell a brewery’s territorial distribution rights without a cent of compensation to the producer, or secure a contract for beer that never even leaves the brewhouse. To many members of the craft beer community, the most menacing racket isn’t the Mafia—it’s the distributors’ lobby that often favors big beer.

Thanks to the efforts of some dedicated industry activists, craft beer has won back some control over self-distribution, direct sales, and licensing permissions. These changes have been a boon to independent producers, but the fight to free the taps continues. Just because the law lets distributors do this doesn’t mean that they do.

However, this is where Hops and Vines’ mindset toward their carefully curated portfolio supports the craft beer producers. “I want this to be symbiotic,” he continued. “I’m going to work my tail off, and our company is going to work its tail off, because we know that directly impacts [the brewery]—and our expectation is that you will work your tail off to provide us the best product. It’s the way I think distribution was created to begin with.”

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OAK HIGHLANDS BREWERY

Oak Highlands Brewery is excited to bring our award-winning beers to the San Antonio area.

Go to ohbrewery.com to see where you can find OHB on draft and in cans near you!

A SOUR CONVERSATION Words and photos: JoMando Cruz

A SOUR CONVERSATION

Among the many things we intend our magazine to do is educate—even when we aren’t the best teachers. This is why we consult the experts. In an effort to better understand so-called sour beer, we decided to collaborate with two breweries producing exceptional beers with two different approaches. Thank you to Jeffrey Stuffings from Jester King Brewery and Jeff Young from Blue Owl Brewing Co. for their time, generosity, and thoughtful answers to the questions Harrison Civick and Nathan Martinez posed. And a very special thank you for allowing us to explore and photograph your respective breweries. The following conversation is only edited for brevity.

S A B M : What are the main differences between wild inoculation and

forced inoculation?

J S : A truly wild beer in my opinion would be one that’s spontaneously fermented without the introduction of any cultured yeast or bacteria. However, I believe a mixed fermentation beer (one fermented with a host of different cultures of yeast or bacteria) could fairly be considered a wild beer. I suppose “forced inoculation” is just a harsh way of saying “pitching yeast.”

J Y : I’ve never heard the term “forced inoculation!” Sounds illegal.

I think this idea is better framed by asking what the differences are between pure cultures and unknown cultures.

S A B M : Jeff, would you mind explaining the process of sour mashing

for our readers?

J Y : We use naturally occurring bacteria found on malted grain to

acidify our wort before going through fermentation. We control the level of acidity per the style of beer we brew. Our sour beers reflect all the characteristics of their original style, but integrate acidity into the beer as one of the many balanced flavors.

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A SOUR CONVERSATION cont.

S A B M : Is it possible to completely mimic a wild sour with a forced

sour mash?

J S : No. J Y : I know what you’re really trying to ask here, but I think it’s not really the narrative anymore. Sour mashes (at least the way that Blue Owl does them) use the naturally occurring bacteria (and all microflora) from grain. So it’s not forced in the way you’re referring to it, but it is an unknown culture. That process of sour-mashing (or wort-souring in general) focuses on lactobacillus as the souring component, but other things thrive in small amounts. So yes, technically a sour-mash beer is a wild sour.

S A B M : Jeff, obviously all brewing is a science, but what type of

educational background led you to such an intricate and specific way of brewing beer at Blue Owl? J Y : I’ve always been in to science. In college I studied electrical

engineering, chemistry, and math. After school, I was an industrial chemist and then a pharmaceutical chemist. All these things made me thirst for more knowledge about beer and brewing. At my first brewery, Black Star Co-op, I started dabbling in sour beers—both pre-fermentation and barrel aging. I found that in an industry where so much has already been done or is known, there’s a small niche where very little was known and very little was experimented with.

Other than simple berliner weisses and goses, wort-souring wasn’t done on any of the many other beer styles in the world! That means perhaps we’re one of the first to make a sour Czech pilsner or a sour wee heavy, and that’s exciting to us.

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A L A MO BE E R C OM PA N Y cont.

A SOUR CONVERSATION cont.

S A B M : Outside of making some really fantastic beer, Jester King

has also been expanding and getting its hands dirty, agriculturally speaking. Was this a long time coming and important to embracing the philosophy of your beers representing a specific place and time?

J S : First of all, thanks! It was a long time coming. Owning the land to farm took years and years. We strive for more authenticity in what we do, and growing our own ingredients and starting a farm is certainly part of this.

S A B M : Jester King’s collaborations are always really interesting.

What would you say is the most difficult part of brewing with foraged ingredients beyond those you’ve already used before?

J S : I would say the most difficult part of brewing with foraged ingredients would be creating balance. It’s easy to overdo it. A beer, no matter what the style, needs to be balanced and drinkable. Also, keeping foraged beers from having too much of a “green” flavor from the plant material is a challenge. Drying and creating tinctures tends to work best for us.

S A B M : With such a wide variety of sour styles, are we seeing the

term “sour beer” used too broadly?

J Y : It is used very broadly, but so are terms like “ale” or “hoppy.”

I think it’s adequate for right now and no one has come up with anything better. There are starting to be more and more subcategories of “sour” as the styles develop and mature. I think it’s too soon to get caught up too much in terms.

J S : In this context, I’d say no. I think any beer with perceived acidity could be fairly referred to as a sour beer. I do think in general that the term “sour beer” is one that’s too broad or not particularly helpful. A beer can have perceived acidity, but that in my mind doesn’t make it a “sour beer” any more than a wine with medium-tohigh acidity would be referred to as a “sour wine.”

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A SOUR CONVERSATION cont.

S A B M : What is the best way to describe the range and variety of

sour styles? We have pale ales, IPAs, and imperial IPAs that describe hoppiness levels (to put it simply) with their name, so is there a way to describe the sour scale?

J Y : Kind of, and kind of not. The real question here is “how do

you communicate the expectations that the drinker should have?”

Whether an IPA is 45 IBUs or 50 IBUs is generally not differentiable to a beer drinker. And that’s just talking about bitterness, not hoppiness. The brewer tries to set expectations like “really hoppy” and then the drinker largely bases their thoughts on the brew by comparing it to their expectations going in. An IPA that isn’t as hoppy as someone was expecting could get a negative review, but that same beer could be the best pale ale in the world!

So with sourness, we can fairly accurately measure the concentration of various acidic compounds in a beer, but what does that really tell you? Well, something, sure, but not everything. There’s perceived sourness, expectations, and frankly, what you had for breakfast, that will make your experience a reality. At Blue Owl, we use a measurement of lactic acid in the beer to give the drinker an idea of what they might expect from this beer as far as sourness and balance.

We created “Sour Units” that are % lactic acid x 100. For example, a sour beer that has 0.50% lactic acid in it would be called 50 SUs. If that same beer had 1.0% lactic acid (or 100 SUs), you better believe that the drinker could tell a difference.

J S : I think using history as a guidepost is a good way to go.

Everything we do is rooted or derived from some tradition. For instance, you have Flanders styles, lambic styles, Berliner styles, etc.

I’m not all that crazy about a sourness scale since, once again, I see sourness or acidity as a component part of a flavor profile, rather than what’s dominant. Sour just for the sake of sour isn’t all that interesting or appealing in my opinion.

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S A B M : Has Blue Owl attempted any recipes or beer styles that didn’t

work? Or any that surprisingly did?

J Y : We haven’t found a style yet that we couldn’t turn into a sour-

mashed beer. And we really try! With every style we’ve brewed, there’s been some part that we just didn’t know how to make work together. For example, Professor Black, our sour cherry stout, was one of the first beers to be released and it was basically a happy surprise that the high levels of sourness somehow worked with the bitterness and roastiness of a stout. From there, we’ve even tried going to the opposite extreme to combine tartness with the subtle, drinkable elegance of a traditional Czech-style pilsner. We were worried that the sourness would overwhelm the beer or make it unrecognizable as a Czech pilsner. But it worked!

If there’s anything that’s been hard to “make work,” it’s having high acidity in a beer with high bitterness—like an IPA. Instead of needing to balance sweetness with bitterness, we now have to balance sweetness, bitterness, and sourness. We have found that there are tertiary ratios that help us keep the body/sweetness of the beer (as final gravity) to make sure the bitterness and sourness plays nicely. For instance, we brewed a beer that was almost 1% lactic acid (100 SUs, or pretty damn sour).

That’s very high on both accounts, but with a firm malty backbone and juicy/fruity hops, Can’t Quit You Sour NEIPA came out amazing!

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A SOUR CONVERSATION cont.

S A B M : Is there a more approachable way to describe a beer as

sour or funky? We remember being turned off by the terms when first discovering the style despite being seasoned beer drinkers at that point.

J S : As far as the current commonly used vernacular, I’m partial to “wild ale,” or beers that exist outside the realm of pure or monoculture fermentation. “Mixed fermentation” or “mixed culture fermentation” can also be helpful. I think wine is onto something with “natural wine.”

Could beer that’s made without using commercial cultures become known as “natural beer?” Perhaps. Impossible to say at this point.

J Y : Blue Owl goes to great lengths to present our sour beer as

approachable as we feel it should be made. It’s a balance between breaking any negative associations with these words and reforming new associations. We do that by putting them in a familiar context.

For example, “sour cherry stout” uses a word not usually associated with stouts by bridging the ideas with a very comfortable word— cherry. A “sour pale ale” doesn’t necessarily have the bridging concept, but gives the person a jumping off point for expectations.

You recognize what a pale ale is and then you integrate sourness into it. All elements are balanced and important. But if it was just dominated by acidity, there wouldn’t be the association with the familiar pale ale.

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A SOUR CONVERSATION cont.

S A B M : How big of a role does sour beer have in the current state of

craft beer and what does the future have in store for it?

J S : It’s a niche that has gained more popularity over the past five years—but, it’s still a niche. Mixed culture fermentation has the potential to grow, I believe, as it’s just a return to how all beer was historically.

J Y : Imagine this: 99% of beers people are accustomed to only

utilize the tongue’s bitterness, sweetness, and saltiness receptors.

What’s missing? The sour receptors! So we’re trying to open up another dimension of the taste buds to craft beer enthusiasts. Now that sour beers are becoming more ubiquitous, we’re expanding the flavor palate that a brewer has to create beer.

S A B M : It was only 10 years ago or so that you couldn’t find an

IPA, pale ale, or stout in a more public setting, yet now they are pretty readily available. Is sour beer next?

J Y : Sour beers are certainly easier to find nowadays and especially

in forms other than traditional lambics and berliner weisses…

J S : No, I don’t believe so. Most commercial sour beers are pretty extreme in acidity, which plays a role in keeping them relegated to a niche product, in my opinion. Also, in terms of barrel-aged wild ales and spontaneously fermented beers, they take years to make and necessitate a higher price point. You can make an IPA in a week or two at a much lower cost.

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A SOUR CONVERSATION cont.

S A B M : Are we going to see lager and pale ale drinkers (mainstream

drinkers, for lack of a better word) flocking to find sour beer on shelves, in restaurants, and at bars?

J S : Of those instances above, I think restaurants present the best opportunity. Beers with complex fermentation profiles and acidity tend to pair well with food.

J Y : We’re seeing that. It’s natural in any maturing beer scene that

enthusiasts look for different and perhaps more challenging styles.

Heavily hopped beers were that. Bourbon barrel-aged beers were that. The pendulum swung the other way and session beers and pilsners became the thing to flock to. At least at Blue Owl, we have all those things covered, only soured!

S A B M : With so many breweries and beers to choose from in the

Austin and larger central Texas area, what are the difficulties in focusing on sour and funky beers while continuing to educate people on the styles and your respective methods?

J Y : It’s exactly because there are so many breweries to choose from

that specializing in sours works so well for us.

J S : Paradoxically, the challenge for us is often convincing people that we don’t just focus on sour beer. We were inspired by the classic farmhouse breweries of Europe such as Blaugies, Dupont, and Thiriez, as well as makers of elegant Belgian pale ales like De la Senne and De Ranke. These beers are known for being dry, bitter, and drinkable. Our Le Petit Prince farmhouse table beer and Noble King hoppy farmhouse ale are directly inspired by these breweries and have little to no acidity.

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A SOUR CONVERSATION cont.

S A B M : Both Jester King and Blue Owl have some of the best looking

taprooms, merchandise, and branding. Are those parts of owning a brewery difficult or take a lot of careful consideration to keep up with or do the ideas for those thing just happen a little more naturally based on y'all's ethos?

J Y : I think the image of the beer and brewery are critical to trying to

convey who you are to the beer drinker. Ignoring branding would be a massive disservice to your beer, no matter how good it is. At Blue Owl, we don’t separate our beer from our taproom, merchandise, or branding. It’s all part of the experience we’re trying to craft. We have a lot of games, coloring books, puzzles, art, and creative activities in our taproom. Why is this important? Because we want people to create just like we create. Beer is just our medium for trying to be creative. Also, our branding is meant to be clean and inviting. We try to say the most we can with the least amount of words. So we use carefully selected colors and patterns to give an abstraction of the beer inside. Our sours are, in fact, clean and inviting!

J S : I personally love Blue Owl’s entire aesthetic. Yes, I consider these parts of owning a brewery to be very difficult. We have a fulltime artist on staff (Josh Cockrell) and it’s even more than he can handle by himself. Ethos fuels it, but it’s an enormous operational undertaking.

S A B M : What are your best suggestions for turning more people on

to sour beers?

J S : Make them drinkable. Make them balanced.

J Y : I think if people have a taste for these kinds of beers, then it

will organically spread. We don’t need a sour Miller Lite to make the nation drink more sours or farmhouse beers. We need people honestly and earnestly exploring their passions and avoiding gimmicks and hype.

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A WEST TEXAS LOVE LETTER Words and photos: JoMando Cruz

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We often look for ways to expand the reach of our humble magazine.

We cover beer in San Antonio and the surrounding area, sure, but the beer story consists of more than the beer in the glass and whatever rating it gets on Untappd or awards it does (or doesn’t) win. Frankly, we shudder at that sort of talk. We mean to capture the human element, the rustic and industrial qualities of brewing, and we love to establish a sense of place with everything we present or highlight. And in the process, we get to satisfy an urge to travel, if we’re being honest.

Big Bend Brewing Co. had been on our extended radar for a good while. We were fans for a long time and felt compelled to feature them once San Antonio started receiving distribution. Then came the announcement that Big Bend was building a large production facility in San Antonio, essentially making a second home here. We didn’t even need an angle anymore (not that we needed one at all, but still). Big Bend was now a fully fledged member of San Antonio’s beer community, so of course we were going to venture into West Texas to tell their story.

We started by attending one of their November anniversary parties with the intention of returning for their Valentine’s in Valentine event—an annual party in Valentine, Texas on Valentine’s Day. Our plan was clear: We were going to introduce Big Bend to the San Antonio market by telling their story with the focal point being this charming West Texas desert party. We would follow that up in another issue by featuring their brand new production facility, which would be complete by that issue’s printing.

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A W E S T T E X A S L OV E L E T T E R cont .

The difference a year makes. While we’ve been preparing this issue for print, a series of unfortunate circumstances and debilitating external forces have shuttered Big Bend’s doors—both in Alpine and their incomplete San Antonio production facility. What we greeted with open arms we were suddenly bidding farewell with reluctant waves. I won’t say too much about that—to express our disappointment, while absolutely sincere, is selfish.

Our deep sadness is nothing compared to that experienced by the Big Bend family, an enthusiastic and warm group that we are very privileged to call friends. We can only attempt to imagine how they feel, but that’s a fool’s errand. Rather than do that, we extend our sympathies and a warm embrace. You’ve got ardent supporters in our magazine, and we will never forget the support you always showed us.

It’s not much, but what was once a story is now an ode to that most remote and award-winning West Texas taproom. May these photos be a visual love letter and tribute to the largest brewery (Big Bend) in the largest town (Alpine) in the largest county (Brewster) in the largest state (Texas) in the contiguous United States, and to that party in the desert where we found old and new love alike.

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DIA DE LA MUERTA XI Words: Harrison Civick Photos: JoMando Cruz & Harrison Civick

DI A DE L A M U E RTA X I cont.

Long before the emergence of the pastry stout—a trend that takes beers to decadent levels with adjuncts such as donuts, ice cream waffles, German chocolate cake, marshmallows, and even barrel aging—breweries typically released or featured Russian imperial stouts as the most extreme offering in their lineup. These were simpler times, although not unlike today, customers would line up and wait for hours at a brewery or scour their city for any bottles that distributed to retailers and the opportunity to get their hands on the newest and greatest high-ABV release. Some even drove from far away cities to hunt these bottles down.

A decade ago, nobody in San Antonio had this sort of status except for the team at Freetail Brewing Co. Their heavy-hitting Russian imperial stout (a beer that would one day earn them a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival—the first and only one for San Antonio) won over the hearts of beer drinkers locally and beyond. La Muerta, named as an homage to the Mexican Dia de los Muertos holiday that remembers and celebrates family and friends who have died, is released annually every first weekend of November.

Every La Muerta release found flocks of fans at Freetail’s doors (these were the days before the brewery could distribute to retailers), with some even camping out before the brewery opened just to ensure that they could score the maximum amount the allotment allowed. These early morning campers eventually spurred the emergence of the first public bottle shares in town.

They realized that drinking while waiting for a bottle release was the best way to pass the time. (I mean, it’s socially acceptable to drink before 9 a.m. as long as the beer has donuts and pastries in it, right? Maybe this pastry stout thing makes more sense now…)

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DI A DE L A M U E RTA X I cont.

Over time, these patio pounders became quite organized and led to Freetail embracing the activity as a major component of every release event. Few things bring the beer community together more than a bottle share. Attendees annually brought items ranging in style, rarity, and (let’s be real) favorability, and spread them out for all to share and consume (and critique). Inevitably, some would bring nothing and snake their way through the crowd and forage off the kindness of others. Don’t ever be that person, even if they still make up a portion of the collective of traders, tickers, groupies, recently converted Bud Light drinkers, and collectors. Beer is community, after all.

As the La Muerta release event evolved, so did the beer. Over the last decade, this stout would see variations that included different barrel finishes (such as rum, tequila, and port) and adjunct additions (like coconut, tiramisu, raspberry, and even Thai curry). By the way, what’s the opposite of a pastry stout? If it’s not a Thai curry imperial stout, I don’t know what is.

Dia De La Muerta 2018 brought the most significant changes to date, what with the release event adopting a festival format that marked the end of the annual bottle share. The spirit of the shares is sure to live on forever in the hearts of the attendees—indeed, we saw too many familiar faces to count. But in a progressive move, Freetail assembled and hosted some of the biggest names in the Texas beer game. Many of these breweries do not have San Antonio distribution, which allowed attendees to try certain beers from across the state for the first time. From our observations, this festival format has definitely set the bar high for all other future La Muerta releases and ensures that the new tradition is sure to stick around for a while.

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A L A MO BE E R C OM PA N Y cont.

e s t . 19 9 7

SA TX

Find us on draft & in cans at your favorite San Antonio establishments .

www.liveoakbrewing.com

Taproom open at noon daily

D I R E C T O R Y of B R E W E R I E S

DIRECTORY OF BREWERIES San Antonio and its surrounding area is a prime location for exploring a wide-ranging selection of craft breweries and brewpubs—and that isn’t even counting Austin’s offerings. In our experience, most people don’t take as wide a view of the region as they should.

With that in mind, we’ve gathered the pertinent information you require and created a directory of San Antonio’s vibrant and growing brewery and brewpub scene. To be clear, this directory highlights places that brew beer, from production facilities with taprooms to brewpubs with food programs. And we’re making sure to include both San Antonio proper and our friendly neighbors in Adkins, Bandera, Blanco, Boerne, Driftwood, Fredericksburg, New Braunfels, San Marcos, and Seguin.

This directory will evolve along with the city’s beer scene.

You can always consult SA Beer Magazine for an updated and comprehensive list of the local craft beer scene because we’ll be sure to print it in every issue. All you need to do is decide which venue to visit next. Cheers! »

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DI R E C T ORY of BR E W E R I E S cont .

A DK I NS CACTUS LAND BREWING CO. 368 County Road 325, Adkins, TX 78101 1st & 3rd weekend / month | Fri: 3pm–9pm | Sat: 12pm-9pm cactuslandbrewing.com

BA N DER A BANDERA ALE PROJECT 3540 Hwy 16 S., Suite 2-A, Bandera, TX 78003 Thu: 2pm–9pm | Fri–Sat: 2pm–10pm | Sun: 12pm–6pm banderaaleproject.com

BL A NCO REAL ALE BREWING COMPANY 231 San Saba Ct., Blanco, TX 78606 Mon–Tue: Closed | Wed-Thu: 12pm–6pm | Fri: 11am–7pm | Sat: 11am–7pm | Sun: 12pm–5pm realalebrewing.com

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BOER N E BOERNE BREWERY

THE DODGING DUCK BREWHAUS

9 Hill View Ln., Boerne, TX 78006

402 River Rd., Boerne, TX 78006

Fri: 2pm-5pm | Sat: 1pm-4pm

Mon–Thu: 11am–9pm | Fri–Sat: 11am–10pm Sun: 11am–9pm

boernebrewery.com

dodgingduck.com

CIBOLO CREEK BREWING CO. 448 S. Main St., Boerne, TX 78006

KINEMATIC BREWING CO.

Mon: 11am–9pm | Tue: Closed Wed–Thu: 11am–9pm | Fri–Sat: 11am–10pm Sun: 11am–8pm

Temporarily closed while moving to a new location kinematicbrewingco.com

cibolocreekbrewing.com

DR IF T WOOD VISTA BREWING 13551 FM 150, Driftwood, TX 78619 Thu: 11am–9pm | Fri–Sat: 11am–10pm | Sun: 11am–9pm vistabrewingtx.com

FR EDER ICKSBU RG ALTSTADT BREWING

FREDERICKSBURG BREWING CO.

6120 East, US-290, Fredericksburg, TX 78624

245 E. Main St., Fredericksburg, TX 78624

Wed: 12pm–8pm | Thu–Sat: 12pm–9pm Sun: 12pm–8pm

Mon–Thu: 11:30am–9pm | Fri: 11:30am–10pm Sat: 11am–10pm | Sun: 11am–7pm

www.altstadtbeer.com

www.yourbrewery.com

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N EW BR AU N FE L S 5 STONES ARTISAN BREWERY

GUADALUPE BREWING CO.

11335 FM 1863, New Braunfels, TX 78132

1586 Wald Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78132

Wed-Thu: 12pm - 6pm | Fri-Sat: 12pm - 9pm

Mon: 4pm–9pm | Thu: 4pm–9pm

5stonesbrewery.com

Fri–Sat: 12pm–10pm | Sun: 12pm–9pm guadalupebrew.com

FAUST BREWING CO. 499 S. Castell Ave., New Braunfels, TX 78130

NEW BRAUNFELS BREWING CO.

Thu: 4pm–10pm | Fri: 3pm–11pm Sat: 12pm–11pm | Sun: 1pm–8pm

180 W. Mill St., Ste. 100, New Braunfels, TX 78130 Thu: 4pm–8pm | Fri: 2pm–8pm Sat: 11am–9pm | Sun: 1pm–7pm

faustbrewing.com

nbbrewing.com

RUGGEDMAN BREWING CO. 7600 S. Old Bastrop Rd., New Braunfels, TX 78130 Fri: 4pm–9pm | Sat: 1pm–9pm Sun: 2pm–6pm drinkthedamnbeer.com

SA N A N TON IO ALAMO BEER COMPANY

BUSTED SANDAL BREWING CO.

202 Lamar St., San Antonio, TX 78202

7114 Oaklawn Dr., San Antonio, TX 78229

Mon–Thu: 3pm–9pm | Fri: 3pm–12am Sat: 12pm–12am | Sun: 12pm–9pm

Mon–Fri: 4:30pm–10pm | Sat: 12pm–10pm Sun: 12pm–6pm

alamobeer.com

bustedsandalbrewing.com

BLUE STAR BREWING CO.

FREETAIL BREWING CO.

1414 S. Alamo St., San Antonio, TX 78210

Production Facility & Taproom

Mon: 11am–9pm | Tue- Thu: 11am–11pm Fri: 11am–1:45am | Sat: 10am–1:45am Sun: 11am–9pm bluestarbrewing.com

2000 S. Presa St., San Antonio, TX 78210 Wed–Thu: 4pm–9pm | Fri: 4pm–10pm Sat: 12pm–10pm | Sun: 12pm–6pm

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FREETAIL BREWING CO.

MAD PECKER BREWING CO.

Brewpub

6025 Tezel Rd., San Antonio, TX 78250

4035 N. Loop 1604 W., San Antonio, TX 78257 Mon–Sat: 11am–12pm | Sun: 12pm–12am

Mon-Fri: 4pm–12am | Sat-Sun: 12pm–12am madpeckerbrewing.com

freetailbrewing.com

RANGER CREEK BREWING & DISTILLING CO.

GHOST PIXEL BEER STUDIO

4834 Whirlwind Dr., San Antonio, TX 78217

2000 S. Presa St., San Antonio, TX 78210

Thu–Fri: 5pm–9pm | Sat: 2pm–9pm Sun: 12pm–4pm

Thu-Fri: 4pm–9pm | Sat: 12pm–10pm Sun: 12pm–6pm

drinkrangercreek.com

ghostpixelbeer.com

ROADMAP BREWING CO.

DORĆOL DISTILLING + BREWING CO.

723 N. Alamo St., San Antonio, TX 78215 Wed–Thu: 4pm–10pm | Fri: 4pm–12am Sat: 12pm–12am | Sun: 12pm–8pm

1902 S. Flores St., San Antonio, TX 78204 Thu: 5pm–10pm | Fri: 5pm–12am Sat: 5pm–1am

www.roadmapbrewing.com

www.dorcolspirits.com

WEATHERED SOULS BREWING CO. 606 Embassy Oaks, Ste. 500, San Antonio, TX 78216

ISLLA ST. BREWING CO. Fri-Sun: 12pm–10pm

Tue-Wed: 4pm–10pm | Thu: 11am–10pm Fri: 11am–11pm | Sat: 12pm–12am Sun: 1pm–8pm

isllastreetbrewing.com

weatheredsouls.beer

KÜNSTLER BREWING CO.

SOUTHERLEIGH FINE FOOD & BREWERY

11911 Crosswinds Way, San Antonio, TX 78233

302 E. LaChapelle, San Antonio, TX 78204 Mon–Wed: 4pm–10pm | Thu: 4pm–12am Fri: 2pm–12am | Sat: 11am–12am Sun: 11am–10pm

136 E. Grayson St. #120, San Antonio, TX 78215

kunstlerbrewing.com

southerleigh.com

Mon–Thu: 11am–10pm | Fri: 11am–11pm Sat: 10am–11pm | Sun: 10am–9pm

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SA N M A RCOS AQUABREW BREWERY & BEER GARDEN

THE ROOT CELLAR CAFÉ & BREWERY

150 S. LBJ Dr., San Marcos, TX 78666

215 N. LBJ Dr., San Marcos, TX 78666

Mon–Wed: 11:30am–11pm Thu–Fri: 11:30am–12am | Sat: 10am–12am Sun: 10am–11pm

Tue-Sun: 7am–10pm

aqua-brew.com

rootcellarcafe.com

ROUGHHOUSE BREWING 680 Oakwood Loop, San Marcos, TX 78666

HOPS & GRAIN BREWING 110 E. MLK Dr. #130, San Marcos, TX 78666 Mon–Sun: 10am–10pm

Thu–Fri: 4pm–9pm | Sat: 12pm–9pm Sun: 12pm–6pm roughhousebrewing.com

hopsandgrain.com

MIDDLETON BREWING

SEAN PATRICK’S IRISH PUB & TEXAS GRUB

101 Oakwood Loop, San Marcos, TX 78666

202 E. San Antonio St., San Marcos, TX 78666

Mon: 2pm–10pm | Tue: Closed Wed–Thu: 2pm–10pm | Fri: 2pm–11pm Sat: 12pm–11pm | Sun: 12pm–10pm

Mon–Wed: 11am–12am | Thu–Fri: 11am–2am Sat: 10am–2am | Sun: 10am–12am

middletonbrewingtx.com

seanpatrickstx.com

SEGU I N BS BREWING CO.

SEGUIN BREWING COMPANY

1408 Old Lehmanns Rd., Seguin, TX 78155

111 W. Gonzales St., Seguin, TX 78155

Fri: 5pm–9pm | Sat–Sun: 2pm–8pm

Mon–Tue: 3pm–8pm | Wed–Thu: 3pm–10pm Fri–Sat: 12pm–10pm | Sun: 12pm–6pm

bsbrewingtx.com

seguinbrewing.com

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