9 Brand New Central Texas Breweries – Spring 2025
Published 2/27/25
Edited 2/28/25: Marion Brewing sent us a comment, which has been added below!
This article was originally titled “9 Central Texas Breweries You Had NO IDEA Existed”, but we’re above clickbait here. The truth is, you’ve probably never heard of most of these breweries before today. We updated our brewery openings and closures list last week with two new spots, and then this week we learned of another three, so we’ve decided it’s time for a full article. Here are nine new breweries – five open now, and four opening very soon. Just keep in mind that you’re going to have to take a day trip for most of them.
Open Now:
Buchanan Brewing Co. (Buchanan Dam)
One of the great things about some of the breweries on this list is that they’re the first in their town, and that’s certainly true for Buchanan Dam’s first and only brewery (as their website states, “‘Bout Dam Time!”) The beachside brewery opened in November with much support from the local community. The brewery is owned by John Overton and his wife Buffy Allen, along with their brewmaster and friend Dez Davis who has 20 years of Homebrewing experience. Their first commercial taplist includes a Tropical IPA, Mosaic Blonde Ale, and a few other traditional styles. We reached out to the owners, and in addition to providing us with the history of their team, they welcomed us all with this comment:
“We live on the property, and we love it so much that we wanted to create space to share it with our community of craft beer lovers. We invite everyone to come and enjoy the backyard view and vibe that makes this brewpub so special.”
If you find yourself near Marble Falls, Burnet, or Llano, it’s a quick trip over to this hot new brewery on the lake!
Nelson Brew Works (Copperas Cove)
It doesn’t get hotter than this – the first brewery in Copperas Cove opened just this past weekend. Located between Lampasas and Killeen, Copperas Cove is the largest city in Coryell County, so it’s not a surprise that Nelson Brew Works is the first brewery in the county. The grand opening was so popular, in fact, that they ran out of pizza! The beer was flowing though, including a Mexican Lager (Hey Zeus Juice), Hazy IPA (Hopping Hazy), and a beer interestingly named Happy Accident which lies somewhere between a Brown Ale and a West Coast IPA. If you haven’t yet been to two of our favorite breweries in Central Texas – that being Bird Creek Brewing and Phantom Warrior Brewing (Bold Republic Brewing and Nolan Creek Brewery are top picks of ours as well), you need to get up here and check them out… and give the new guys a try as well over at Nelson!
Star Republic Brewing (Spring Branch)
The next brewery on our list has actually been open since July – we sincerely apologize for the delay in noticing. Pro-tip for breweries: feel free to let us know when you open and we can give you a shoutout! But that aside, we have a very Texan brewery located in the Hill Country town of Spring Branch, south of Blanco. What I love most about this brewery is that their website has an about us page… ahem: founder Craig Stephens, facility manager Ernest Mazurek, and head brewer Jessie Pagan (previously at Weathered Souls Brewery) are industry experts who launched this brewery with intentionality in an area without much else bar wise. Beer releases include a POG sour and a stout, with an imperial stout already in the tanks; speaking of tanks, pictures on their socials indicate that this is a large brewing facility. Combine the locale, size, and pedigree, and this has the potential to be an important stop on the trip to Boerne or Blanco. At this volume, we might even be seeing distro in the future.
Open Now… But Without Beer:
Handsome Dan’s Bait Shop & Brewery (Austin)
If there’s one on this list that you’ve heard of, it’s this one, and that’s probably because it’s the only one that’s in Austin. Handsome Dan’s, which opened just last week, is the new sandwich shop and brewery brought to us by Josh Hare – owner of Rick’s Near Beer, Pint & Plow Brewing, and formally Hops & Grain Brewing. The new spot occupies the old Friends & Allies location, next to the old Austin Eastciders location (now Stargazer), down the hall from the old Flosports office (now Eastside Paddle Club), which all circle the still open Austin Bouldering Project, as you can tell by the very full parking lot. Anyway, Handsome Dan’s is open now slinging sandwiches. They have a preview of their first four beers on the wall, which includes a Texas exclusive brewing agreement for the historic Champagne Velvet beer usually produced by Upland Brewing in Indianapolis. The beer will be brewed by Keith Shaw, formally at Fast Friends and Modern Times, so we’re excited to see what he’s cooking up now when their beer is available next month!
Granger City Brewing Company (Granger)
Granger City Brewing opened in 2017, but unfortunately closed in July 2021 (did you visit during this period?) Last year, the location was acquired by Natalie and Todd Coporon, the later of which is also a volunteer firefighter, and opened its doors in October [thank you to Taylor Press for these details]. The catch is that at the moment, Natalie and Todd are focusing on the pub aspect, with plans to brew in the near future. Keep an eye on this spot north of Taylor, and perhaps stop in for one of their guest beers and a pizza in the meantime.
Open Soon:
Marion Brewing (Marion)
The first brewery in the “open soon” section of this article… actually already had a soft opening! Marion Brewing welcomed the local community on Feb 8th to their new taproom due south of New Braunfels. This is right about at the southern edge of what we consider “Central Texas” vs “South Texas”, but we’re just too excited about the small town of Marion getting its first brewery to consider it as too far away. After nearly two years of planning, Matt and Kim Erben are just about ready to open the doors to the public to serve their Milk Stout, Mexican Lager, and Czech Amber Lager, plus a few others. Kim reached out to us with their story:
“Thank you for reaching out to us and including our brewery in your article! I honestly cannot even believe that our small brewery made the list! It has been a long couple years to get to where we are and we are looking forward to the future of Marion Brewing. This all started with a homebrew kit I bought my husband for Christmas in 2013 and now here we are. Matt works a full time job so we are trying to figure out our hours moving forward. It is just the two of us so we are planning a couple weekends a month for starters and then will scale up from there. We absolutely love the small town of Marion and that is why we chose that location. There weren’t a lot of options in that area but when a metal building (old Kyle Fire Dept building that was relocated) on a 32 acre farm came up for lease, we jumped on it. It’s not fancy by any means but to me it fits perfectly in Marion. I do hope that you will stop by if you are in the area, we’d love to serve you! Again, thank you so much for including us we truly appreciate it.”
Thank you Kim, we’ll be watching for the official opening soon!
Bronson & Ryder Brewing (Llano)
We’ve got a fun one for you here – the city of Llano is welcoming its second brewery following Llano Beer Company. The new nano brewery, Bronson & Ryder Brewing, is well on its way to completion and we expect it to be open in a few months. Like many breweries on this list, the business is a family supported labor of love – and owner Rebecca Gardenhire provided us with this invitation for all:
“My husband Randy and I are so excited to welcome our Austin neighbors to Llano for a day trip or weekend get away for an excellent craft beer this summer! Our beer garden overlooks the Llano River with a short drive to day hiking at Enchanted Rock. Bronson & Ryder Brewing is named after our two sons and has been 10 years in the making. Following Randy’s career in the wine industry adjacent over a decade of brewing, we are finally able to share our beer and space with our community!”
Thank you Rebecca, we’re looking forward to your opening this summer!
Witcher Brewing Company (Fredericksburg)
Up until now in this article, all of these breweries only came to our attention in the last two months. The final two on the list, we’ve known about for a while, but are ready to declare them as “almost open”. The first of these is Witcher Brewing Company, located east of Fredericksburg in the heart of wine country, about two miles from Fat Ass Brewery (which surprised me on my visit – recommend, even if just for the 1950’s vibes). Daniel Witcher is launching this brewery with help from his family, and it will feature a full food menu as well. He welcomed us with this message:
“We are thrilled to get going and welcome visitors to Witcher Brewing Co and our beloved town of Fredericksburg. We’re looking forward to being a place that’s very community driven, allowing our out-of-town guests to get a taste of small town, Texas Hill Country life, with a German touch.”
They’ve got their merch, they’ve started brewing, and are planning for a late March open. See you there!
Cottonwood Creek Brewery (Hutto)
Now this is one that you may be aware of, as they already have nearly a thousand instagram followers watching their construction progress. Plus, we’ve teased it before on this website: Cottonwood Creek Brewery is going to be a large brewpub right along US-79 through Hutto, featuring house made BBQ as well as live events, and 22 beer taps. We reached out to their team and they’re as excited as we are to share the news:
“Cottonwood Creek Brewery is opening this April, bringing you bold, handcrafted beers and next-level smoked meats you won’t find anywhere else. This isn’t just another brewery—it’s where Austin and Hutto’s beer lovers and foodies will come to kick back, raise a glass, and have a good time. Get ready to make this your new go-to spot.”
We’re looking forward to their opening in April! Be sure to bring your disposable camera or DSLR to capture a selfie with the hippo wearing overalls.
On Our Radar:
Up above were the nine promised breweries, and next is a roundup of a few other breweries we’re aware of.
Red Horn Brewing (Georgetown), Big Country Brewing (East Austin), and Thirsty Planet Brewery (San Marcos)
We don’t have any major updates for these known expansions, just that they’re in the works. Red Horn will be opening a third location in downtown Georgetown, Big Country closed their Pflugerville taproom to open a new one across the street from Kitty Cohen’s, and Thirsty Planet’s latest endeavor is to take over the space formally occupied by Aquabrew in San Marcos. More on these as they get closer.
Crest Brewing Company (Lockhart), High Eagle Brewing (Leander), and Three Kings Farmhouse (Fischer)
Likewise, we’re aware of these three breweries in planning, but don’t have more information to share at this time.
The Alright Brewing Co. (Austin)
This is kind of a meme at this point. I posted a similar article in 2023 which stated that The Alright is on the way, but probably not that soon. I was right, cause it’s still not open. With such a high profile location on Manor Rd, we’re really wondering what they’re up to. Like, it’s visibly more finished now than it was 2 years ago, but I’d still put them months away from opening, if not years.
