New Breweries: Autumn, 2023
Published 10/5/23
Updated 10/7/23 to add a sixth new one – Fat Ass Brewery
Updated 1/3/24 to note that Power is not open, but Obsidian and Prost are
Did you know that a bunch of new breweries opened last month? While some places open with a lot of fanfare (like the expectedly popular Fast Friends Brewery), other places tend to open quietly with nothing more than a few Instagram posts. But here at Craft Beer Austin, we’re doing our duty as the #1 source of craft beer news in Central Texas by bringing you this important update:
A bunch of new breweries just opened outside of Austin, and you should support them!
Yegua Creek Brewery
The team at Rising Sun Vineyard in McDade, Texas (near Elgin) has launched a new brewery: Yegua Creek Brewery. The spot opened on September 2nd and there’s already a ton of reasons to visit, with their on-site kitchen, 4 televisions for football season, and nearly weekly events with live music. They will be having an Oktoberfest on October 21st and 22nd (if you keep reading, you’ll see another reason to take a day trip eastward on that weekend). While I would love to show the event Instagram post, I think I have to show these puppers instead, and if this doesn’t convince you to visit I don’t know what will:
Brack’s Backyard
Moving over to the hill country, there’s a new pizzeria in Spicewood called Brack’s Backyard. Located about halfway between Frontyard Brewing and Marble Falls, Brack’s makes their dough in-house and smokes their own BBQ toppings for their Detroit and New York-style pizzas. They’ve been slinging pies since late last year, but we’ve had our eye on them as a licensed brewery, and sure enough, they finally tapped their brews on September 8th. They’re registered to participate in Maui Brewing Co’s Kōkua Project, so keep a look out for their version of Maui Strong in the future.
Bird Creek Brewing
You might already be familiar with Bird Creek Burger Co., a long-time staple of Temple, TX. Well, guess what – they moved down the street, tripled in size, and are now brewing! The new location opened on September 12th with an expanded menu and a selection of microbrews (already 7 beers available as of writing), and while I haven’t made it up there yet, I’m certainly excited to visit. I teased this brewery in the Ale Trail Passport article – go get your stamps at Barrow and Tanglefoot, then grab some food at Bird Creek. (Plus Bold Republic, Fire Base, Nolan Creek, Oakfire, Phantom Warrior… maybe get a hotel room too?)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxHjlP0NSGO/
Bluemont Vineyard & Brewery
Here’s another list: Carter Creek Winery, Westcave Cellars, and Arch Ray Resort. What do these three places have in common? They’re all great places to bring your friends and family that want to visit the Texas Wine Country, so that you can instead have a beer flight from Old 290 Brewery, Westcave Brewery, and Ogle Brewery, respectively on-site at each of the above spots. Let’s welcome number 4 to the list, Bluemont Brewery, which opened in late July and is located along US-290 in Stonewall. They’ve got 5 beers, plus a cider brand (Hill Yeah Hard Cider, great name), and an on-site BBQ smoker, making this a nice lunch stop on the way into Fredericksburg.
Fat Ass Ranch & Brewery
Thanks to everyone who read this article in the last few days! I’ve been reading all the comment threads on social media, and as usual reddit is the best social media site because /u/myitbos pointed out that we missed one. Fat Ass Ranch & Brewery (& Winery) just started brewing in late August, and is now pouring just a few miles down the road from Bluemont. They have a second location in downtown Fredericksburg, but it’s unclear if their beer is available at that location. The main location has 5 beers on tap, plus they just released their pumpkin spice ale this week, so go check them out.
Power Brewing Project
Note: Power Brewing was unable to open as scheduled due to permitting issues. The original text is below, but it is not accurate (also, Elgin Meadery has since closed 😭).
You may have heard about this one, as we’ve known it was coming for a while now, but it’s here: Power Brewing Project opens in Hutto on October 21st. (Okay I cheated a little bit because it’s not open just yet, but keep an eye on their Instagram for a soft opening?) Power is now the second brewery opening in Hutto this year, following Rockabilly back in March, and along with Texas Beer Co.‘s new location in Taylor from February there’s plenty of reasons to head up that way. And while I wouldn’t necessarily say Hutto and McDade are close, as mentioned earlier you can go to the Power grand opening and the Yegua Creek Oktoberfest on the same day. You’d pass right through Elgin, giving you a chance to visit one of my favorite spots, Elgin Meadery. But anyway, Power Brewing Project opens soon and it’s going to be… electrifying?
Plus, several new breweries have been announced:
Obsidian Brewery
While we were all upset to hear the announcement that Humble Pint was closing at the end of September (hope you had a chance to visit), we were excited just a few hours later to hear that the space would be taken over by Obsidian Brewery. Brewers Saf and Doggett are known members of the Central Texas brewing community, and there’s a lot of hype around their future location. Plus, since they’re taking over an existing space, we expect it to be up and running relatively quickly – stay tuned for more.
Note: Obsidian Brewery is now open!
Old Gregg Beer Company
And now for a big one. FBR Management, the restaurant group behind Mean Eyed Cat, Lavaca St Bar, and Star Bar, is planning a brewery around the corner from Big Country Organic Brewing at the industrial park on the border of Austin and Pflugerville (thanks to bizjournals for the report). This area is surprisingly close to the new Austin Beerworks Sprinkle Valley and St. Elmo #2 (in the works), which is quickly becoming a new hotspot for breweries in Austin. Maybe it’s time for Rogness (now Samfellda) and Flying Man to reopen in the area to add to the traffic? (This is just a joke, we have no insight on the future of these breweries – Samfellda in particular was announced a few years back, but no news since.)
Finally, some updates on known breweries in the works:
The Alright
The new brewery that you’re going to waddle into after filling up on pasta at Patrizi’s has been under construction at the old Home Steam Laundromat on Manor for quite a while now. While we previously expected it to open this year, inconsistent updates on Instagram make us think there’s still a ways to go before they’ll be ready to pour.
Austin Craft Brewing Company
Austin Craft Brewing Co (ACBC?) has been in the works for about a year now, but went live with their instagram page about 3 months ago – with the announcement that they were selected as one of five breweries in planning for the dues grant program, sponsored by Method Architecture and the Texas Craft Brewers Guild! While their ‘gram has been quite active since then with general brewery news, there hasn’t been a lot in the way of brewing updates from their end… until Maui Brewing Co announced the participating breweries for Kokua, and they appeared on the list. We’re expecting an announcement from this team very soon, so stay tuned!
Cassette Beer Company
The saddest news of the bunch – Cassette had a lot of momentum going, until June, when they announced that they had lost the building in Kyle where they were planning to open. Unfortunately, there’s been no further update, so fingers crossed they can find a new location and get up and running sometime in 2024!
Prost Alehouse
Now for some good news – Prost Alehouse has been in the works for several years now, having to push back its opening date several times along the way. We first wrote about them in 2020 and added an update a few months ago saying they were planning to open in November 2023. They’re currently hiring, so yes, they may hit that target. Keep an eye out for potential updates coming from the newest spot in Pflugerville in the next few weeks.
Note: Prost Alehouse is now open!
St. Elmo #2
No major updates here, other than that they broke ground on the new brewery on Springdale in August. We expect it to be open early to mid-2024.
