Hood County officially got its first beermaker Saturday.
More than 1,000 people poured into Revolver Brewing Co., a father-and-son venture at 5600 Matlock Road in Granbury, not far from the lake.Featured were three beers created by Grant Wood (not the late painter of American Gothic, but the Irving-reared Texan) who was senior brewing manager at Sam Adams, where he spent 16 years, and returned to help set up the Granbury micro. He previously toiled at Pearl in San Antonio.Wood, 49, who lost his voice during the opening, said by e-mail afterward that Revolver began shipping on Sept. 1 and now has 50 accounts from Granbury to Plano.Revolver produces a 7 percent alcohol, unfiltered wheat ale called Blood & Honey, a 6.5 percent blond ale called High Brass and its 6.5 percent bock. The micro, launched by Ron and Rhett Keisler, only produces kegs of draft beer and hasn't yet decided to add cans or bottles.Saturday tours begin next weekend, from noon to 3 p.m., Wood said. "We are looking at $7 for the brewery tour, glass and two fills of the glass for tasting. We will also have live music and food vendors on site."In Fort Worth, the beer is served at Flying Saucer, Live Oak, Woodshed, Brewed, Magnolia Motor Lounge, Zio Carlo, Fred's Texas Cafe, Monty's Corner, Poag Mahone's, Rick O'Shea's, T&P Tavern, Fireside Pies, Wired Willy's, Baker St. Pub, Barcadia and Tillman's Roadhouse. They're also available at the World of Beer in Arlington, and at Hoffbrau, 1890 Grille and Fuzzy's in Granbury.And Ranger Creek in San Antonio, Texas' only "brewstillery," has unleashed four artisanal beers that have made their way to the Fort Worth market. Its small-barrel whiskey was already here.The beer lineup includes two draft varieties, OPA American pale ale brewed with oats and Lucky Ol' Sun, a Belgian-style blond ale. The two bottled beers are Mesquite Smoked Porter, a rauchbier style, and La Bestia Aimable, a Belgian strong ale brewed with Texas honey. The line is available in Fort Worth at Brewed, Fossil Creek Liquor, Kings and Live Oak, as well as Hall's in Colleyville and World of Beer in Arlington.The "brewstillery" also produces a small-barrel whiskey called Ranger Creek .36, named after the small-caliber pistols Texas Rangers once carried. The whiskey, also available in the Metroplex, is aged for nine months in small casks which speed the maturation process, similar to how Balcones Distilling in Waco is producing its line of adult beverages.Ranger Creek is also distilling straight bourbon, which will require at least two years of aging before hitting the market, McDonald said."The business issue is you have to have some revenue while you wait for your whiskey to mature," Mark McDonald, one of the company's three founders, told staff writer Steve Campbell. "For us, it's beer. We could have done vodka, but we're whiskey and beer drinkers."They produced their first beers in November 2010 and rolled out the small-barrel whiskey in November 2011.The co-founders, who all have MBAs, met at their day job at a financial services company. They first got into home brewing and then debated for a year whether to be brewers or distillers before deciding to be both."We felt like the nation's seventh-largest city could support its own microbrewery. San Antonio is not as progressive a beer-drinking town as Austin, but the reception has been really awesome," McDonald said.Prize-winning beersMeanwhile, the hop gods keep shining on the Lone Star State.Texas brewers won nine medals, including five golds, at Denver's respected Great American Beer Festival this month. Fort Worth's Rahr & Sons snared a silver for its excellent Iron Thistle Scotch Ale, Humperdink's Uberbrau amber lager took a bronze, and a new producer, Peticolas Brewing Co. in the Dallas design district, won a gold for its Royal Scandal, an English-style pale ale.Other golds went to Spoetzl's Shiner Bock (best dark lager), Shiner Oktoberfest (best maerzen), Shiner Bohemian Black (best German-style schwarzbier) and Uncle Billy's Brew & Que in Lake Travis (best zwickelbier). Real Ale of Blanco was graced with silvers for its flagship Fireman's #4 (blonde ale) and its Hans Pils (German-style pilsner).Incrementally, Texas is creating a beer culture that goes beyond longnecks of all-too-similar industrial lagers.Quicker deliveriesSoutheastern Freight Lines, which has been serving the Fort Worth area from a Dallas facility, begins operations today at a new regional office and warehouse in east Fort Worth.The 25,000-square-foot complex at 5300 Martin St. was built by the Columbia, S.C.-based company to better serve its growing business on this side of the Metroplex. It will have 125 doors for loading and unloading trailers.About 100 people will staff the facility, including 10 newly hired employees. The others are being moved from Dallas.The facility will provide improved deliveries and shorter travel time between service centers and Southeastern customers."We are excited to better serve the local market by adding this service center in Fort Worth," said Matt Bowen, manager of the Fort Worth service center. "This service center will lighten the load on our Dallas service center and ensure top-notch customer service and delivery times to our Fort Worth customers."Southeastern has seen double-digit shipment growth each year for nearly a decade in the region.Southeastern is a privately owned trucking company providing less-than-truckload shipping services and specializes in next-day service in the Southeast and Southwest. It operates 79 service centers in 12 states and Puerto Rico.Staff writer Bob Cox contributed to this report.Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727sabaker@star-telegram.comJim Fuquay, 817-390-7552jfuquay@star-telegram.comBarry Shlachter, 817-390-7718barry@star-telegram.comHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
