Texas Brew Review: Uncle Billy’s flies the Lone Star flag for brewpub beers

Breweries like Southern Star, Rahr and Sons, Franconia and (512) Brewing are all part of the small mid-2000s wave of Texas brewers that came before the current boom that we’re in the middle of now.

After some of the early pioneers like Real Ale and Saint Arnold that were founded in the 1990s, that middle wave helped further set the stage for the seemingly endless number of breweries that we have in 2015.

However, forgotten about by many Texans were the brewpubs that were founded around that time. As integral for establishing the scene as their production counterparts, brewpubs were limited to peddling their products only at the brewpub and were not allowed to export outside of their building.

Operations like Freetail Brewing in San Antonio and Uncle Billy’s in Austin — both founded in 2006 — flew under the radar for most Texans that didn’t live in those cities.

However, with the law changes that came about in the 2013 legislative session, brewpubs gained the ability to expand their operations to distribute beer to other bars and stores. One of the first to take advantage was Uncle Billy’s who jumped at the opportunity and immediately started distributing kegs of its beers to other bars in Austin.

Since then, they have expanded their operation to packaging their beers in cans, and most recently, started sending them up to DFW.

Metroplex beer lovers are starting to find out these veteran brewers have been a well-kept secret. Having won multiple medals at Great American Beer Festival over the years, Uncle Billy’s brewing prowess is well established.

Lazy Day Lager highlights what they do best. It’s light on the palate, clean, crisp and spot on for summer drinking.

With malt depth that doesn’t stray toward the heavy side and a slight earthiness to balance, this lager is easy to love on a 100-degree day.

Hopefully more brewpubs expand their operations in the coming years so drinkers across the state can enjoy what the locals have for years.

Quick sips

A Pair of Threes: Both Lakewood Brewing (Garland) and Cedar Creek Brewing (Seven Points) are celebrating their third anniversaries at their respective breweries this weekend. Lakewood’s bash spans two days with events at the brewery noon-6 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday. Meanwhile, Cedar Creek’s runs noon-9 p.m. Saturday. Both will feature rare beer offerings. cedarcreekbrewery.com; lakewoodbrewing.com

Woodcreek Grand Opening: Speaking of weekend-long celebrations, Woodcreek Brewing in Rockwall will celebrate its grand opening Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the brewery. Tickets are being sold in advance for $15-20, depending on the day. woodcreekbrewing.com

This story was originally published July 29, 2015 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Texas Brew Review: Uncle Billy’s flies the Lone Star flag for brewpub beers."