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If you attended the earlier this year, you saw the work of more than 60 of those craft brewers. It was an opportunity for these breweries to get their brands and their beers in front of the drinking public because many haven鈥檛 been around for very long.
鈥淐raft beer is definitely on a boom. You can notice it when you walk into any local grocery store," Adam Moulton says. "The big guys are stuck in a corner and it鈥檚 just a plethora of colors of different breweries all over the place.鈥�
Moulton works with , based in Houston. Karbach鈥檚 only been around since 2011, but it鈥檚 hardly the new kid on the block.
鈥淭here are a lot of breweries out there now," he says. "The competition is stout.鈥�
Still, if you鈥檙e looking for old school Texas craft brewers, there are some to choose from 鈥� 's in Houston has been in the business since 1994. Frank Mancuso has been there since the early days.
鈥淲hen we started, there probably wasn鈥檛 maybe a dozen breweries in the whole state of Texas," Frank Mancuso says. "And now we鈥檙e still around, some of the ones that were there are no longer around."
But in the cycle of boom and bust, one Texas brewery has stood the test of time: , but you probably know it better as Shiner.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really Texas鈥檚 oldest craft brewery," Shiner employee Casey Curbello says. "Been doing it since 1909 鈥� a bunch of Czech and German immigrants settled into Shiner, Texas, and wanted to bring beer over and start brewing like they鈥檇 done it in their home country and have been doing it for 106 years.鈥�
But even Spoetzl, which now pumps out more than six million cases of Shiner brands to 49 states each year, almost didn鈥檛 make it.
鈥淩ight in the late 80s, it was right on the verge of there was a point in time where we could have very easily shut our doors and called it a day,鈥� Curbello says.
Historically, there are more examples of breweries that didn鈥檛 make it than did. According to the Texas State Historical Association, Western Brewery in San Antonio is commonly considered the first commercial Texas brewery in 1855. The 1860 census listed 11 Texas breweries. That number surged to 58 by 1876, but that鈥檚 when we the first bubble burst.
Anheuser-Busch and the like had become readily available in Texas at cheaper prices. Western Brewery soon shut its doors but a few managed to stay open with loyal local support.
鈥淲ell we know in 1879 Mr. Kreische was the third-largest beer producer in Texas,鈥� Dennis Smith says.
Heinrich Kreische had opened his brewery in LaGrange. A stone mason, he built a unique setup that鈥檚 actually now part of the state's only historical site that happens to be a brewery. Smith is the park superintendent.
鈥淢r. Kreische built his brewery in the ravine," he says. "It was a spring-fed ravine and he was able to use that fresh water from the spring as well as gravity and airflow to his advantage by building this brewery down this ravine and was able to have somewhat of a subterranean room for cooling and lagering the beer.鈥�
Kreische Brewery stayed pretty strong up until the 1880s, when Mr. Kreische鈥檚 death and other factors led to its ultimate demise, but you can still visit the ruins.
鈥淯nfortunately we get some people that come in that somehow believe that this was an operating brewery and although they鈥檙e somewhat disappointed that they鈥檙e not going to get a cold drink when they come, they are very interested in the fact that this is a historic brewery,鈥� Smith says.
Fast-forward to today, it鈥檚 not any clearer which breweries will last the latest boom and inevitable bust that will follow.
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be interesting in the next few years to see kind of if it stabilizes and 'stronger' craft breweries continue to persevere and survive,鈥� Curbello says.
St. Arnold鈥檚 Frank Mancuso agrees.
鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be some shakeout no doubt about it," he says. "And I imagine somebody鈥檚 going to run out of money at some point. I don鈥檛 think it鈥檒l be a big bubble but there will be some shakeout and probably some merging 鈥� that鈥檚 actually already taking place.鈥�
But the newer breweries are, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most optimistic, like Adam Moulton with Karbach.
鈥淚鈥檝e heard a lot of people talk about it, craft beer, as being a bubble," he says. "But if you鈥檝e ever seen beer being brewed, there鈥檚 a lot of bubbles and all of them burst but, you know what, there鈥檚 more coming behind it.鈥�
Any craft beer lover can drink to that.
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