Long overdue overhaul of Texas laws governing craft brewing follows nearly a decade of effort
HOUSTON, June 14, 2013 – Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest craft brewery in Texas, today expressed its appreciation to the broad array of people and organizations that came together in support of a legislative package that promises to be a catalyst for craft brewing in Texas. The package of brewery bills, which among other things allows craft breweries to sell limited amounts of their beer for on-premise consumption, was signed by Governor Rick Perry Friday afternoon.
“We have spent the past decade on this effort in Austin, finally achieving a tangible result, and we couldn’t be happier for fans of Texas craft beer,” said Saint Arnold Founder/Brewer Brock Wagner. “We want to thank Senators Eltife and Van de Putte and Rep. Smith who led the charge this session and also thank Representative Farrar who carried the torch in previous sessions.
“The efforts of the entire craft brewing industry, represented by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild, along with wholesalers, individual craft beer enthusiasts and consumer groups such as Open The Taps have been a powerful force in finally seeing these antiquated laws brought up to date,” said Wagner. “We also want to thank the press who publicized the need for these common sense reforms and is ultimately responsible for why these issues received the attention they did this session.”
The new package of laws governing the Texas craft brewing industry allows Texas brewers many of the same rights that have enabled brewers in other states to grow and prosper, boosting local economies and creating new jobs. The Texas Craft Brewers Guild estimates that the overhaul of the state’s brewing laws could lead to the creation of more than 55,000 jobs and $5.6 billion in commerce.
The new laws also raise production limits on Texas brewpubs and allow them to sell beer to wholesale distributors, which will level the playing field with out-of-state brewpubs that were already allowed to sell their beer in Texas.
“Considering the restrictive laws that stood in our way during our first 19 years, we feel extremely fortunate to have been among the few Texas breweries that have thrived until now,” said Wagner. “The new laws will have a greater impact on brewpubs and small emerging breweries than on established breweries such as Saint Arnold, but we firmly believe that it is good for the industry and for fans of craft beer to have laws that encourage people to open brewpubs and start breweries. The more people are focusing on Texas craft beer, the better it is for Saint Arnold.”
Saint Arnold plans to continue including beer in the price of its lunches and brewery tours, which attract tens of thousands of craft beer lovers each year. In addition to the normal beer offerings that are included in the tour, the brewery plans to sell special and limited edition brews that have never been available at tours.
“We intend to always have one special beer on tap,” said Wagner. “It may be a cask conditioned Endeavour, a special release cask or, if you’re lucky, a Divine Reserve.”
Saint Arnold brewery tours begin Monday through Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturdays at 11 a.m. The Saint Arnold kitchen opens for lunch at 11 a.m. Monday through Friday.
On Twitter, follow @saintarnold. On Facebook, like www.facebook.com/saintarnold.
About Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Saint Arnold Brewing’s 16 brews are made and sold by the company’s staff of 52 dedicated employees. Ranked 45th on the Brewers Association list of top craft breweries, Saint Arnold was listed by USA Today as one of the “10 great places to see what’s brewing in beer,” and Smart Meetings magazine named it among the “Top 5 breweries to host an event.” Saint Arnold is located at 2000 Lyons Avenue and its brewery tour and tasting is offered every weekday at 3:00 P.M. and Saturdays starting at 11 A.M. For more information on Saint Arnold’s seven year-round and five seasonal beers as well as root beer, log on to www.saintarnold.com.
Contact: Dan Keeney, APR DPK Public Relations (832) 467-2904 dan@dpkpr.com
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