Introduction

It happens in almost every Western movie. A stranger rides into a town, ties his horse in front of the local saloon, slaps the dust from his arms, and enters the local saloon. He makes his way to the bar and orders a whiskey. A curious cowboy next to him, sipping a beer, asks, "New in town?" From there the plot spins in a dozen different directions.

I always wondered: Where did the beer come from? Quite simply, if the railroad was in town, the answer is St. Louis. Otherwise it was a local beer. Which got me thinking about the folks who made those beers.
Most of the information on this site comes from two primary sources: The Encyclopedia of Texas Breweries: Pre-Prohibition (1836-1918) by Michael Hennech, and American Breweries II by Dale P. Van Wieren. In a few cases, a city was suggested by the Handbook of Texas online. Several towns are described with breweries not in the previous lists.

If you have any information on these, or any other, breweries, please contact me. I am especially interested in photos and, if possible, recipes. I am a homebrewer and would like to brew a historic beer. If you run across the name of an ancestor during your genealogical research, please, drop me line. I may not know much, but I know more than is listed on these pages.

While I was gathering information for this book, I developed three rules of brewing in Texas. These rules are:

1.Whenever more than three Germans get together a keg of beer is involved.
2.If the Germans couldn't find a brewer, they appointed one.
3.Breweries always consolidate.

As a resut of Rules Number One and Two, breweries appeared in any community with a German population, except Nacogdoches and El Paso. Take out your Texas map. Draw a line from Houston northwest to Austin, southwest to San Antonio, and then back to Houston.

What you've done is outline the German/Middle European Heart of Texas. It was here that the Germans arrived followed by the Czechs and Poles, all lovers of beer. As a result, 90% of the breweries that ever existed in Texas are located inside that triangle.

Of course, the Germans spread all across Texas, and didn’t just stay in their little triangle. I could have as easily made the triangle run from Houston to San Angelo, down to Castroville and back to Houston, and gathered in 95% of the breweries in Texas. But the area inside what I call The Golden Triangle, odd names, weird accents, and fun-loving people.

It is, at the same time, the “real” Texas; where Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Juan Seguin, and Davy Crockett fought for Texas' independence from Mexico. While touring the Kreische Brewery at Monument Hill in LaGrange, I stood on the edge of the bluff, overlooking the town, and thought, “What a wonderful place.” And as I got to know Hubert Wolters, I realized I was more interested in the pioneer brewers and their lives than the big corporations.

I encourage you to pick up your map and visit all the cities listed in this book, and lift a cold beer to the pioneers of Texas brewing.

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