January 24, 2007

Blogger happy hour at the brewery

We're having a happy hour at the brewery for bloggers next Monday the 29th from 6-8.

Here's the requirement: that you post about us on your blog. Heck, even if you start a blog today and post, we'll let you in.

We do ask that you RSVP just to give us a rough count of how many people to buy pizza for. We won't consider your RSVP to be set in stone, but it'll help us get a feel for how many people will show up. Email me (evan -at- saintarnold.com) or leave a comment to this post.

January 23, 2007

Small changes for a better Texas

Wyld Card had a long post the other day about the Friend of Texas Microbrewers effort. I particularly liked this bit.

It’s time to change these decades-old laws to promote the small business atmosphere that our elected leaders are constantly spouting about. Give our microbrewers a fighting chance, and they will flourish.

Microbreweries are one of the things that help make cities and states fun places to live. And of course, fun places to live have an advantage in attracting skilled workers and entrepreneurs necessary for Texas' economic future.

January 03, 2007

In the upcoming Austin Chronicle

Lee Nichols writes about us over on the Austin Chronicle's news blog, and promises to track our progress for the Chronicle's readers.

His lede:

Discrimination is an ugly thing, and Texas microbrewers have decided they won't put up with it.

In 2003, the Texas voters passed Proposition 11, which changed the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code to allow wineries to sell their product on the premises directly to consumers and not just wholesalers. But this provision only applies to vintners, and not to beer makers. Texas' five microbreweries have bonded to form Friends of Texas Microbreweries to lobby for a similar provision for their industry. A microbrewery is a company that produces less than 75,000 barrels per year, but not to be confused with brewpubs, which are bar/restaurants that brew their own.

Sweet. Look for it in print in the Austin Chronicle's upcoming Legislature Preview.

Back in the swing of things

Holidays slowed us all down a little bit -- well, except Brock, who's been talking to legislators -- but now it's time to get back in the game.

In the meantime, comment spammers have discovered this blog. It seems to be mostly one guy, who must've written an automated script, but he hasn't yet noticed that his comments aren't making it onto the blog. Instead, they're all getting weeded out by the spam filter. Which means that all I have to do is keep cleaning out my gmail spam box.

December 31, 2006

Microbreweries as tourist attractions

Houston isn't known as a travel destination, but it's nice that this city has some home-grown tourist attractions. One of those is the Saint Arnold brewery. For example, check out the blog of a Rutgers fan in town to see his Scarlet Knights beat Kansas State at the Houston Bowl in the ReliantDome:

Today is our last full day here before flying out, we were planning on getting in a round of golf, but the weather does not seem to be giving us much of a shot at that, so we are going to go around Houston and take a tour of the Saint Arnold Brewery.

December 20, 2006

Press still likes our story

As Evan just mentioned, San Antonio Current ran a great piece on us. Also, Channel 11 KHOU in Houston ran a very nice segment on our effort during the 6:00 news this evening. The Houston Business Journal will have an article coming out on us this Friday.

Several of the legislators I have spoken to have mentioned our press coverage. Just keeping the buzz going. Like the press, we try to use the beer puns as often as possible.

Cheers!
Brock


[Evan addition: Added a link in Brock's post. Also, I want to note that -- including lead-in -- we were 2 of the 30 minutes on tonight's newscast. Way to go Channel 11 News and Dan Lauck.]

San Antonio Current article

David Maass writes this in the San Antonio Current:

"Honestly, we're probably talking about selling a couple hundred barrels-a-year direct to the public," Wagner says. "But that couple-hundred barrels, if we sell direct to customers ... our profit goes from about a buck to a buck-fifty [per case] to about $13. That's like selling another two or three thousand barrels ...

"Breweries will be able to take that money, reinvest it in the brewery, market their beer better, grow better, hire more people," Wagner says.

St. Arnold's has banded together with Texas's other three breweries to launch a grassroots lobbying movement centered around a blog at Starnoldgoestoaustin.com. If it's not too much for us to speculate, if one bill passes in the upcoming legislative session, it'll be this one.

That's because all the Texas blogosphere is buzzing about it, and they're not just talking about pints and foam. The bill's a matter of supporting small businesses, a buzzword in every politicians' lexicon. The breweries don't have a bill sponsor yet, but their catchphrase is "Beer is a bipartisan issue," with lefty blogger Charles Kuffner (Offthekuff.com) endorsing it and Republican blogger "Evan" (Perryvstheworld.com) helping draft the bill.

My name is in "quotes"!

Excellent article by Maass, which also does some good reporting on brewpub licenses. I'll comment more later.

Legislators are playing nice

At 11 different legislators' offices, we have spoken either with the legislator or their staffers and all have been receptive to what we are trying to accomplish. We have follow up meetings scheduled already with 6 legislators. Next step is to ask for somebody to carry the bill for us.

Cheers!
Brock

December 19, 2006

People are still talking about us

* San Antonio Express News' Travis Poling wrote us up in Saturday's edition. The Houston Chronicle also printed a re-organized version Poling's story, leading Kevin Whited to wonder why they didn't cover us themselves. Charles Kuffner liked this part:

"For beer enthusiasts, making the connection between the beer and the place where the beer is brewed is very important," said Greg Koch, founder and CEO of Stone Brewing Co. in Southern California. "Could you imagine going to your local baker and not being able to buy the bread they made there?"

California breweries and brewers in several other states sell their beer to retailers through a distributor, but also sell at the breweries and brewery-owned restaurants that are much like brewpubs. The brewpub laws in Texas allow the beer to be sold only on premise and not in retail stores.

Koch said the beer culture in California and the Northwest has thrived in part because direct sales are allowed at microbreweries.

Vince liked it too.

* The progressives over at Texas Kaos have a thread with about 15 comments on the effort.

* John Gallaway profiles what it's like to take the tour at Saint Arnold's. It's pretty true to life.

* Jim from Vital Accurate Thinking applauds what we're doing, saying, "I would love to go on a tour and be able to purchase the product right there."

* Out of Austin, self-proclaimed beer snob Lee is quite happy about it too.

* And, for those out of state, they sometimes seem incredulous that Texas has such anti-microbrew laws. To wit, Alan says that the Friends of Texas Microbrewers effort "seems so obviously reasonable that you wonder why it even has to be made."

Thanks to all for writing about us!

December 15, 2006

Blogging campaign is working!

Thanks to all the bloggers out there for spreading the word. It is working! We have been contacted by three papers in Houston and San Antonio over the past 24 hours. The campaign is building!

Cheers!
Brock

Bios

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