St. Arnold Goes to Austin

* 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.

* 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!