Cheers!

Austin craft brewers may now sell beer to-go after Texas 'drafts' historic bill

Craft breweries beer cans Zilker Brewing Company Austin Beerworks Uncle Billy's

Starting in September, Texans can take beer home from breweries.

Photo by Nicole Raney

After years of being burdened by what many dubbed an unfair regulation, the Texas craft beer industry scored a major legislative victory on June 15. In a ceremony held at Austin Beerworks, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 1545, allowing breweries to sell beer to-go beginning September 1.

The new law corrects a longtime complaint for Texas brewers. Prior to its passage, Texas was the only state that did not allow beer makers to sell beer for off-premise consumption. Industry advocacy groups argued that small breweries were put at a disadvantage because wineries and distilleries are allowed to sell direct product to consumers.

Texas lawmakers agreed in a rare sign of bipartisanship. Support for correcting the issue was ratified in both the Democratic and Republican 2018 party platforms before state Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin) and state Sen. Dawn Buckingham (R-District 24) introduced companion bills in the legislature in February. The issue was later tacked onto a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission sunset bill before ratification.

The bill also drew the endorsement of two trade associations often at odds. The Texas Craft Brewer Guild, representing almost 300 independent craft breweries, and the Beer Alliance of Texas, representing malt beverage distributors, reached a historic agreement in February to lend support, according to a release.

“[The bill] corrects a glaring disparity in the state’s alcohol laws and gives Texans the freedom to purchase beer-to-go when they visit a local brewery, just like they can when they visit a Texas winery, distillery, or brewpub,” says Rodriguez in a release. “Texas should be a leader when it comes to supporting small businesses, not the last horse to cross the finish line.”

The new law does come with caveats. Each guest will only be able take home 288 fluid ounces of beer a day, the equivalent of case. The cap might not be ideal for doomsday preppers but should do most customers just fine.

Limitations or not, the bill’s passage was cause for celebration. Upon signing the bill, Abbott and key stakeholders marked the occasion by saying cheers with cans of Austin Beerworks’ Pearl Snap.

Belles of the Ballroom

9 Austin bar and venue experts take over popular Old Austin space near UT

29th Street Ballroom/Facebook

Changes are coming at the 29th Street Ballroom, but the goal is to preserve what already makes it special.

The evolution continues at the 29th Street Ballroom, the music venue formerly attached to Spider House Café. It's no secret, Resound Presents CEO and co-founder Graham Williams says, that he and a large team of other industry pros are taking over the space; but now they're ready to talk about what comes next for the venue and adjoining bar.

Although Spider House Café closed in 2020, the Ballroom stayed open, and has continued serving University of Texas students and anyone else who wants to see a show outside of the ordinary: punk shows, burlesque revues, fundraisers, and more. It'll stay open through most of the renovations, scheduled through January of 2025, and is expected to hold a grand opening in March.

Now Resound — one of Austin's top live music organizers, which was itself born from the ashes of another Austin institution — is lending two of its co-founders to managing the space going forward: Williams and Ian Orth. They're joining seven other team members from venues around town, many of them overlapping: Amy Mullins, Brian Tweedy, Jason McNeely, John Yaklin, and Shannon LeBoeuf of Hotel Vegas, Chess Club, Kinda Tropical, Tweedy’s, and Yellow Jacket Social Club, in varying capacities; and Brian Buscemi and Mike Sanchez of the Little Darlin’.

Williams emphasizes that although things will be changing at the Ballroom, the goal isn't to change anything people already love.

"Over the next few months as we kind of ease into the spring, we're using this downtime to revitalize things, decorate, revamp some of the stuff in the venue and the bar, and just kind of get things moving in the right direction," Williams says, "taking what's already popular about the venue and just adding to it, really."

Bar updates
The biggest shift will be turning the bar from an accessory to live shows into its own entity that's open even when there's nothing else going on. Amy Mullins, best known as a co-owner of Yellow Jacket Social Club, is overseeing that transition. She's never operated a venue that is primarily focused on music, and has been enjoying learning more about how to do it; she even worked the door recently when a staff member called out sick.

Mullins echoes Williams in assuring that the change is more about logistics than tone. It'll still feel like Old Austin, but she does express a hope to run more than the "typical venue bar," handing out simple drinks as quickly as possible. She's working on a new menu that includes wine, beer, craft cocktails, and non-alcoholic options like tea, kombucha, or mocktails. Regardless of what's on the schedule on any given night, Mullins says the menu will stay the same.

"There's no drink too complicated for us to make, however busy we are," she says.

Food options
Another goal for the team will be making sure the space works when there's not someone onstage to crowd around. They'll expand the front and side patios and create a food truck food court that features the same trucks that are there now, plus one newcomer. All in all, that includes Yalla Burger & Wings, Gyro Center, Li’l Nonna’s Vegan Pizzeria, Guppy’s Indian Fried Chicken, Waylon J’s BBQ, and Ay Chihuahua Tacos.

The expanded patio will connect to Tweedy's Bar next door, which also has its own food trucks. The idea is to create a space to hang out after shows that feels fit for the purpose. It's possible to stick around after events now, but the layout does create a vague feeling of loitering.

Artist and fan-friendly tweaks
On the entertainment side, Williams says some of the renovations include putting in a new sound system, redoing the green room, updating the facade, and repainting signs. Since the winter is a slower time for live music, they'll be taking advantage of the extra time to work on things before packing the calendar with more events than before. Resound will handle most of the bookings in live music, comedy, and DJ sets, welcoming both national and local talent.

Whatever the details end up being, this team has proved to Austinites that they know how to run venues worth visiting. And since they're all friends and business partners on multiple levels, it sounds like having this many cooks in the kitchen just isn't an issue.

"Some of us have been roommates and known each other since we were young," says Williams. "It's a good mix of people who are all very like minded, so a lot is being brought to the table per decision. So yeah, it's it's really exciting. Sometimes that's not the case. .... But with this project, it's a lot of really great, creative people that are good at what they do [and] they trust each other."

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