Raise A Glass

Local craft beer brewers toast new Texas law

Craft beer breweries are celebrating Texas' new legislation.

Courtesy photo

KVUE -- Some new state laws have craft brewers across Texas making a toast. For the first time, the state's brew pubs can go head-to-head with others across the nation.

It's all because of a bill sponsored by Senator Kevin Eltife of Tyler. It allows brew pubs to sell their beers to distributors. Some in the industry say this means more money flowing into their businesses and the state of Texas.

When Davis Tucker opened North by Northwest in 1999, he wanted to sell his craft beers to as many people as possible. The problem was the popular brew pub could only sell its beer on site and not in stores.

“We have bottles, we have growlers, but again, you had to come right here to the brewery to get it,” Tucker said.

Thanks to a new state law, that's all changing.

“You can now legally sell our beer to distributors who can then sell it to get it into the market at grocery stores, pubs, etc.,” Turner said. “It really puts us on a much more level playing field with craft breweries from California, from Colorado, New Jersey, all these places that were able to do the things that we're now able to do.”

The passage of Senate Bill 515 means consumers will soon begin finding more craft beers produced in Texas available in stores, bars and restaurants across the Lone Star State and the nation.

It's good news not just for beer lovers, but for the brewers as well.

“It expands our market, which expands our sales, which low and behold actually creates jobs because the bigger we grow, the more people we need,” Tucker said. “It really benefits everybody across the board including the state, because the more beer we sell the more taxes for the state.”

Jason Bryant works for Adelbert's Brewery in North Austin. He says until recently, commercial breweries couldn't sell their beers on site.

“So we charged for a tour where you get a glass, and you get free beer,” Bryant said.

Senate Bill 518, which also passed this session, allows manufacturers and brewers who produce less than 225,000 barrels a year to be more like a bar.

“We can sell you beer on premises, but we're still not going to be able to sell you beer to take home,” Bryant said. “Wineries and vineyards in Texas are allowed to do it, so we're halfway there on that.”

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Read the full story on KVUE.com.

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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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