FREETAIL BREWING CO. ANNOUNCES OPENING OF SAN ANTONIO LOCATION

Locally owned and operated microbrewery takes flight on Black Friday

(November 7, 2008) San Antonio, TX – Freetail Brewing Co. will open the doors of their inaugural location on the corner of 1604 and NW Military in the Hill Country Plaza retail development on Thanksgiving weekend, November 28-30. The opening marks a fresh approach to San Antonio’s brewpub scene combining artisan pizza, salads and sandwiches with a microbrewery featuring unique selections of craft beer. Opening specials will include happy hour prices throughout the weekend.

          “My philosophy here is to explore the nuances of beer that most people didn’t even know existed,” said Scott Metzger, founder and operator of Freetail Brewing Co. “We will have the finest quality examples of traditional styles, but also some that may not have even existed a few years, or even days, ago.”

          The new location will offer spacious open seating, an outdoor patio with bar service, several high-definition televisions featuring live sporting events and take out service. Metzger plans on having eight to ten house style beers on tap at all times as well as have a number of draft beers from other Texas craft breweries and best wines from across the state.

Metzger first became involved with microbrewing through a passion for the unique and a quest to find some of the best craft beers in the U.S. and abroad. Metzger toyed with the idea of owning his own microbrewery, but it wasn’t until he began visiting breweries around the world that he finally decided to open Freetail Brewing Co.

“Having traveled to many beer-rich areas in both the U.S. and abroad, I developed a sense of what I really wanted to see in a brewpub. It should be a communal place where locals and visitors can enjoy a beer, some good food, catch a game and make a new friend,” said Metzger. “Unlike the English-styled pub, which seems to favor intimacy, I prefer a German-style biergarten approach that lends itself to interaction with your neighbors. Beer is a great way to make a new friend!”

  The Freetail name was chosen by Metzger to honor the official Texas flying mammal, the Mexican Free-tail Bat.

“The Mexican Free-tail Bat is an often overlooked and underappreciated little creature that makes our lives better through the work it does in the darkness of night,” said Metzger. “In many ways, I hope my little brewery is defined in the same manner. Maybe a little overlooked, but out there changing the beer culture for the better in San Antonio and throughout Texas.”

Freetail Brewing Co. is founded on the pursuit of creating exciting, innovative and unique world class beers and artisan pizzas. We embrace the laid back and fun-loving South Central Texas culture and set out to create products that mirror the lifestyle of our diverse and rapidly growing community. We believe in promoting an increased appreciation of craft beer and its responsible enjoyment. We believe in going above and beyond customer expectations not only through our products, but also through exceptional customer service. We believe in providing a dining and leisure experience unmatched in the local community.  And in case you didn’t get it the first time… we believe in having fun.

For more information visit www.freetailbrewing.com.

Yep… we moved the brewery in today.  It was hard, but it was most certainly worth it.  Beer coming soon.

Cheers,

Scott

First up, we got our boiler installed last week and it’s a beauty.  This may be the least sexy part of the brewery, but it’s the powerhouse of the whole operation.  No steam = no beer.

Next up, Monday saw the delivery and installation of our Kitchen’s walk-in cooler.  Here you can see step by step the transformation from empty space to completed cold room (credit to Brewer Jason, Chef Gary and Foreman Dave for a great modeling job).

Much to Gary’s delight, he got another one of his toys in today, our massive stone-hearth oven.  Here are a few shots of taking it off the truck, navigating it into place, and sitting in its new home, waiting to be unwrapped.

And lastly, we made a lot of progress on the installation of the cold room in the brewery, which will be home to thousands of gallons of beer waiting to hit your glass.  Below you can see Jason gloating to Gary over the sheer humongousness of his walk-in by comparison to Gary’s.  Poor Gary.

As you can see from the picture, the exterior of our building is complete. 

Inside of the building, all of the dry wall is up, most of our HVAC duct work is up and things are really starting to take shape.

Our gas-fired steam boiler will be delivered and installed on Tuesday, and shortly after we’ll be moving the brewery into its new home.  After that, the real fun begins as we mash in for the first time to get ready for opening.  Stay tuned for photos and (hopefully) videos of the install.

Speaking of which - we are targeting mid-November for our Grand Opening, but do not have a set date yet as there are still a couple of scheduling items that are up in the air. 

One question I often get from people when I tell them about Freetail is “now where are you guys exactly?”  We are in the Hill Country Plaza shopping center along the 1604 frontage at NW Military and 1604.  A landmark I like to refer people to is the windmill that sits just off our patio, seen in the photo below.

Lastly, our website is currently under development by a fantastic local firm, The Montopolis Group.  Keep an eye out for our new home on the web.  We have some great new merchandise in that will be available via our online store when the site launches.

Cheers!

Scott

In other news, this weekend’s Alamo City Cerveza Fest was a huge hit and included the awarding of the Freetail Lava Lamp to Kerry Martin of Austin, TX as the first ever Funkiest of Show award winner with his delicious “Ancho Lite”, a helles brewed with ancho chile peppers.  We’ll proudly serve Kerry’s beer when we open our doors to the public.

Cheers,

Scott

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(July 23, 2008) SAN ANTONIO, TX – The Alamo City Cerveza Fest (ACCF) homebrew competition and Freetail Brewing Co. announces the creation of the Funkiest of Show award to be presented at the 2008 ACCF. The ACCF will take place August 15-16 at a variety of San Antonio locations including Blue Star Brewery Co. and The Cove. The winning entry will be brewed by Freetail Brewing Co., scheduled to open at the corner of 1604 and NW Military in the Hill Country Plaza in October 2008.

“Brewers can get bogged down with style guidelines and lose sight of the beer. That’s not the Freetail way,” says Freetail Brewing Co. Founder and CEO Scott Metzger. “We wanted to loosen it up a bit, throw the guidelines out and have some fun.” 

Beers do not have to be entered in a special category for consideration, as all beers in the ACCF will be eligible for the award. Beers in the Best of Show round will be judged along with a number of “funky” entries nominated from across the contest. Blue Star Brewing Co. has brewed the Best of Show winner since the ACCF began in 2006.

While generally funk is referenced to as a bad word in relation with beer, Freetail Brewing Co. representatives argue against that stereotype insisting that if you “free your mind, your tail will follow.”

“When brewers use the term funky to describe beer, they are usually referring to either a sour beer, an infected beer, or a particularly interesting, but difficult-to-describe flavor like those found in Belgian beers,” says Freetail brewer, Jason Davis. “While of course, the funkiest of beers can be found in certain styles, we are looking to expand brewers’ concepts of what funk is. It may be a maple porter with smoked poblanos, an incredibly hoppy doppelbock, a lemongrass-infused lager, or a hamhock in your cornflakes. Bottom line, the Funkiest of Show will strike the best balance across the funkiest of extremes.” 

The Funkiest of Show gives brewers “a chance to brew your way–out of your constriction,” says Davis, paraphrasing an old funkadelic riff. “Oftentimes in competition, really good beers are entered in the wrong category and it may not fit the guidelines precisely and won’t advance. Funkiest of Show cuts through the formality of competition and gets to the soul of beer.”

For more information or to submit an online entry through July 26 please visit www.sabeergroup.org. Look for the 2008 Funkiest of Show winner at www.freetailbrewing.com and on tap at Freetail Brewing Co. when the funk ripens.

Well, today I recieved a package of documents from the United State Treasury officially recognizing Freetail as a commercial brewer, responsible for fun things like filing reports and paying taxes.

But none of that can happen without a place to brew, so here is an update on our building progress.  You can see where they’ve laid molds and rebar to pour the walls.  Pour walls?  Yep.  Concrete tilt-wall construction is all the rage these days, and they literally pour the walls on top of the slab, then erect them in place.  If you are driving by on 1604 in the next few weeks, you are likely to witness our walls going up.