Rahr and Sons Brewing Company

Rahr & Sons Brewing Company
Industry Alcoholic beverage
Founded 2004
Headquarters Near Southside, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Products Beer
Owner Fritz Rahr

Rahr and Sons Brewing Company is a brewery in Fort Worth, Texas. USA, owned by Fritz and Erin Rahr. Since opening in 2004, Rahr has introduced nine beers, eight of which have been bottled. Rahr beers are distributed throughout most of North Texas (including the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex), as well as in Austin, Houston, San Antonio, San Marcos, New Braunfels, Waco, Temple, College Station, Amarillo and surrounding areas.[1]

Early history

The Rahr and Sons brewery was established in 2004 in a warehouse south of downtown Fort Worth by Frederick "Fritz" Rahr and his wife Erin, with a great deal of support from family and friends.[2] Fritz Rahr, a former railroad company worker who has studied brewing in Germany and at the Siebel Institute, is a graduate of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. When the brewery began production in the summer of 2004, its original head brewer was Jason Courtney, the 2002 Great American Beer Festival Small Brew Pub Brew Master of the Year, who had run Hub City Brewpub in Lubbock, Texas.[3] Courtney installed the brewery and created the original recipes.

After Courtney's departure, James Hudec of Brenham Brewery was named brewer for the following six months.[4] At first, all of the Rahr beers were self-distributed. Rahr's first two beers were Blonde Lager and Rahr's Red amber lager.[5] These were not available in bottles until December 2004, the same month in which Rahr's third beer, Ugly Pug Black Lager, was released.[6] In July 2005, after months of tap-only availability, Ugly Pug appeared in bottles as well.[7]

Developments since 2005

In September 2005, Rahr introduced its first seasonal beer: Pecker Wrecker Imperial Pilsner, a Sterling- and Perle-hopped pilsener with the substantial strength of 7% alcohol by volume (ABV). This tap-only release was accompanied by a logo design contest, in which entries had to include a woodpecker in a tow truck. The winning logo appeared on tap handles, t-shirts, and beer glasses.[8]

At about the same time, Rahr was forced to lay off most of his employees due to financial pressures and take on the role of brewmaster himself. In the wake of this change, Rahr worked long hours and received help from a volunteer team of over two dozen local home brewers and beer enthusiasts, particularly with bottling and packaging.[9] At this point, the company also shifted the task of distribution over to distributors in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, including the regional Coors distributor and Authentic Beverages Co., Inc.; as a result, Rahr beer became available across a larger geographic area.[10] By the next year, the Miller distributor in Denton was handling the supply for the Denton/north Dallas region.[11]

Rahr's Bucking Bock appeared in the spring of 2006 and was preceded by a logo contest similar to the one for Pecker Wrecker.[12] Summertime Wheat appeared on July 8,[13] followed in November by Winter Warmer, the first non-German Rahr beer.[14]

In January 2007, Tony Formby joined Rahr as an equity partner. Following this, the company re-expanded its staff. Gavin Secchi of Addison was hired as brewer.[15] Two new beers were introduced by Rahr in 2007: Stormcloud IPA, released in March,[16] and Oktoberfest Fall Celebration Lager, released in September. Rahr began working with Andrews Distributing of Dallas in autumn 2007.[17]

Current line of products

Iron Mash Competition

Since the summer of 2004, the Rahr and Sons Brewery has been the location of the annual Iron Mash Competition, a homebrewing competition based on the premise of the television show Iron Chef (that is, to brew a beer from provided ingredients) and hosted by the Cap and Hare Homebrewing Club of Fort Worth, TX.[29]

Awards and recognition

At the summer 2005 semiannual United States Beer Tasting Championship (referred to as USBTC from this point on), Rahr's Blonde Lager won the award of Best of the Rockies/Southeast in the Dortmunder/Helles category.[30] This beer won the same award again in summer 2006, while Bucking Bock won honorable mention in the division as a Maibock.[31] Rahr's Ugly Pug won Best of the Rockies/Southwest at the winter 2006 USBTC in the Black Lager category. Most recently, Rahr's Summertime Wheat was recognized as the best wheat beer in the Rockies/Southwest division during the summer 2007 USBTC.[32]

The Dallas Observer awarded Rahr's Blonde Lager "Best Local Beer" in the summer of 2005.[33]

In the Zymurgy magazine reader's poll of summer 2006—the fourth annual Best Commercial Beers In America survey--, Rahr was voted the fifth best brewer in the United States. Among the poll's top ranked beers in the U.S., Ugly Pug tied for 15th place, Bucking Bock and Rahr's Red both tied for 21st place, and Blonde Lager tied for 32nd place.[34]

Community Involvement

Rahr also sponsors a local adult soccer club, called the Rahr Football Club.[35] The club has won 11 FWASA League titles and 3 Tournament titles to date. Currently, the club has 8 teams and roughly 120 members playing in the Fort Worth Adult Soccer Association.

References

  1. Harle, Cristall J (2010-12-17). "Potential Cities for Expanding Distribution: Rahr and Sons Brewing Company" (PDF). University of North Texas Department of Geography. Retrieved 2012-10-17.
  2. Shlachter (2004-09-26). "Career Hops: Fritz Rahr Quit Railroads To Open a Fort Worth Microbrewery". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. p. 1F.
  3. "Microbrewery Offers Tours and Tastings". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 2004-09-18. p. 1C.
  4. Barry Shlachter, "Microbrew Finally Hitting Stores," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 December 2004, 1F.
  5. Shlachter, "Career Hops: Fritz Rahr Quit Railroads To Open a Fort Worth Microbrewery," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 26 September 2004, 1F.
  6. Shlachter, "Microbrew Finally Hitting Stores."
  7. Shlachter, "Rahr & Sons Unleashes Ugly Pug," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 6 July 2005, E6.
  8. Shlachter, "These Seasonal Brews Pack a Punch," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 30 November 2005, E2.
  9. Shlachter, "Helping Hands: Rahr & Sons Brewery Relies On a Hardy Bunch Of Lager-Loving Volunteers Who Get the Beer Bottled, Packaged and Ready To Ship," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 June 2006, C1.
  10. Shlachter, "News from Rahr," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 5 October 2005, E4.
  11. Shlachter, "Helping Hands."
  12. Shlachter, "Rahr's Bucking Bock Packs a Wallop," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 March 2006, E5.
  13. Shlachter, "Beer Of the Week," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 July 2006, E6.
  14. Shlachter, "Beer of the Week," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 November 2006, E8.
  15. Shlachter, "Brewing up success," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 March 2007
  16. Shlachter, "Beer of the Week," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 March 2007, E8.
  17. Colin Lymer, "New Distribution in Dallas/Plano/Corpus Christi," Rahr News Brief 12 October 2007.
  18. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/iron-thistle.html
  19. Shlachter, "Beer of the Week," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 March 2007, E8.
  20. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/stormcloud.html (accessed July 6, 2007)
  21. Shlachter, "Beer of the Week," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 21 March 2007, E8.
  22. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/bucking-bock.html
  23. Shlachter, "Beer Of the Week," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 12 July 2006, E6.
  24. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/summertime-wheat.html
  25. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/gravel-road.html
  26. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/oktoberfest.html
  27. Shlachter, "Beer of the Week," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 November 2006, E8.
  28. http://www.rahrbrewing.com/our-beers/seasonal-beers/winter-warmer.html
  29. Joe Johnson, "Upcoming Club Events, In the Brew Kettle 1.1 (May 2004): 6.
  30. Chester, NH - The United States Beer Tasting ChampionshipTM completed the winter session for its sixth annual competition on July 1-2, 2000
  31. Chester, NH - The United States Beer Tasting ChampionshipTM completed the winter session for its sixth annual competition on July 1-2, 2000
  32. Chester, NH - The United States Beer Tasting ChampionshipTM completed the winter session for its sixth annual competition on July 1-2, 2000
  33. Dallas - Best Of - Best Local Beer - Rahr Blonde Lager (2005)
  34. Jill Redding, "Ride to Victory," in Zymurgy (July/August 2006): 19-23.
  35. Official Rahr Football Club Website

External links

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