Austin Brewery Prints Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s Phone Number on Beer Cans

Austin Brewery Wants People to Call the Texas Governor
Hudson Bend brewery Infamous Brewing Company is printing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office phone number on the bottom of its Bugsy’s Amber Ale beer cans. The company urged people to call the governor and tell him that “brewery taprooms are not bars,” according to its Facebook page.

Currently, bars (aka businesses that make more than 51 percent of sales in alcohol) have to remain closed to mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus. However, if bars and breweries can prove that they are now making less than 51 percent in alcohol sales (by excluding retail and to-go sales) while also serving food (from an on-site kitchen, permanent food truck, or by recently partnering with a different food truck or food vendor, which would also alter those ratios), these businesses can apply for new permitting that would designate them as restaurants, thus allowing them to reopen for in-person services.

Despite this allowance, Infamous will continue printing Abbott’s number. Co-founder Josh Horowitz told the San Antonio Current: “No matter what changes they make to the rules at this stage in the game, we’ll continue this campaign to change the classification of what a brewery or winery is versus what a bar is.” The brewery has reopened its taproom this week, and it is selling to-go beers.

Haitian Food Truck
Nahika Hillary, the owner and chef of Haitian food truck Kreyòl Korner, spoke about her food business to Tribeza. She shared that she decided to open the truck after she moved to Austin from Boston in 2015, and found that there weren’t a lot of Caribbean restaurants in the city, “when Austin’s considered to be one of the food capitols.” She did lose a lot of catering jobs at the beginning of the pandemic, but has refocused since then and is now planning on opening a Houston location in the fall.

Austin Brewery Expansion
North Burnet brewery Circle Brewing Company is in fact opening a second location out in Elgin. The new location will eventually house the brewery’s beer production facilities, as well as farmland to grow wheat, barley, and hops for said-beer. Designing the new brewery is Dick Clark + Associates, which will feature a taproom within a quonset hut. Co-owners Ben Sabel and Jud Mulherin will hold onto the original West Braker Lane location, though it will only function as a taproom and event space when the Elgin brewery opens in the summer of 2021. Construction on the new property began this week. Currently, Circle’s taproom is open and it is also selling to-go beer.