Bounty of local brewers bursting with cheer

A year or two ago, I was grateful for the number of quality local breweries we enjoy in and around Austin but was wishing for a few more options. With all the growth we've had, especially in 2010, I wonder if in a year or two all the upstarts will still be alive and brewing. I'm like Fred Willard in "A Mighty Wind:" "Wha' happened?"

Back in the day we had Real Ale in Blanco — which has a huge hit with Fireman's No. 4 — Live Oak and Independence, North by Northwest, Draught House and Lovejoys. We lamented the loss of the old Waterloo brew pub and the Bitter End. But we got by.

Kevin Brand at (512) Brewing got going in the summer of 2007 and had a smash with his pecan porter. They've steadily grown, their whiskey barrel-aged double pecan porter just rolled out and the brandy barrel-aged (512) One, a Belgian strong ale, was the best thing I tasted at the Flying Saucer beer festival this year.

Brian and Tammy Smittle very quietly built Thirsty Planet. Ben Sabel and Judson Mulherin found a home for Circle. Ranger Creek in San Antonio became the state's first brewery and distillery, and their beer is already available in Austin. Jester King has also been available for a while. The sample of their Russian imperial stout is as good as any I've had, and you should be seeing 750-milliliter bottles of their winter seasonal soon. Hops and Grain is settling into its East Austin space, as is South Austin in, uh, South Austin. There's Austin Beerworks and Twisted X, the latter set to specialize in Tex-Mex-style beers. Pecan St. Brewing in downtown Johnson City is expecting to have beer out the door sometime early next year. The Root Cellar Cafe & Brewery in San Marcos is a small operation specializing in Belgians. Others that appear a little further off include Pedernales in Fredericksburg, Adelbert's, Moon Tower and some guy right now writing a business plan at his kitchen table. Or at least that's what their site says. Everybody's favorite South Austin beer store, the Whip In, plans to brew its own beers. In Wimberley, Bruce and Holly Collie downsized their brewery and restaurant into a brewery and pizzeria — and promptly moved that smaller operation into a bigger space with seven beers on tap. (Brewer Bruce, who played in two Super Bowls, has got a hickory-smoked porter just out, too.) And Brian Peters of Uncle Billy's has found time in between collecting medals at the Great American Beer Festival to help open a second Uncle Billy's location next to the Oasis on Lake Travis. That's great news for people who love the view at the Oasis but the food, not so much. (Although I haven't been there since the fire. Maybe the kitchen's improved.)

Finally, after a whole lot of beer socials, the Black Star Co-op, billed as the world's first cooperatively owned brew pub, finally opened. It hosted a Texas Craft Brewers Mini-Festival over the weekend. Their grand opening was Friday night, and if the two beers I had — porter and a sort of pale ale with mandarin orange — are any indication, the place is a welcome addition to the scene.

Footnote: If you're not into the whole "drink local" thing and aren't chain-averse, there's BJ's down south, with another set to open in the Shops at Arbor Walk.

My back-of-the-envelope scratching shows there's something like 16 breweries or brew pubs in various stages of development within an hour of Austin. And if I'm leaving anybody out, which I surely am, no offense.

All but a handful of these brewers had to go out and raise capital, which in this economy is a miracle to do successfully. Some, such as the Smittles at Thirsty Planet and South Austin's Jordan Weeks, have brewing experience. Others, such as Jester King's Jeff Stuffings, just got fed up with their day jobs — in his case lawyering — and decided to pursue their passions.

What's really cool aside from the plethora of new options is the variety and quality of the beer. Jester King has a deep portfolio, from Commercial Suicide, a low-alcohol session beer, to liver-busting, over-the-top styles. More impressive was their willingness to jump in almost immediately with playing with sometimes-unpredictable things like wild yeast and barrel aging. Thirsty Planet's Buckethead India Pale Ale is perfectly representative of the style, with 70 International Bittering Units, 10 more than a Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. And Weeks at South Austin says he won't brew anything lower than 7 percent alcohol. They'll make what they called back in February "aggressive beers that appeal to the already sophisticated craft beer drinker."