Industry Alcoholic beverage Products Beer Phone +1 817-810-9266 | Founded 2004 Owner Fritz Rahr | |
Headquarters Near Southside, Fort Worth, Texas, USA Address 701 Galveston Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76104, USA Hours Closed today ThursdayClosedFridayClosedSaturday1–3PMSundayClosedMondayClosedTuesdayClosedWednesday5–7:30PMSuggest an edit Similar Martin House Brewing, Panther Island Brewing, Collective Brewing Project, Miller Coors LLC, Chimera Brewing Company Profiles | ||
Rahr and sons brewing company brew for you
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.
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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. 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. 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. At first, all of the Rahr beers were self-distributed. Rahr's first two beers were Blonde Lager and Rahr's Red amber lager. These were not available in bottles until December 2004, the same month in which Rahr's third beer, Ugly Pug Black Lager, was released. In July 2005, after months of tap-only availability, Ugly Pug appeared in bottles as well.
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.
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. 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. By the next year, the Miller distributor in Denton was handling the supply for the Denton/north Dallas region.
Rahr's Bucking Bock appeared in the spring of 2006 and was preceded by a logo contest similar to the one for Pecker Wrecker. Summertime Wheat appeared on July 8, followed in November by Winter Warmer, the first non-German Rahr beer.
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. Two new beers were introduced by Rahr in 2007: Stormcloud IPA, released in March, and Oktoberfest Fall Celebration Lager, released in September. Rahr began working with Andrews Distributing of Dallas in autumn 2007.
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.
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. This beer won the same award again in summer 2006, while Bucking Bock won honorable mention in the division as a Maibock. 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.
The Dallas Observer awarded Rahr's Blonde Lager "Best Local Beer" in the summer of 2005.
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.
Community Involvement
Rahr also sponsors a local adult soccer club, called the Rahr Football Club. 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.