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    beer me!

    New bill allowing Texans to buy beer to-go from breweries on tap in state legislature

    Eric Sandler
    Feb 15, 2019 | 1:42 pm
    8th Wonder Brewery Procrastinator beer
    Beer-to-go could be a big deal for craft breweries like Saint Arnold.
    Courtesy photo

    A compromise between craft beer breweries and beer distributors should lead to a big win for Texas beer drinkers. The Texas Craft Brewers Guild and the Beer Alliance of Texas, an organization that represents beer distributors, have agreed to support proposed legislation that will allow consumers to buy beer to-go directly from breweries.

    Currently, Texas law only allows consumers to buy beer at breweries for on-premise consumption, and even that’s only been the case since 2013. Under the proposed legislation, currently working its way through the Texas Legislature as SB 312 and HB 672, consumers would be able to purchase up to 576 ounces (equivalent to two cases) of beer per person per day directly from a brewery. In exchange, both parties have agreed not to lobby for additional changes to the law, such as the 5,000 barrel annual limit on brewery taproom sales or the 10,000 barrel annual limit on production for brewpubs.

    CultureMap contacted representatives from three Houston craft breweries — Saint Arnold Brewing Company, 8th Wonder Brewery, and Holler Brewing Co — to gauge their reaction to the proposed legislation. All parties expressed optimism about what these changes could mean for both breweries and consumers.

    “f this historic piece of legislation goes through, everybody wins: brewers, distributors, retailers, beer drinkers,” 8th Wonder president and co-founder Ryan Soroka tells CultureMap. “This law would create another revenue stream for breweries that could fund growth and create more jobs. Additionally, this would create another marketing opportunity for breweries to connect with and educate their visitors, which would ultimately result in a positive economic domino effect through the different tiers of the industry.”

    Saint Arnold CMO Lennie Ambrose shares Soroka’s sentiments and even expresses support for the moratorium on future changes after this legislative session. “A brewery doesn't have to wonder what their business plan is going to be,” Ambrose says. “They know going in for the next 12 years everything is going to be status quo. Hopefully, that status quo works for everybody.”

    Holler Brewing co-owner John Holler sees potential benefits for his Sawyer Yards business. Currently draft-only, Holler will likely add the ability to sell Crowlers (32-ounce cans) once the legislation takes effect. “This deal gives beer drinkers what they’re asking for without waiting any longer for it,” he writes. “I’m very excited about it and I’m proud of my fellow board members for getting us this far.”

    Still, he remains an outspoken critic of the three-tier system that in most cases requires distributors to serve as a middleman between producers of alcoholic beverages and consumers and retailers. Currently, only breweries that produce fewer than 10,000 barrels per year may self-distribute, and the compromise that helped bring about the bargain will maintain that cap for the foreseeable future. Holler sees the deal as an opportunity for distributors to act in their own self-interest without any further challenges to their critical role in the market.

    Most of the beer you drink went through a distributor, not by the choice of you, or the brewer, or the retailer, but by the law. And that distributor has no competition by law (the brewery is bound to that one distributor for life!), so they charge an overpriced fee relative to the service they provide. This fee gets ultimately paid by the consumer and it’s their lifeblood. (Think of it like the Office Space penny-stealing scheme.)

    This scheme is what they dearly want to protect. By putting Beer To Go to bed, they’re hoping that the public and the media will calm down and let them get back to business as usual. If all they have to do is let us sell a limited amount of Beer To Go, AND if we agree not to push the agreed limits for the next 12 years, that’s a great deal for them.

    But consumers shouldn’t let a desire for a better deal — say, the ability to buy kegs directly from a brewery — get in the way of the good. Currently, Texas is the only state that prohibits breweries from selling beer-to-go directly to consumers. The proposed legislation would finally bring Texas breweries into equal footing with their peers in other states as well as Texas wineries and distilleries.

    “As we keep saying, Texas is the only state that doesn’t allow [to-go sales],” Ambrose notes. “We’re not looking for anything crazy: just the rights we should have as small businesses.”

    Allowing breweries to sell beer on-premise sparked incredible growth in taprooms statewide. Venues like the restaurant at Saint Arnold and Buffalo Bayou Brewing’s plans to build a massive new facility in Sawyer Yards wouldn’t have been possible without those changes.

    If these proposed regulations become law, they could bring special events for limited releases. Pretty soon, beer fans could celebrate a new brew’s arrival by drinking it on-premise and taking home a couple bottles for later. It sounds like a small thing, but it will make drinking beer in Texas a little more fun.

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    That's Amore!

    Pioneering Mexican chef and chic speakeasy popping up at Houston hotel

    Brianna Griff
    May 23, 2025 | 10:00 am
    Chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca
    Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel Houston
    Four Seasons Hotel Houston is hosting a two-night pop-up dinner featuring chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca.

    Houston diners won’t need a passport to explore Mexico’s culinary capital next month. On June 16 and 17, Four Seasons Hotel Houston will host From Oaxaca, With Love, a five-course experience that teams celebrated chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca with Oaxaca City cocktail bar Sabina Sabe and agave-spirits producer The Lost Explorer.

    The evening begins with Sabina Sabe bartender Mike Prado greeting diners with a cocktail in Bandista, the hotel’s speakeasy bar and lounge. The libations promise to be divine, with Sabine Sabe currently ranked No. 54 Best Bar in North America, and Bandista sitting at No. 59.

    From there, the party moves into a dining room filled with contemporary works supplied by Oaxaca Serrano Contemporary Art Gallery and underscored by live music.

    Ruiz, whose flagship Casa Oaxaca earned a spot in Mexico’s inaugural Michelin Guide, built his reputation by elevating the dishes he learned as a child cooking alongside his mother on the family farm.

    The chef stays close to his roots with recipes crafted using native ingredients such as chiles, corn, insects, and seeds purchased directly from local producers. Ruiz has long been considered an ambassador of the southern Mexican state — his enfrijoladas caused Noma’s famed Chef Rene Redzepi a moment of rapture.

    For his Houston appearance, diners can expect a true taste of Oaxaca: think a mini tostada topped with heirloom chapulines, chicatanas, and gusanos de maguey (grasshoppers, flying ants, and agave worms); red snapper cured in a bright tomatillo-rice-vinegar broth; and a slow-braised short rib finished in a fruit-laced mole.

    Prado will pair each course with cocktails such as the Pimiento Margarita, combining The Lost Explorer Tobalá mezcal with vermouth, peach, pimiento, cinnamon, and lime.

    “It is our great pleasure to welcome chef Alejandro Ruiz and Sabina Sabe to Houston, Texas,” Tom Segesta, Four Seasons Hotel Houston’s general manager, said in a statement. "These dinners, featuring these awarded ambassadors of Oaxacan food and drink, are sure to be enjoyed by our local community and guests from around the world.”

    The pop-up continues the hotel’s ongoing dinner-series format, which has previously spotlighted restaurants ranging from Emeril’s in New Orleans to Employees Only in New York and an Italian-American steakhouse from James Beard Award winner Chris Shepherd.

    From Oaxaca, With Love begins at 7 pm on Monday, June 16, and Tuesday, June 17. Seating is limited, with tickets priced at $250 per person plus tax and gratuity. Each reservation will receive a signed English-language copy of Ruiz’s cookbook The Food of Oaxaca: Recipes and Stories from Mexico's Culinary Capital. Reservations are available via OpenTable.

    Those who wish to linger can book the hotel’s Advance Purchase offer, which discounts room rates by up to 25 percent when reserved three or more days ahead.

    The menu features:

    Starter Trio

    • Mini tostada with heirloom insects
    • Zucchini blossom stuffed with ricotta and roasted banana purée
    • Hoja santa “taco” with quesillo, beans, and wild mushrooms

    Green Aguachile

    • Red snapper cured in tomatillo-rice-vinegar broth, Persian cucumber, red onion, cilantro, ginger-toasted peanuts
    • Cocktail: Pequeño Gigante – Madre Cuishe mezcal, hoja santa, ginger, lime, Oaxacan spices

    Tortilla Soup

    • Tomato-pasilla mixe broth, crispy tortillas, fresh cheese, cream, pork cracklings, mint-celery garnish
    • Cocktail: Pimiento Margarita – Tobalá mezcal, Mistela vermouth, peach, pimiento, cinnamon, lime

    Braised Short Rib

    • Anchamanteles mole, seasonal fruit relish, banana purée, crispy plantain
    • Cocktail: Agave Xerez – The Lost Explorer tequila, Palomino sherry, green apple, pear

    Textures of Oaxacan

    • Chocolate Mousse, sponge cake, ice cream, tuile, passion-fruit jelly, cacao nibs
    • Neat pour of Tobalá mezcal
    • Traditional water-based hot chocolate infused with cacao flower

    Chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca
      

    Photo courtesy of Four Seasons Hotel Houston

    Four Seasons Hotel Houston is hosting a two-night pop-up dinner featuring chef Alejandro Ruiz of Casa Oaxaca.

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    news/restaurants-bars

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