Craft breweries, having already surged in popularity in recent decades, are enjoying a second renaissance during the COVID-19 pandemic as social life has moved outside. “I think back in the day before Bud, Miller, and Coors, you know, took over the American beer industry, there used to be a brewpub in every town,” says Ian Davis, co-owner of Texas Beer Company in Taylor. “And it’s just getting back to the way it used to be.”
A large patio or grounds, sometimes a short drive out of town, provided much-needed respite from the monotony of COVID times, and during Winter Storm Uri they contributed an even more life-saving resource than beer: potable water. While the rest of the city’s water was undrinkable, breweries had plenty on hand; after all, beer is 90% water, says Davis.
Read more from Lina Fisher with the Austin Chronicle here.