San Antonio Beer: Alamo City History By The Pint
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Brewing history and beer culture permeate San Antonio. The Menger Hotel and its bar notoriously frequented by Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders began as the city’s first brewery in 1855. The establishment of San Antonio Brewing Association and Lone Star Brewery at the close of the nineteenth century began the city’s golden age of brewing. Decades later, the Volstead Act decimated the city’s brewing community. Only one brewery survived Prohibition. Those that bounced back were run out of business by imports coming in on the new railroad. The 1990s saw a craft comeback with the opening of the oldest existing brewpub, Blue Star Brewing Company. Today, San Antonio boasts a bevy of new breweries and celebrates its brewing heritage. Grab a pint and join authors Jeremy Banas and Travis E. Poling for a taste of Alamo City’s hoppy history.
FROM THE AUTHORS
San Antonio Beer has the distinction of being apart of the research library of the Daughters of The Republic of Texas, keepers of the most comprehensive library of Texas history; as well as a part of the collection for the Weyerman International Beer Library located at Weyerman Malting in Bamberg, Germany.
"This collaboration from local craft brew enthusiasts Jeremy Banas and Travis E. Poling is made for reading while drinking."
- San Antonio Magazine
Pearl: A History of San Antonio’s Iconic Beer
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FROM THE PUBLISHER
'The finest flavored beer in the market. Be sure and try, and you will be convinced. Warranted to be the same at all times. Ask for it, drink no other.' In 1887, these were bold words about the City Brewery's new beer with the pearly bubbles, considering how the recent flood of German immigrants to Central Texas brought along expert fermentation. As that business evolved into the San Antonio Brewing Association, XXX Pearl Beer became the mainstay of the largest brewery in the state. Its smokestack formed an intrinsic part of the San Antonio skyline. A regional powerhouse for more than a century, it was the only Texas brewery to survive Prohibition. It also endured the onslaught of a president's scandalous death and Lone Star's fierce rivalry. Grab a pint and join author Jeremy Banas for a tour of Texas's most iconic brewery.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
A former milkman in the small village of Hoegaarden, Belgium, Pierre Celis opened a brewery that brought back the extinct witbier style of his native Hoegaarden and rejuvenated an old-world tradition throughout Belgium and Europe. Following a devastating fire in his native country, the godfather of witbier set up shop in Texas, where his passion took fresh shape in the form of Celis Beer and influenced an entire generation of beer lovers. His legacy continues under the stewardship of his daughter, Christine, who revived the brand in 2017, along with his granddaughter, Daytona, who brews there now. Author Jeremy Banas relates how the Hoegaarden legend founded Austin's first craft brewery.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Two different breweries from two different centuries, both steeped in German and Texas history, happen to be connected in name only. St. Louis’s seasoned beer man Adolphus Busch and several San Antonio businessmen sought to modernize brewing in Texas and leave their distinctive mark on the burgeoning industry. They brought more than just German lager, serving up porters and bocks as well. Ultimately, Prohibition precipitated their shuttering. Meanwhile, Karl Haegelin’s Sabinas Brewery in Sabinas, Mexico, raised the bar for quality while enduring the whims of Pancho Villa. Eventually, Haeglin would move the operation to San Antonio at the end of Prohibition. By 1940, name and ownership had changed too, rebranded as Busch’s old trademark—the Lone Star Brewing Company. The reborn Lone Star, steered by Harry Jersig, would craft a recognizable, purely Texas persona—in its identity, its approach to brewing, and its relationships with customers. Join author Jeremy Banas and savor the lineage and legacy of a cherished local libation.