Looks cool, kind of an ape of Jester King's model but will be great to have a brewery to hit in Driftwood. Opens this Friday, April 20th. https://www.austin360.com/entertain...l-country-almost-here/DaueLIsI8RU5KRumyheopO/
"Brewed with the taste of place" sounds pretty close to "brewed with a sense of place" hah! Their opening taplist looked promising. Not sure where I saw it. I expect Jeff to march down the road and give them the what for if they keep up this naming:
Went there last night. I was impressed, all the initial offerings were solid. They have a lot going on with the whole sustainability thing...I don't necesarily think it is comeptition to JK in that sense. It just is another offering. They have their own farm, they are growing all the veggies they are using in their restaurant, all their meat is coming from neighbors, they plan to grow their own fruits for fruited lambics, etc. It is actually an impressive operation. With good beers. Their brewery already has a couple of GABF medals for saisons, so that should give you an idea for styles. He is also not a big IPA person, but they generally will have an IPA. They have already worked with local vineyards for barrels, and plan to use a lot of wine barrels. I went in not knowing what to expect, but left knowing I would be back. It is an impressive start for any brewery.
Great pics. Looks awesome. I plan on checking it out and am always psyched to have a new and relatively close brewery to hit... but the model is basically Jester King's, albeit a little more corporate looking, and could very well be competition considering the proximity. It's also difficult to imagine JK not being part of the inspiration for Vista, especially if these guys have any ties to the general Austin area. Not saying there's anything wrong with it, but seems obvious to me.
The owners are a couple who used to live here sometime back, lived in Europe, and moved back to Austin a couple years back. They had been looking to get away from the corporate world and start something like this, and it apparently came together with the land. I am sure the success of JK did not hurt in this, but it does not sound like their focus is the exact same beers as JK. They don't only plan to do farmhouse, but have a good mix of beer. It also seems like they had been planning for the whole concept of restaurant/brewery and eventually some "tiny home" rental properties on the land since the beginning. Not just a brewery. Another one that is opening that could also seem JK-ish would be Roughhouse near Middleton Brewing. Again, a ranch place with a similar feel.
I'm a JK fan and I love what they're doing and this is absolutely not a criticism of them, but I have a really, incredibly hard time with the idea that they have had a single original idea with respect to their brewing philosophies, the styles of beer they make and what they do with their land. Mixed culture fermentation, spontaneous fermentation, farm to table, "sense of place", etc. are all concepts that others have done for centuries and even american brewers specifically have been doing for a while before JK ever started. They are a pretty young brewery that came well after craft beer had started to become big. Again, none of that is in any way a criticism. They're doing great things and they are definitely influential in, in my opinion, a great way. More on topic, I'm excited to have another brewer of the stature Vista has in the area, especially somebody making more saisons. I had some beers from Brasserie St James several years ago and it was a positive experience.
And that is exactly how I feel. Yes, JK was the first in this area to do something like that. But, the way the restaurant/beer industries have evolved over the last 10 years, it should be no surprise that more of this sort of thing opens up around Austin. Full sustainability, everything grown out back, etc. This place seems like it has a jump start on where JK first was when they opened - meaning more investment or money put down. But, I am guessing that JK will not care one bit about another place with a similar philosophy around....I am guessing there will be more cooperation than rivalry there.
Good points. I agree with both of you, but never said JK were original with their model, more that they were the first for the area, as you also mentioned @aschwab Essentially, JK took all the risk in the Austin area (with this model), and other businesses/breweries-in-planning are able to use their model as a sort of precedent that it can work, and sustain itself for 8+ years. I'm sure that factors into business plans, specifically Vista's. All this being said, I am very much looking forward to Vista and plan on checking it out tomorrow.
@aschwab have to ask since you went, looks like they went for a brewpub license, did they have wine available also? Would love to do this, but would end up going with my wife and she doesn't do the beer thing
Checked this place out on Saturday. Very cool location, high-end brewhouse and taproom. Beautiful outdoor space, great for kids to run around. Beers were decent, they've got a long way to go though. No real stand outs. Commencement was the best one I had, kind of an entry-level barrel aged Brett beer (i.e. not sour). Food was good. I'll definitely be back, but as-is don't see it being a regular stop for me.
