LAST CALL: Taylor beer business tapping out Foreclosure of Texas Beer Co. leaves fate uncertain
Waning interest in craft beers, climbing area rents and not enough downtown visitors are among factors that led to foreclosure proceedings against Texas Beer Co., a co-founder said.
J.D. Gins told the Press the business he helped launch in 2016 was being foreclosed by creditors following an inability to pay back pandemic-era loans to private investors totaling some $1.2 million.
The business now consists of a brewery at 1331 W.
Second St. after the shuttering of the company’s taproom two years ago – both enterprises formed as part of a community upgrade.
By virtue of the foreclosure, Texas Beer Co. LLC is now under ownership by real estate developer Perry Lorenz and Kaitlyn Olle, operating as 2.0 Brewing Co., he said.
File photo Reached by telephone, Olle declined comment.
“We continued to exist through the pandemic, but we had to take out loans and they’re maturing now,” Gins said.
Foreclosure sparks winding down
The future of the brewery also hangs in the balance as officials of 2.0 Brewing Co. have given notice to foreclose on all assets, including the brewing equipment and intellectual property – chiefly the Texas Beer Co. name.
For now, Gins said there are no plans to lay off any of the 17 brewery workers – 11 working full time and several more part time.
The brewery produces regional favorites such as Wild Texas Kolsch, Hop Rodeo Hazy IPA, K9 Lager, Bill Pickett Porter, King Grackle Stout and more.
The brewery will continue to operate and be a presence at events such as the upcoming Oktaylorfest scheduled for Saturday, Gins said.
While the aftereffects of the pandemic figured prominently in the closure, Gins blames a confluence of factors playing into the Texas Beer Co. demise.
For one, he said the craft beer craze of the 2010s has since waned.
That view is backed up by data from the Brewers Association, which reports a 3.9% reduction in production to 23.1 million barrels nationwide as compared to 2023.
Increased rental payments also figured into the mix with hikes resulting from area development, he said.
Gins also noted envisioned bolstered foot traffic lured by downtown beautification or emanating from corporate development has yet to materialize.
Then there’s the business operation itself.
Gins acknowledged Second Street Station bar operators who took over Texas Beer Co.’s original home in the McCrory Timmerman Building at Second and Main streets are open longer hours and on more days than Texas Beer Co. was, with the added lure of a kitchen and array of liquor that his company didn’t offer.
His shuttered taproom previously at the same location closed on Mondays and operated from 4-10 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and from noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. By contrast, Second Street Station is open seven days a week – until 2 a.m. on Thursday through Saturday.
Second Street Station also has a dedicated kitchen serving traditional pub grub including burgers and fish and chips while Gins’ version had a partnership with a barbecue provider to provide food to patrons.
While beer continues to flow at the McCory building taproom, it’s now done by Second Street Station, with some of Texas Beer Co.’s offerings poured in a nod to the predecessor.
No ill will
Despite the closure, Gins expressed no ill will toward his creditors.
“We’re not mad at them,” he said. “These are the folks who paid for the operation. It’s a business, and they’ve invested a lot of money and time into it.”
Opened in May 2016 – “the first Saturday in May,” Gins vividly recalled – the Texas Brewing Co. was launched as part of a municipal effort to revitalize downtown in the wake of bolstered development sparked by construction of a $17 billion Samsung Austin Semiconductor plant set to be operational by the end of 2026, he said.
Municipal leaders anticipated a heightened pace of traffic resulting from corporate expansion and sought amenities designed to cater for the envisioned influx, Gins said.
To that end, Gins said members of the City Council and the Economic Development Corp. forged something of a master plan to energize the business sector to accommodate increased foot traffic spurred by Samsung.
The effort was two-pronged, with council members pursuing downtown retail revitalization while economic development officials sought creation of manufacturing facilities.
To fulfill the dual role, Gins helped launch the taproom at 201 N. Main St. in the historic McCrory Timmerman building – a 42,000-square-foot mixeduse site in the heart of downtown that served as centerpiece for beautification efforts.
To spur development, Texas Beer Co. was awarded an incentives package from the city and the EDC totaling $400,000 – a loan that was ultimately forgiven after the company fulfilled loan obligations.
The money helped finish out the bar and complete the building of the brewery.
The taproom at Second and Main closed in December 2023 and is now the Second Street Station, a bar and restaurant.
Responding to economic development officials’ manufacturing focus, Gins and his business partners opened the complementary brewery at 1331 W. Second St. a mile west of downtown – the source of craft beer that continues to be sold at various area retailers, including H-E-B.
The new owners plan to maintain the staff and brewery toward continuing production and distribution of Texas Beer Co. products, Gins said.
But the Texas Beer Co. LLC enterprise eventually will cease operations and the company will wind down.
However, a timeline for that is unclear, he added.
Civic contributions flowed beyond beer “We moved to Taylor to start this brewery and be part of the revitalization effort downtown,” Gins said of his relocation from Austin.
His wife and co-founder of the business, Megan Klein, served as CEO while occasionally “slinging beer in the tap room,” as described on the corporate website.
“We spent a lot of time and effort trying to bring people to Taylor and making sure they visited the taproom and walked around with their beers looking at the other shops,” Gins said.
The couple’s efforts extended beyond serving up suds, he noted.
“Whenever any nonprofit asked for anything, we’ve done the best to help them out,” he said.
Gins said he’d also set up remote tastings at area festivals to further drum up business and awareness.
But perhaps the defining moment showcasing civic contributions emerged during the historic winter storm of 2021 marked by power outages and frozen pipes that caused drinking- water shortages.
The Texas Beer Co. brewery opened its doors to residents lined up to have their water containers filled for home use, he recalled.
“We opened the brewery and provided water for four days,” Gins said, noting the business also transported water from their tanks to rural parts of Williamson County and area homeless shelters.
“The lines stretched down the street more than a mile,” he said of the queue of residents seeking potable water.
The brewery site became a de facto emergency center.
“The whole town was running an emergency response out of our brewery,” he said, recalling firefighters’ use of blowtorches to melt ice on the distinctive U-shaped driveway fronting the brewery.
In the end, some 14,000 gallons of water was provided during the crisis.
Future plans
Gins now is left to mull his professional future after launching a business that grew out of a longtime craft beer hobby.
He formerly served as campaign manager for Shelly “Lee” Leffingwell – who would serve as Austin’s mayor from 200915 – but didn’t mention reentry into the political arena.
With a 10-month-old infant at home, one might say his focus has shifted from beer to baby.
“As far as what’s next for me, I will continue to help the new entity. In the meantime, I’ve got a mountain … to do to wind it down. Maybe my cool demeanor is masking anxiety,” he joked.
