Yes we ‘can.’ Beer to go (finally) kicks off in...

The highly anticipated beer-to-go legislation officially goes into effect Sunday, and local breweries are planning to celebrate the occasion by offering up cans, growlers and crowlers of beer for visitors to bring home — a simple act that has been illegal in the state of Texas until now.

“We still don’t really believe it,” said John Holler, who along with his wife Kathryn, owns Holler Brewing in Houston’s Sawyer Yards district. “Without this, our beer would never be in a can, because at our size, it just wouldn’t make sense to sell cans unless we could sell them directly to the consumer.”

John Holler has been a key part of the push to help Texas become the 50th state in the nation to allow beer-to-go sales, joining the board of the Craft Brewers Guild. While Texas craft brewers spent more than a decade advocating for beer to go, it wasn’t until the run-up to this 86th Legislature that the movement reached is full force with the formation of the guild, a political action committee.

The state Senate unanimously passed the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Sunset Bill, to which beer to go was attached as an amendment, in May, just hours before time ran out to ratify new legislation, and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott at Austin Beerworks in June.

For the Hollers, beer to go has been such a hard-won battle that he’s decided to host an all-day “Extravacanza” at their brewery.

“We’re going to open our doors at 10 a.m., which is the second your right to buy beer to go for us commences,” he said. “We’re not waiting a minute longer than we have to.”

In preparation for the event, Holler called in a mobile canning company, American Canning, to fill cans of six of their beers, including Holler’s personal favorite, Dollar Pills Y’all.

“We’re really, really excited,” he said. “The first time you get your beer in a can, it’s cool. It’s special. It’s up there with the first time you get your beer on tap.”

True Anomaly, the new sour-forward brewery on the east side of downtown, also ran beers through the line at American Canning, to create a line of crowlers, which they’ll release on-site Sunday while they host a celebratory Connect 4 tournament to mark the historic occasion.

For some of the city’s larger breweries, the novelty of being able to sip their beer from cans isn’t quite as potent as it is for Holler, where beers have always been available exclusively from the tap.

At Southern Star Brewing in Conroe, brewers will celebrate by releasing some of their specialty beers, like a tequila-aged Trippel and others in can and growler-fills.

And at the city’s largest — and oldest — brewery, Saint Arnold, the shift to beer to go will be more subtle.

“We’ll be selling beer to go when we open at 11 on Sunday,” said Priscilla Walker, spokeswoman for Saint Arnold. She listed a variety of beers that will be available for purchase, including bottles of the sought-after 25th anniversary beer released earlier this year, Grand Cru, and perennial favorites like Art Car and Lawnmower.

Those buying beers likely won’t notice any difference at the beer garden bar though. The cans and bottles will be for sale in the merchandise shop, and Saint Arnold has decided not to take on growler sales at the moment.

While the shift will be less pronounced there, Walker is still excited for the new opportunity that beer to go brings, especially for advancing the brewery’s brand for out-of-towners.

“I think about how when I go and travel, and I go to other breweries, sometimes I don’t get a chance to go to the store, so it’s nice to be able to buy the beer right there on site,” she said.

maggie.gordon@chron.com;

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