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Photo: James NIelsen / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Image 2 of 15 Nate Rebeck, left, is a college friend and former roommate of Justin Engle, right, in Colorado. He now is a brewer for Engle's forthcoming Town In City Brewing Co., 1125 W. Cavalcade. Nate Rebeck, left, is a college friend and former roommate of Justin Engle, right, in Colorado. He now is a brewer for Engle's forthcoming Town In City Brewing Co., 1125 W. Cavalcade. Photo: Ronnie Crocker / Beer, TX Image 3 of 15 Workers with Piper Whitney Construction pour concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Workers with Piper Whitney Construction pour concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle Image 4 of 15 Workers with Piper Whitney Construction pour concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Workers with Piper Whitney Construction pour concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle Image 5 of 15 Image 6 of 15 Workers with Piper Whitney Construction pour concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Workers with Piper Whitney Construction pour concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle Image 7 of 15 City Porter is one of the two beers due out first from Town In City Brewing. (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) City Porter is one of the two beers due out first from Town In City Brewing. (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) Image 8 of 15 City Amber is the other. (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) City Amber is the other. (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) Image 9 of 15 (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) Image 10 of 15 Image 11 of 15 (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) (Label image courtesy of Justin Engle) Image 12 of 15 (Image courtesy of Justin Engle) (Image courtesy of Justin Engle) Image 13 of 15 (Image courtesy of Justin Engle) (Image courtesy of Justin Engle) Image 14 of 15 A worker with Piper Whitney Construction spreads concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) A worker with Piper Whitney Construction spreads concrete at the Town in City Brewing Company Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, in Houston.( James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle ) Photo: James Nielsen / Houston Chronicle Image 15 of 15 Town in City Brewing, a new Heights brewery, gets a green light 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Exciting news, especially for beer lovers in my Heights neighborhood.

Town in City Brewing, a craft project that has been in the works for more than a year, has received its city construction permits and will break ground in about two weeks, owner Justin Engle says.

“I kind of thought someone was joking with me a little bit,” he said of the Friday morning phone call he got informing him that the paperwork had been approved for the brewing project he developed with partner Steve Macalello.

His suspicion was rooted in the fact that the property, a vacant lot at 1125 West Cavalcade, was purchased in August 2012 and Engle submitted the first permit application that December. There was a five-month setback over where the building setback should be, and a four-month wait over storm drainage. Then came mechanical and HVAC questions, etc.

Permit in hand, construction can now move forward and Engle and Macalello can get their brewing equipment — a 15-barrel brewhouse and four 30-barrel fermentation tanks — out of storage near the Ship Channel, where it’s been for about a year. The would-be brewery owners decided to go ahead and buy in part because they thought the permit process would move more quickly and in part because there is so much demand for that brewing equipment of that size that they didn’t want to be delayed waiting on stuff.

If all goes according to plan — and Engle probably knows better than to be surprised if it does not — Town in City could be selling beer by July or August.

The brewery decided to stick with a commercial brewery (rather than brewpub) license, and recent changes in state law will allow Town in City to sell up to 5,000 barrels a year on site.

Engle said the plan is to have the brewery open by August or September for people to come in and drink beer there and to self-distribute kegs primarily to Heights-area establishments.

I’m lucky to have had some of Engle’s homebrew in the past and I am looking forward to having a place to bicycle over to and try the professional grade versions.

Town in City will start with four beers, two “City” series beers, an amber and a robust porter, and two in an as-yet-unnamed series. The latter will include Mosquito’s Revenge pale ale and Chipped Tooth IPA.

The latter beer label shows a woman with a chipped tooth. I asked Engle the story behind it. Turns out he and friends were out enjoying a few beers some years ago in Golden, Colo., when one of the friends stumbled and chipped her tooth on one of the bronze statues that are apparently common in the downtown area.

“When you start drinking IPAs, things can happen,” Engle said. “And you can get some funny stories to tell.”

Check out the photo gallery above to see the full lineup of Town in City beer labels.

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“Houston Beer: A Heady History of Brewing in the Bayou City” is available in bookstores and in e-book format. Find out about signings and other events at facebook.com/HoustonBeerBook.