Fulbrook Ale Works Opening in Texian’s Old Facility, Putting the Rumors to Bed

After a bit of digging, asking, and a few vague responses, we got the news straight from the horse’s mouth.

You may have been keeping up with this story that started with our last post. We were originally trying to shut down the rumor mill, but that’s real hard when the rumors are halfway true!

A quick glance at Fulbrook’s site reveals that changes are taking place by the day. When we first broke the news, their site featured a TBD location, and now it’s clearly showing 1125 FM 359. Fulbrook took over the facility on August 1, 2017, but owner Jeremiah Ivey wanted to give Josh and Texian a proper opportunity to visit with friends and patrons one last time. That’s honorable.

This post is meant to be about Fulbrook Ale Works, but we have to make the transition in the post just as they’re working on making it in person. It begins with Texian, but the end is still a bit of a mystery.

The first step is Texian Brewing is closing their taproom, (but they’re not officially going out of business, so that rumor can stop now). The second step is Fulbrook Ale Works opening in Texian’s old facility with Texian’s old equipment. The third step involves some contract brewing between the two, and the details aren’t all worked out just yet.

Either way, it’s becoming more and more evident that the Fort Bend curse is in full effect. Nobody closes their taproom because business is booming. In the last post, we tried to weigh out all the options and explore all possibilities as to why they were closing the taproom.

Breweries make way better margins off their product when they keep it in house. There’s no middle man to take any of the cash! BUT breweries also sell far more volume on store shelves, like hand-over-fist more. The competition is higher, and the profit is lower, but the volume covers for it. The money that currently goes towards keeping the taproom open – electricity, man-hours, paying food trucks to come out (if you don’t reach the agreed minimums), that stuff could all be going to distribution in an attempt to increase their footprint in and around Texas. - Beer Chronicle Team

Texian has some good beers. This just goes to show that having good beer just isn’t enough for growth.

Jeremiah Ivey of Fulbrook Ale Works has made it very clear. He’s got the newt eyes, toads, and whatever else goes into making a curse-breaking witches brew, and they’re pulling out all the stops to take Texian’s old facility from good to great.

Some of the upgrades include air conditioning. The list could end there, and it’d be a perfect, thoughtful list of upgrades worthy of celebrating, but there’s more! Jeremiah’s a dad, so he really appreciates going somewhere that has big, clean, accommodating restrooms with changing tables. In addition to all that, a covered playground for the kiddos, and a bunch of beeeer!

This is easily the best/worst news of Fulbrook Ale Works opening in Texian’s old facility: the new beer coming in, and the lack of clarity on the contract brewing situation means that we’re not even sure about Texian’s name living on in cans/bottles/kegs. We’ll let you know more once we do.

But until then, Fulbrook Ale Works Opening will feature 6 standards and an unknown amount of small-batches rotating. The six will feature an IPA, an easy-drinking Pale Ale, a blonde that’ll have seasonal berries rotating in and out of it all year long, as well as a meal of a beer that they’re calling M.R.E. and a couple others.

Jeremiah Ivey started his career in beer over a decade ago and spent some time with the yeast priests over at OKC’s Coop Ale Works. We’ll be bringing you some more details on Fulbrook’s history and future as soon as we get out there! And remember – you heard it here first!

Beers to you, Houston! 🍻