Saint Arnold Brewing Turns 21

Texas' oldest craft brewery will soon be of legal drinking age. The venerable Houston institution will celebrate its 21st anniversary on Tuesday by hosting various events throughout the day. Anyone who shares a birthday with the brewery, June 9, 1994, will be given a lifetime brewery tour pass if they visit that day.

Here is the release from Saint Arnold:

HOUSTON, June 7, 2015 – Saint Arnold Brewing Co. (www.saintarnold.com), the oldest Craft Brewery in Texas, will mark its 21st anniversary next week – and the 21st birthday of its flagship Amber Ale – with an amazing offer. It was June 9, 1994 that Saint Arnold filled their first kegs with Amber Ale and trucked them to eight accounts. It took six test batches to achieve the desired balance between the complex hop aroma, rich malty body and floral hop finish. The recipe has remained unchanged since 1994 and Amber Ale remains one of Saint Arnold's top sellers.

It's hard for craft beer fans who have never known a time when craft beer was hard to find to imagine what those early days were like. With few exceptions, taps were reserved for popular American light lagers made in factories by conglomerates. Most beer drinkers lacked the palettes to enjoy the full flavor and greater complexity of a craft beer. Saint Arnold's production during its first year was 610 barrels.

"I imagined a time when Saint Arnold beers and craft beer in general was a niche product, but it has gone way beyond that and beyond anything I thought possible during that first decade," said Saint Arnold Founder/Brewer Brock Wagner. "I am as proud of Amber Ale today as the first time we delivered it to an account, poured a pint from their tap and presented it to someone who had never tasted full flavored beer before. It stands up a generation later as a really good beer."

To celebrate Saint Arnold Amber Ale's 21st birthday, Saint Arnold is offering a LIFETIME tour pass to its brewery tours to anyone who shares its June 9, 1994 birthday. This offer is good on June 9, 2015 only. To receive this special birthday present, Saint Arnold requires proper ID showing a birth date of June 9, 1994 be shown at the brewery during its normal public hours from 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM, or at any of the events listed below:

•    Brooklyn Athletic Club at 5:00 PM
•    Republic House, Pasadena at 6:00 PM
•    JP Hops House at 6:00 PM
•    World of Beer, Katy at 6:00 PM
•    Liberty Station at 6:00 PM
•    Taps House of Beer at 6:00 PM
•    Cedar Creek at 6:00 PM
•    Mo's Irish Pub at 6:00 PM
•    Hop Scholar at 6:30 PM
•    Luke's Icehouse, Beaumont at 6:30 PM
•    La Grange at 7:00 PM
•    Flying Saucer, Downtown at 7:00 PM
 
This weekend, Saint Arnold opened its brewery for a 21st anniversary pub night last night (Saturday). Today (Sunday), Saint Arnold is opening its cellar for two Special Rare Cellar Tasting events featuring numerous beers that have never been released and some that have been aging for years. More information is available at http://www.saintarnold.com/21/.