A Hometown Hero Starts a New Brew, But it Ain’t Beer!
Coffee and beer go hand in hand for many a beer drinker. Start the day off right with one and end it off right with the other.
In a city that’s still in the early adoption stage when it comes to good beer, how does a Houston brewery scale like one in Austin or saturated San Diego?
Diversify.
Adding food is a great way to diversify the mix of offerings at a brewery, and it’ll definitely get us all to stay a little longer. But let’s be honest, it has been done. It has been done a lot.
We’re grateful for the spots that offer a bite to eat, but what if a brewery got into some other market like wine, cured meats, cheeses, or even coffee?
Not to be outdone, SpindleTap has been making some big moves in the last two years. The addition of Texzas for the eats has turned SpindleTap from a place my wife will tolerate to a place she’ll ask to go to.
Recently, they made an announcement that they would be adding some new sports amenities. A Basketball court, a small Frisbee golf course, and a baseball diamond are at the top of the list.
Now my son loves it too!
Last time we went, Garrison laughed at me from the side of the basketball court while I was beet-red, hooping with my son. (I won, by the way. It nearly killed me, but I won. He’s also 5.)
As if adding food and a mini sports complex wasn’t enough, they’re getting into the coffee game!
Coffee stout releases every month? Yes, please.
SpindleTap made the announcement yesterday to announce their acquisition of Avid Coffee Co.
“SpindleTap Coffee Co. will have its very own roasting facility onsite at the brewery where Avid’s co-founder, Matthew McKenzie, regarded as one of the top coffee roasters in Houston, will operate in our lab alongside Garrison Mathis, Spindletap’s world-class brewmaster.”
Matthew has been serving his roasted coffee out of the Avid Coffee Truck in Garden Oaks and The Heights since 2017. Avid has quickly become an H-Town favorite, ranking among The Leader’s Reader’s Choice Awards for best coffee while garnering other accolades.
Our loyal readers may recognize the Avid Coffee name from their role in the Brewery Ommegang x Brash collab, Stormcrusher as well as Brash’s triple-black imperial coffee stout, Cortado.
We reached out to Brody Chapman, one of SpindleTap’s owners about what the acquisition meant for SpindleTap Brewery, and he had this to say.
Adding coffee is something SpindleTap has apparently been interested in for a while but wanted to make sure they found the right partner. When the opportunity to partner with a talent like Matthew arose, it was a no-brainer for them.
Brody explained the decision, “Coffee is highly complementary to beer and allows us to grow the SpindleTap family of consumer products under a unified brand while broadening our base to coffee folks who may not otherwise be aware of the brewery and also deepening our affinity with our amazingly supportive fans.”
No matter how clean the place is, SpindleTap always smells like mad hops. My imagination is running wild with the idea of hops and bean roasting entering my nose simultaneously. If Devin the Dude and the Coughee Brothers aren’t on the list of potential collabs, SpindleTap is sleeping, but that’s none of my business. ☕️ 🐸
Brody went on, “An on-premise coffee roaster that is as talented at roasting coffee as Garrison is at brewing beer, gives us a wide canvas with which to further explore our creativity on both brewing fronts.”
Brews on brews on brews. Is a Brewston coffee coming soon, or would that be stepping on 8th Wonder’s toes even though it’s a different product? Let us know what you think.
And if you haven’t voted for Houston’s Most Valuable Brewery of 2018-2019 yet, go vote! Voting ends in 4 days.
Anthony's a Houston native, a Creative Strategist at https://ledgeloungers.com/, an adjunct instructor of Visual Communication at Lone Star College, and a UH Coog that loves good beer almost as much as he does his city. Anthony lives to help others and that's found a home helping some of the coolest breweries on earth with creative and marketing projects that can be seen on our Portfolio page. Fueled by hoppy lagers, sessionable IPAs, and gangster rap, he's ticked his way through H-Town, rocking the most unusual Nikes he can find. When he's not writing for us, he's with his family or very patiently rooting for the Rockets.
Charles Harris
Posted at 03:18h, 21 July“No matter how clean the place is, SpindleTap always smells like mad hops.” sounds great