02 Aug UPDATE: Cranky Britches Closed – Putting the Rumors to Bed

UPDATE: Cranky Britches Closed – Putting the Rumors to Bed

Last weekend when Cranky Britches didn’t show up at Local Brews and Local Grooves at House of Blues Houston rumors and speculation began that Cranky Britches was closing their doors. See the first half of the post here where we tried to dispel the rumors before they spread.

Over 20 breweries were slated to be in attendance – Back Pew, 8th Wonder, Bearded Fox, Texas Beer Refinery and a handful of others including Cranky Britches Brewing Co. from Dickinson, TX. Keeping with the running joke that we’re the TMZ of Houston Beer, we had to give y’all an update as soon as we were allowed. (Thanks Dawn “The Duchess of Dank” Tyler of Hop Stop Humble!)

Cranky Britches didn’t officially close per Bill Arning’s original statement, “We are restructuring, and have to shut down for a few weeks.”

So the final verdict isn’t nearly as dodgy as some Houston beer fans suggested. Cranky Britches isn’t in fact closing, but they are merging with Texas Beer Refinery. The two breweries basically share a parking lot, so it makes complete sense that they’d combine forces.

Although it wasn’t as transparent as all of us might’ve liked, there’s business to handle, and it had to happen behind closed doors.

Bill shared this with us on July 31, “We will be operating the brewery and tap room at their [Texas Beer Refinery’s] existing facilities instead of the site where Cranky Britches was operating. This will give us about twice the production capacity and an air conditioned taproom for our customers to enjoy.”

He went on to say, “We will operate under the TBR brand for the time being, and I [Bill Arning] will be the head of operations at both the brewery and taproom.”

So there you have it. The rumors that Cranky Britches closed aren’t quite false altogether, but they are a little inaccurate.

Now we have to come up with a catchy slogan like that says something to the effect of, you heard it here first, but with some beery pun. We’re open to suggestions, y’all!

We’re excited to stop by Texas Beer Refinery when we’re in Galveston for the BrewMasters Craft Beer Festival.

Thanks for reading, and if you haven’t already, check out the post that Jeff Handojo of 11 Below put together for us on the future of the IPA. It is IPA Day, after all. Beers to you, Houston! 🍻