As far as The Brewtorium co-owner and brewmaster Chris Rauschuber knows, he is the first beer brewer in his family’s long German lineage; however, his grandmother’s maiden name was Bierschenk, which translates to “beer gift,” so somewhere down the line, Rauschuber said, someone was doing something with beer. Bierschenk is also the term used for a person who operates a public house, a destiny Rauschuber and his wife Whitney Roberts fulfilled in February 2018 when they opened up The Brewtorium at 6015 Dillard Circle. What began as Rauschuber’s kitchen stovetop mission 14 years ago to make an Oktoberfest-styled lager for him and his friends eventually became a roughly 10,000-square-foot, industrial-styled brewpub and beer garden. Although Rauschuber said his preferred style of beer to brew is still lager, his arsenal has diversified since 2005. At any moment, The Brewtorium’s constantly rotating 11 in-house taps include a variety—from the usual suspects, such as pale ales, pilsners and porters—to highly specialized brews such as Berliner weisses, saisons, Munich dunkels and hazy India pale ales. In a city filled to the brim with breweries, Roberts said The Brewtorium’s success comes in part from its focus on pairing all of the new releases with culinary creations from the German-inspired kitchen. Rauschuber still talks about the day the brewery released its new English dark mild ale paired with a fig jam Monte Cristo sandwich. “We wanted to provide a wholistic experience with food and beer and community,” Roberts said. “We wanted to become people’s local pub and serve the neighborhood.” That sense of community, Roberts said, is the other part to The Brewtorium’s success. Roberts and Rauschuber have made it their mission to stay connected to, and play their part in helping, the community. In just the first year, The Brewtorium teamed up with the Texas Nature Conservancy, Hill Country Ride for AIDS, Austin Pets Alive, nearby Mothers’ Milk Bank at Austin and others to help raise money. “If it weren’t for the community, we wouldn’t survive,” Roberts said. “It’s all about building that community and giving people a place to feel like they can come and spend their time and gather with their people.”