Rentsch Brewery opened in August 2015 with the ability to produce about 1,000 barrels of craft beer annually but quickly outgrew that capacity, said Drew Milburn, the brewery’s director of sales, marketing and distribution.
However, recent expansion at Georgetown’s only craft beer producer has boosted production to about 12,000 barrels per year, and a new canning line will allow Rentsch beers to soon occupy store shelves around Central Texas, Milburn said.
“That was all just driven by the demand from the Central Texas community,” said Andrew Rentschler, who owns the brewery with his father, David Rentschler. “Previously, every time we filled a keg, it went out the door right away. Now we can finally build a little bit of inventory.”
The brewery hopes to have its canning operation—including Rentsch’s four main beers: blonde ale, hefeweizen, IPA and weizenbock—running by the end of July, Andrew said.
Milburn said the brewery will launch products in grocery stores and small liquor stores in the Austin area.
Rentsch also recently expanded its home base in northeast Georgetown by adding a new taproom and a 5,000-square-foot beer garden. Previously the brewery ran a smaller taproom inside its production space, which was noisy, lacked air conditioning and was difficult to operate while producing beer at the same time, Milburn said.
Andrew said expansion should also allow Rentsch to offer a wider variety of beer styles. The brewery has more room now to try special runs, including a Prussian imperial stout that is aged in bourbon barrels, he said.
“Our main goal is to make beer that people want to take home and keep taking home,” Andrew said.
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Beer basics
Rentsch Brewery’s initial canning operation will involve four styles of beer, each with different flavors and characteristics.
- Blonde ale: seen as one of the most approachable styles for new drinkers with a balance of malt and hop flavors (5.2 percent ABV, 15 IBU)
- American IPA: a beer that has a lot of hops, which are the source of its bitter flavor and its high alcohol content (6.7 percent ABV, 65 IBU)
- Weizenbock: this style’s color and content can vary among producers, although it tends to be heavier on malt flavor (5.7 percent ABV, variable IBU)
- Hefeweizen: wheat-based style that is light both in terms of its color and its level of bitterness (5.4 percent ABV, 10 IBU)
ABV (alcohol by volume): measures percentage of alcohol in the beer
IBU: (international bitterness units): measures bitterness; the higher the IBU rating, the more bitter the beer
Source: Brewers Association, Rentsch Brewery/Community Impact Newspaper
Rentsch Brewery
2500 NE Inner Loop, Georgetown
512-688-5046
www.rentschbrewery.com
Hours: Tue.-Thu. 4-8 p.m., Fri. 3-9 p.m., Sat. noon-9 p.m., Sun.-Mon. closed
