Growing up in Austin, Troy got his start as a home brewer in the 1990s when he was in college. He later turned his interest in craft beer into a 24-tap brewpub in historic downtown Pflugerville.
The setup
According to previous Community Impact reporting, Prost’s building has been around for over 100 years. Updates to the property were designed by Stephen Oliver with OPA Design Studio, Troy said.
“It's so cool growing up here in Texas and owning a piece of Texas history,” Troy said. “This is a historic building, so it is a real honor to be in here.”
What initially attracted him to downtown was its accessibility, walkability and access to an engaged community, Troy said.
“There's a lot of community-involved events where they shut down Main Street and there's also a German history here,” Troy said “We specialize in German and European beers—our ingredients are German, mostly, so they import it over.”
Though imported ingredients are a higher expense, they bring a higher quality of beer to customers, Troy said. The brewhouse has 20 barrels where staff brews drinks like the Durango 95, which is a hazy Bavarian IPA; the Nürburg, a cherry sour; the Finish Line, a Schwarzbier; and the Blitzbahn, the brewery's best-selling German pilsner.
Along with beer, Prost Alehouse also makes a seltzer base in-house, which is used for a craft seltzer flight and cocktails. The alehouse also has wine, mead, ciders and non-alcoholic options that are not made in-house. Additionally, Prost occasionally sells a guest beer, which allows other brewers to showcase their product on the menu, Troy said.
What else?
Prost Alehouse isn’t currently offering large scale distribution in stores, which Troy says allows them to operate on an independent schedule.
“If it's going to take 8 weeks for us to do a good lager, then we'll wait it out,” he said.
However, Troy has a few plans for expansion before the end of the year—the first being product-focused. He hopes to expand distribution to around 10 different establishments this year in Pflugerville and downtown Austin. Additionally, he plans to add more shade and lighting to the outside areas and create more outdoor space for pets and families to enjoy, he said.
Prost Alehouse is open seven days a week with a permanent food truck out back—Auzzy’s Smashers and Wings—with burgers, hot dogs, wings and a kids menu.
- 115 E Main St., Pflugerville
- www.prostalehouse.com