Officials with three north Houston-area breweries announced plans to merge operations via a July 12 Facebook post.

What's happening?

Fortress BeerWorks, 11 Below Brewing Co. and B-52 Brewing will soon be operating under one umbrella parent company as discrete businesses.

"It's an actual merger and not a buyout," brewery officials said in an Aug. 9 merger update.

According to the update, B-52 Brewing will be the main production facility for all three breweries, and the B-52 taproom will carry brews from all three companies.


"We're consolidating most of the brewing to a single production facility and eliminating costly rent overhead that hinders growth and creativity. The old saying, 'The whole is greater than the sum of the parts,' definitely holds true here," brewery officials said in the update.

Additionally, the 11 Below taproom will move from 6820 Bourgeois Road, Houston to the Fortress BeerWorks taproom at 2606 Spring Cypress Road, Spring.

"For the time being, Fortress will be without a taproom, but will still be found on the tap wall of many of your favorite restaurants and bars," brewery officials said in the update.

The timeline


Officials noted the Fortress BeerWorks and 11 Below taprooms will remain open through Labor Day weekend. 11 Below will begin operating out of the Spring location starting the week of Sept. 2, and a grand reopening party will be held in late September.