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(512) Brewing Company

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By Eric Pulsifer Friday, 27 February 2009

Although many consider Austin a city that loves beer, it has few local breweries. (512) Brewing Company joined that small community when owner and brewer Kevin Brand built the brewery from the ground up eight months ago.

While pursuing an engineering degree at the University of Texas in 1992, Brand got his start with beer when he began working at Pronto Food Mart. As a college student, Brand was aware of brand-name beers, but said the job opened his eyes to the world of microbrews and local craft beers. That appreciation for beer led Brand to experiment with homebrewing, and he made his first batch of beer in 1993.

After college, Brand headed to the West Coast for work and got into the Bay Area’s wine scene. All the while, Brand continued brewing and eventually began removing shelves from his refrigerator to make room for kegs filled with homemade beer.

Shortly after, Brand returned to Austin with his wife, and in June 2007 — thanks to some encouragement from family — Brand conceived a way to combine his technical background with his love of beer.

The first name Brand explored for his brewery was TapRoot, but after some discussion with another brewery planning to use the name, he landed on (512), leaving drinkers with no question about where the beer is from.

“The name ‘(512)’ really says it all,” he said.

A year later, construction of (512) was complete, and Brand hired Nate Seale to help with operations. Today, the duo runs the brewery and delivers kegs of beer to bars and pubs around Austin.

Getting into the beer industry, Brand said fellow brewers have seemed to respond with overwhelming support.

“I’ve never met a brewer who wasn’t willing to give advice and even brewing secrets,” he said. “It feels like David versus Goliath.”

As for what (512)’s masterpiece is, Brand said the (512) Wit, a Belgian-styled wheat ale, is the biggest crowd pleaser. But of the company’s four brews, each drinker seems to have a different personal preference.

“I just tell people to come by the brewery and try them all,” he said. “Austin is very receptive to the words ‘local’ and ‘beer,’” he said.

(512) is currently only available on tap, but Brand is looking into bottling sometime this year.

“Eventually, I’d love to be able to export Austin culture to other parts of the country,” he said.

Brand is also working to debut a spring seasonal brew in March. For more information on the unveiling event, visit www.512brewing.com.

Makings of a crowd pleaser

Map showing location of (512) Brewing Company

(512) Brewing Company’s Wit, a Belgium-styled wheat ale, is made with the following ingredients:

Grapefruit peel
Coriander
Unmalted wheat
Barley
Hops
Oats

Homebrewing

Brand got his start in homebrewing and encourages other beer lovers to try it out for themselves.

“You can start to homebrew very quickly with what you have in the kitchen for around $100,” Brand said.

To learn more about homebrewing, visit Austin Homebrew Supply, located at 7951 Burnet Road.

Beer terms

Ale - Ale is a variety of beer brewed from malted barley using a top-fermenting yeast, which rapidly ferments the brew. This results in a sweet taste. Most ales contain hops, which impart a bitterness to help balance the sweetness of the malt.
Amber - A pale ale with a copper or light brown color, from colored malts.
Barley - A cereal grain that is malted used in brewing beer.
Hoppy - The aroma of hops, an herb added to beer to give it its distinctive bitter flavor.
Malt - Cereal grains are malted by soaking in water and being made to germinate. The germination process is halted by suddenly by heating and drying. This transforms the grains' starches into sugars.
Pub - An establishment where beer is served, the name comes from the shortened form of “public house.”
For a detailed list of beer terms and more, visit www.beeradvocate.com.