SAB got a mention in this month’s Austin Chronicle, in a story about the explosion of microbrew startups in central Texas.

Beer In Bloom

By Lee Nichols | JUNE 18, 2010

South Austin Brewing Co.

415 E. St. Elmo, 968-8297, www.southaustinbrewery.com

Jordan Weeks and Caleb Cranford aren’t quite as far along as Jester King, Circle, or Thirsty Planet, but they’re ahead on one front: They already have a building. “It has everything we need; all we really need is equipment,” Weeks says. “Right now we’re in fundraising mode to buy the equipment.”

As for potential product, “We’re only going to be packaging in kegs and 750-milliliter wire-cork bottles,” says Weeks, who has lived in Austin 21 years. “We’ll be doing ‘style-challenging’ beers – huge, aggressive beers that seasoned beer connoisseurs enjoy, the kind of beers that brewers like to drink.”

He’s not a dabbler, Weeks insists: “Hopefully by next year we’ll have actual product,” he says. “We’re in it for the long haul. In the prospectus [for investors], we say, ‘We’ll make $50 million in the next 20 years.’ So it’s a family affair; it will be here forever. We want to be part of something exciting in South Austin. We want to create more excellence in South Austin.”

Still another Austin brewery starting up

By Patrick Beach | Thursday, February 11, 2010, 09:44 AM

Say hello to South Austin Brewing Co. Disclosure: Jordan Weeks is a pal I know through a mutual friend, a good guy and a very accomplished brewer whose commercial experience goes back to Balcones in the late ’90s.

Now he’s the newest player in a field that’s filling up in very promising ways. He’s got the keys to an 8,000 square-foot space at 451 St. Elmo Rd. This comes after approximately eleventy billion other breweries announced plans to get going this year. (Weeks was hoping to keep his plan under wraps but it turns out the Twitters keep no secrets. And if you’re his friend on Facebook this is not news to you.)

“I think there’s a new requirement: If you want to be a resident you have to open a brewery,” Weeks says.

He’s aiming to have beer ready in a year. “It’s an aggressive schedule but I’ve worked in a production brewery like this before so I know how to do it,” Weeks says.

Most promising: He’ll be making “aggressive beers that appeal to the already sophisicated craft beer drinker, people who drink Stone and Avery and Lost Abbey. They’re going to be style-challenging. I’m not going to stick to Belgians but I have the greatest respect for Belgians. That’s where everything I know about beer started from.”

Production plans call for an 80 to 20 percent split between 750-ml bottles with wire corks and kegs. This is Weeks’ identified niche: Lots of people will take a chance on a 750 but not a six-pack. The single bottles make nice gifts, and people seem more likely to take a chance on something they haven’t tried before if they’ve only got a single to finish.

As I said, I can’t say I’m impartial on this one. But Weeks has the experience and the brewing chops to do great things for the Austin craft beer scene.

Austin’s newest brewery is starting up!
Stay tuned for info, press kits, and investor materials.

In the meantime, enjoy this:

Be Remarkable: Collaboration Ethics Camaraderie Passion,
the 2009 Craft Brewer’s Conference keynote address
by Greg Koch, CEO of the Stone Brewing Co.