USA, TX: Brash Brewing to be taken over by owners of Equal Parts Brewing and Brash's original head brewer

Speculation about who would buy Brash Brewing had been swirling around Houston's beer circles for months. Now it's official: The owners of Equal Parts Brewing and Brash's original head brewer are taking over the Independence Heights watering hole, Chron reported on June 16.

Equal Parts' Matt Peterson and Nick Sorenson and veteran brewer Vince Mandeville closed on the deal on June 16. Peterson says he always pays attention to what's going on in the industry, including which breweries are for sale.

"Nick and I felt that Brash is a special brand," Peterson said. "And we considered the opportunity to be a good one."

Peterson stresses that Brash and Equal Parts will remain separate. They opened the East End brewery in 2016 under the name Sigma Brewing, changing it to Equal Parts in the fall of 2020, growing its footprint from favorite neighborhood spot to the shelves of H-E-B.

Peterson says they've known Mandeville for years, dating back to when he started working at the very brewery of which he's now the owner. Mandeville left Saint Arnold to become the founding head brewer of Brash, which was opened in 2014 by Benjamin Fullelove, owner of now-closed Petrol Station. Mandeville left Brash in early 2021—under circumstances Peterson did not want to comment on—and went to work at 8th Wonder in East Downtown.

"We go back years with Vince, we have a good rapport with him, we're friends with him," Peterson said. "When the opportunity presented itself, Nick and I decided that if we were going to do it, the right way to do it would be to see if Vince would be available or even willing to go back and work on Brash again."

Mandeville is Brash's new director of brewing operations, working with existing brewer Robbie Cummings. Peterson felt it was important to bring "original blood" back to Brash, in part to differentiate the newly acquired brewery from Equal Parts and avoid them merging into one company.

"We want Brash to remain Brash," Peterson said, adding that Mandeville is the original author of many of the beer recipes. Brash became well-known for its bold, high-alcohol stouts and IPAs, and its edgy goth-like personality. There may be some changes made to the space, and some new beers added over time, but it's too early to tell, and Peterson said that will be for Mandeville to decide.

"We're here to support his vision," Peterson said. "It's a really cool thing to be able to work with some of these people that we looked up to in the early years."

16 June, 2022