E-Malt.com News article: USA, TX: Zero One Brewery to open by January 2015

Erik Zobel launched Zero One Ale House, a beer-themed pub, in March 2013. Now, equipment is assembled for the Zero One Brewery, sanangelo.live.com reported on November, 25

The brewery was always a part of Zobel’s vision for Zero One, he said, but financial constraints on the opening limited the establishment to an eatery with a vast craft beer assortment. Now, with nearly three successful years behind him, he’s ready to expand.

“The cool thing about this approach is that I was able to test the waters before the huge capital investment of brewing equipment and all that, you know? [I got] to see how craft beers around here would be received…[Before we opened] you couldn’t go to a restaurant or bar and find anything besides what the macro-brewers were trying to push,” he said.

Since opening, Zobel has kept some 80 plus beers in-house, 23 of which are on tap. Seasonal beers, such as pumpkin ales and “winter warmers”, are brought in on rotation; a continually changing card that features a few different types of brew for San Angelo's beer enthusiasts.

Noting the veritable lack of an establishment selling craft beer beyond the local liquor stores, Zobel said he was uncertain how his concept would sell, but has received great feedback.

“The response has been great,” he said. “I had very low expectations just because it’s west Texas, it’s 100 degrees for 100 straight days, and who’s going to want to drink a craft beer that isn’t light, refreshing and ice cold, you know? But not longer after we opened I would look around the restaurant and bar and I would just see a rainbow of colors on the tables and was just shocked by it.”

Zobel says he’s working on recipe design. Some of the beers he’s brewed in the past will be the first featured on the menu card. In the coming months, he said, he’ll be brewing experimental batches on the same home kit he started with, while serving the refined brews to customers in Zero One.

The equipment for the brewery has already been delivered and Zobel says his system will hold 15 kegs or 232 gallons. He can only brew one batch at a time, but would ultimately like to have three or four on tap at any given time, while constantly working on new flavor profiles and experimental brews.

One of the first will be a rye pale ale, he said, however the name for the beer is still a work in progress.

Zobel hasn’t yet set a definitive opening date for the brewery, but started construction in October and hopes to be able to start brewing his first batch in mid-December. The opening is dependent upon equipment delivery, inspection and “buttoning up”, he said, including painting and an instructor who will show him the ins and outs of the new set up.

“You’ve got to brew the beer, then you’ve got to ferment the beer, then you’ve got to condition the beer and then the beer’s ready to drink,” he explained. “So there’s still another few more weeks after that. Beer’s not going to be drinkable until maybe the first of the year, so I’m thinking mid-January we’ll do a grand opening.”

For the grand opening, Zobel plans to release two beers. He said he’ll also likely start selling the experimental batches to gauge customer response.

Currently, Zobel is on a “crazy Belgian kick,” he said. He admits it took a while for him to warm up to those varieties, but he enjoys the dimension and layers of flavor in those beers.

Ultimately, he’d like to design his own Belgian white beer, as well as a winter warmer, a golden ale, and virtually every other beer type out there, he said. In the near future, however, he’ll be working on creating quality beer with quality ingredients and honing his skills on his new equipment.


26 November, 2014