Local Craft Breweries near Valera, TX (7)

The small town of Rowena has a population of only about 700 inhabitants. However, that didn’t deter Mike McNeill from putting up Horny Toad Brewing Company. His wife Diane was originally from Rowena, and they decided to move back to town in 2011. He acquired and converted the old Rowena Filling Station which serves as his brewery and taproom. The brewery is directly across a memorial dedicated to the prohibition. Taproom visitors feel more like members of a very large family according to Mike. The brewery is open only on the first Saturday of each month. Mike still keeps his full time job as a civilian contractor at Goodfellow Air Force Base in San Angelo. The rest of the month he spends brewing his beers on his 7-barrel system, which runs on manual power. He self-distributes his beers to various pubs in the San Angelo area including the brewery’s flagship beer Angelo Amber.

Meet Mark Cannon. He’s the owner of Eola School Restaurant and Brewery. He brews the beer, cooks the delicious burgers and fries, makes homemade pizza, does all the cleaning and renovation work required, and tends to the garden that supplies most of his restaurant’s needs. Some have called him “a real Renaissance man”. The brewery and restaurant was once a school from 1928 to 1983, and back then, the center of the community of Eola. Mark is from Portland, Oregon but his roots are in Texas. After arriving in 2003, he soon purchased the school. Many speculate his was the only offer. The place still looks like “an unfinished construction zone” according to some, but being a one-man show, many have also admired what he’s done with the place. If you can overlook the “rough edges”, Mark’s brewery, restaurant, and his Farm Ale have a cult-like following on the internet, and seem deserving of the 5-stars he gets.

Primal Brewing Company is heaven for people who enjoy beer. That is the long and short of it. If you are looking for something different compared to your regular bottle of lager, Primal Brewing Company has exciting flavors that will make drinking beer more fun. Try the peanut butter banana stout, or you may also sample the caramel white chocolate or mocha flavors. There is no wrong answer when you are choosing your beer here. Especially not when you are around the very laid back people of Primal Brewing Company.

Established in 2017, Sockdolager Brewing Company provides a consistent, unique, and quality product, using only the best ingredients, for their friends, family and anyone else who wants to join in. It is located in Abilene, Texas, and they would love to share their passion for brewing with you! Head Brewer, James Bridwell has a certain affinity for the beverages they sell at the brewery and works to ensure that the liquid in your glass is exactly what it's supposed to be. With a tip o’ the cap to tradition and a keen eye set on innovation, Sockdolager Brewing Company seek to provide beverages worth gathering around, beverages that inspire community and conversation, and beverages that are a real Sockdolager.

Brick & Forge Brew Works began as a tiny operation in Harrison, Arkansas. The brewery later expanded to Paragould, AR and Abilene, TX. The brewery operates closely with the Brick Oven Pizza Company, which has 11 other pizza locations across Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, and Mississippi. Only the three locations, however, offer craft beers on the menu. The brewery started in 2012, long after the Brick Oven Pizza, which started in 2004. Brick & Forge's hand crafted brews, however, intend to complement Brick Oven's pizza menu. The brewery acquired a separate identity to allow it to be distributed even to competing pizza places. Each location of Brick & Forge has its own brewmaster, and don’t always have the same beers on tap. However, the brewmasters share recipes with one another, and have five staples on hand – an IPA, a pale ale, a porter, a blonde, and a brown ale.

Pappy Slokum Brewing Company is a small production brewery in the heart of Abilene, dedicated to the principles that the beers they offer will be well crafted and very flavorful. The company was formed in 2011 when three partners came together to create uncompromised, “high quality artisan ales and lagers” in West and Central Texas. The team brings 37 years of brewing experience to the craft brewing industry with a combined “50 award winning beers along with 5 Brewmaster of year titles” collectively. From the ice cold, easy drinking Local Yella, malty and dark McPappy's 80 Shilling to the Tom 23 whose flavors hit you like a shot from a hop howitzer, Pappy promises to deliver the flavor that their customers love!

Grain Theory is a brewpub in a newly renovated downtown Abilene building. Spanning 5,000 square feet, Grain Theory occupies the entire 2nd floor of the Motis Building. Owned and operated by Jeramie Sivley, Matthew Cogburn, and David Kasselman, the trio opened a “community-focused brewery”. It has a working brewery, a taproom with an industrial vibe, a kitchen, and a coffee bar. With a wraparound balcony on two sides, the taproom also provides outdoor seating. All accomplished and award-winning homebrewers, the three owners met at the local home brewing club, Big Country Homebrewers.