Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. is leaving its long-time location in Fort Worth as its founder Fritz Rahr searches for a bigger, better space.
Rahr doesn’t know where that is yet, but he does know what he’s looking for after 21 years at the 701 Galveston Ave.
That includes finding something that can keep up with production.
“Our goals for the future of Rahr Brewing have sured the capabilities of our current location,” according to an April social media post on the closure.
Rahr Brewing sold 2,000 barrels of beer in its first full year before ballooning to 20,0000 ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, Rahr makes about 7,500 barrels a year, which are distributed in Texas and Oklahoma to restaurants, bars and stores. It plans to keep up with regular production at a temporary place near its Galveston Avenue facility.
The space the brewery called home since 2004 had several issues, according to Rahr. The facility’s warehouse feature, for instance, didn’t measure up to other breweries as it sought to bring in customers year-round.
“I could never get our landlords to put in air conditioning or improve our facility in any way or help in any way,” said Rahr. “It became difficult to maintain customers because there was always some place nicer to go.”
Rahr said the brewery’s search for a new location can be divided into three chapters. The first chapter is moving out of the facility, and the second is securing a contract with beverage manufacturer and copacker TexBev that would allow it to share brewing space.
“The third part is, once we get that up and running, we’re going to start looking for a place to move to,” Rahr said.
After years of from the Fort Worth community, Rahr said he would like to find a place in the city, but is open to moving elsewhere in North Texas.
Once a location is chosen, Rahr estimates construction will take about a year.
“It’s going to be the last place, so I want to make sure it is the best place — so, we’re going to take our time.” Rahr said.
As disassembly of the brewery continues, Rahr looks back on his time at the location as “21 years worth of wonderful memories.”
“Both of my boys grew up in the brewery,” Rahr said. “They used to sleep on grain sacks, their bodies used to fit on them.”
His oldest son is now running the business’ production.
“Is it emotional? Absolutely,” Rahr said. ”But it’s also very exciting to me because we have a brand new project ahead of us to build out a very nice facility in the future.”