SAN ANTONIO — The biggest party in San Antonio is in full swing. And one local brewery has a bright red Fiesta beer to celebrate the occasion.
We stepped into Black Laboratory Brewing on 1602 East Houston Street to see how the unique brew is made.
"It's got a bunch of confetti all over the can. We got the papel picado, three different flags on here," said Black Lab's Marketing Director Matthew Scott.
He told us that the flavors range from pickle, cherry and chamoy.
"We make it only once a year," said Scott. "We make it for Fiesta and Fiesta only."
The company was founded by two chemists who had a passion for making beer. So, utilizing their backgrounds, they know how to whip up the perfect batch.
"Between the two of us, we pretty much have the whole concept of brewing covered because I kind of build all of our equipment that we have here, and the water chemistry side of it. And then he is able to help on the yeast side, and any additives or tricks along the way to make a better finished beer," said co-owner Jeff Weihe.
Weihe took us into the "lab" to show us how they make their Grizzly Greg's Mountain Ale. "It is one of our original brews. It's actually the very first home brew we ever made," he said.
He showed us how he blends the hot and cold water to get to the 159 degrees that he needs. "Once the transfer is done, you boil it for an hour or more, depending on what type of beer you're doing," said Weihe.
As for the Fiesta beer, it takes about six weeks to make. And San Antonio has taken well to it; they sold 500 cans in five minutes when it was first introduced.
They were grateful, considering, when they first opened.
"We opened a week before the shutdown in March 2020. Thankfully, we had a bunch of people coming out and supporting us and buying the beer to-go and keeping us moving through," said Scott.
They’re hoping people come in, try their beer and support local.
"We don't have huge investors or anything like that. We're just here doing what we love day in and day out, trying to make the best product we can," said Scott. "Everybody loves it and keeps coming out and supporting us."
Click here to explore their website.
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