Rahr & Sons Brewing opens up Oklahoma market

Starting March 1, Rahr & Sons Brewing Co., one of the largest craft breweries in Texas, will be expanding to the Sooner state. Hank Hill would likely not approve of this cross-border partnership, but craft beers will be available on store shelves and on tap at many restaurants and bars in Oklahoma.

With a strong German background and almost 170 years of brewing tradition in his blood, owner Fritz Rahr opened Rahr & Sons more than a decade ago with his wife, Erin. Rahr said he and his team look forward to serving their neighbors up north.

To celebrate the expansion into Oklahoma, Rahr & Sons will host a number of beer dinners, pint nights and beer sampling events to introduce Oklahomans to their brand. Festivities will kick off with a beer feast at Fassler Hall in Oklahoma City on Monday, Feb. 29 from 7-9:30 p.m.; a special menu will feature a selection of Rahr & Sons beers paired with the restaurant’s dishes.

Beers to be initially released in Oklahoma will include: Rahr’s Blonde, a Munich-style Helles Lager and the brewery’s very first beer; Ugly Pug, a Schwarzbier Black Lager; Stormcloud, an English India Pale Ale; Buffalo Butt, an American Amber; and Iron Thistle, a seasonal Strong Scotch-style Ale. Other beers will be released seasonally throughout the year.

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Since opening in the fall of 2004, Rahr & Sons has exponentially increased its brewing capacity from 2,000 barrels (bbls) a year to more than 20,000 bbls a year. The craft brewery has also won more than 60 nationally-recognized awards, including two Gold Medals at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival for seasonal beers Oktoberfest and The Regulator, which will be released for the first time since the awards in April in Oklahoma and Texas.

Rahr & Sons gives back to the community regularly, providing fundraising opportunities for non-profit organizations at its brewery tour and tasting events and raising more than $40,000 through annual charitable events, like the Oktoberfest 5K. One of its beers, The Fort — named in honor of the USS Fort Worth — even benefits a worthy cause; a portion of all sales are given to the USS Fort Worth Support Committee, which provides moral support and appreciation for the ship’s crew and families.