I have incredible news. Walter White has cleaned himself up and moved to Texas. He now brews beer and goes by the rather fantastic name of Matt. Seriously, look at that guy. He’s all the right kind of nerd-evil-engineer-mad-scientist. All jokes aside, Matt Morriss of Rabbit Hole Brewing, alongside his companion, brewmaster Tom Anderson, has acquired some serious accolades in the home-brewing arena. Those skills are now outfitted with top-dollar equipment and the beer does the rest of the talking. Sometimes, it talks dirty, and I like that.
Matt, Tom, and their longtime friend Laron Cheek, whipped up a Kickstarter, and with enough support, they opened a brewery in Justin, Texas. Justin, founded in the mid-1800s, is small town near bigger towns, and there’s a bar called The Mule Barn. The town was excited for Rabbit Hole Brewing to move in, and the three amigos are very much a part of the community. It all started when Tom Anderson (a quiet, confident brew-nerd with seductively shifty eyes and a handsome beard) met Laron Cheek (a huggable, outgoing, gentle-bear-of-a-man) while the two were in line to get autographs from Anne Rice. Matt Morriss and Anderson gelled later, and after a decade of three-way friendship, they opened this one-of-a-kind brewery all for you. It’s called Rabbit Hole Brewing, which I already mentioned. Please stay focused. They have more than 100 home brewing awards between them, no institutional debt, and a whole menagerie of giddiness about their beers. It’s intoxicating. They set themselves apart by authenticity. Instead of experimenting with wild ingredients and hybridized hop varietals, these dudes are celebrating classic styles by maintaining their truest forms. They will definitely do some wacktastic brews down the road, but they want their flavor to be classic in its most beautiful expression. Right now, they have two beers out there on the taps around Dallas and Fort Worth.
First is the Rapture Fusion Brown Ale. I love brown ales and I normally have to wait around for the Peticolas Alfred Brown Ale just to get a local brown in my glass. Thank you, Rabbit Hole Brewing. The Rapture is a toasty, malt rich brown beauty with sweetness and lively carbonation. The head maintains its presence and gets smoother as it warms. Brown Ales own. For their other beer, they partnered up with Mike Modano. He tried one of Rabbit Hole’s beers a while back and liked it. In fact, he liked it a lot. They got together and after Mike put his 561 cents in the brew kettle, he decided on a Kolsch. This style comes from Germany. It’s a light golden color with moderate bitterness and a delicate malt profile. Out of the Rabbit Hole came Mike Modano’s 561 Kolsch, a bold, highly drinkable Kolsch that is refreshing and complex. If I have to tell you what 561 means, get out. So, now what? I know. You want these beers. Well, you can have them. Drive to Justin, TX on any Saturday and for $10 you get three tokens. Each token is good for a pint of beer, $2.50 off any of the merchandise, or you can be a total bad@$$ and drop a token in the charity box. At the end of each month, the guys collect the tokens and make a donation to a charity of their choosing. You can also get the beers on tap at places like Luck, Craft & Growler, The Flying Saucer, Inwood Tavern, and many more spots which you can discover on their website. Drink heavy. Drink slow. Stay clothed.
Rabbit Hole Brewing, 608 Topeka Ave., Justin, TX 76247
