Beer-making equipment from monastery’s closed brewery will anchor new Houston brewery

HOUSTON, June 25, 2008 – In different parts of the world, crews are simultaneously beginning renovations for a new brewery and dismantling an old one. In Houston, construction crews have begun gutting the building at 2000 Lyons Avenue, which will be the new home of Saint Arnold Brewing Company (www.saintarnold.com). In Burghausen, Germany, crews have dismantled Klosterbrauerei Raitenhaslach (Monastery Brewery Raitenhaslach). The brewhouse (beer-making equipment) from the Bavarian brewery will outfit Saint Arnold’s new facility.

“Our brewing philosophy is very traditional,” said Brock Wagner, founder and brewer of Saint Arnold Brewing Company, the oldest craft brewery in Texas. “We feel a responsibility to uphold the rich beer culture that has been nurtured for centuries in Germany, and we want to celebrate the fact that Saint Arnold’s new brewhouse is coming from a monastery.  The symbolism is not lost on us.”

Raitenhaslach is the oldest Cistercian monastery in Bavaria. It moved to Burghausen in 1145. Historians cite documentation that the monastery’s brewery was established as early as 1313. It discontinued its brewing operations in 2003.

Before coming to America, the equipment from Klosterbrauerei Raitenhaslach will be refurbished, updated and automated by BrauKon in Truchtlaching, Germany. Modifications will include the addition of a state-of-the-art energy-saving boiling and mashing system.

The goal is to open the new brewery in time for the Company’s 15th anniversary in June 2009.