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Andrew Smeeton and Jeff Douglas had a pretty good idea for their first brewery in Wylie, Texas. They'd purchased a house and spent a whole summer fixing it up. They redid the deck, and they could see themselves sitting there, watching their customers sipping amber from glasses and basking in the summer heat.
They hoped the whole thing would turn out a bit like the famed Jester King brewery outside of Austin that had been built into a barn. Then they went to TABC and learned that despite working continuously with the mayor and the zoning board of Wylie, and even having a Wylie mailing address, all this hard work had been carried out in a dry part of Collin County. There would be no beer in the house where they had swung hammers together all summer long. Tears were shed.
But after a little bit of moping, they bucked up and tried again. They sold the house and because of all that hard work, they broke even on the real estate. All they lost was time.
This go around, they applied for all the permits before they started construction, and it looks like things are a go. Located on the outskirts of downtown, Four Bullets Brewery should open late this year and will be Richardson's first brewery. Douglas told me a little about what they have planned. Smeeton is from England, and being a prideful fellow, he's decided to brew English-style beers.
"I play a lot of cards," Douglas said, in case you thought the bullets were the gun type. The logo has four aces, and many of the beers will take their name from various poker axioms. They're expecting to brew a pale ale, in an English style, an Oatmeal Stout and a session beer of two. Their signature will be a Brown Ale, but Douglas said it stand out and have a lot more body than most browns.
So why aren't we drinking now?
"We're just now getting things going," Douglas said. There are tenants in the building they purchased and they still have to move on. Once the space is clear they'll build out a two sided brewery with a taproom on once side and the brewing operation on the other.
If you've been hoping for some Four Bullets Brown Ale for Christmas, this could be your year.