A Toast to Kreische: Legacy of Local Brewer Rekindled With New Beer

On May 14, Heinrich Kreische would have turned 199 years old.

But long after his death, the legacy of La Grange’s famed German brewer is seeing a renewed interest thanks to the beverage that made him famous.

Inspired by Kreische’s methods and ingredients, a brewery in Drippings Springs (Twisted X Brewing Co.) has started selling Kreische Bluff Bock.

And now Twisted X is working on another project that is more than just inspired by Kreische, it’s actually scientifically linked to remnant yeast from the beer Kreische made 160 years ago - but more on that later.

“It’s Texas history in a can of beer,” said Gavin Miculka, assistant site director at Kreische Brewery and Monument Hill State Historic Sites, where the remains of Kreische’s stone brewery on a bluff overlooking La Grange are preserved.

And locals can’t get enough of the Bluff beer, which has just started appearing on local store shelves (HEB and independent convenience stores) in the last couple of weeks.

“We put it out and boom it’s gone,” said David “Zeebo” Zbranek, of Brown Distributing, which is selling the beer in a seven-county area. “It’s on fire, especially here in Fayette County ... Usually with a new beer we’ll just put out a few cases. We sold 500 cases last week.”

“I grew up here and knew all about the brewery, but it amazes me how many people all around the area know about it,” he added.

Kreische’s methods were nothing short of revolutionary.

After moving to America from Germany in 1849, Kreische purchased 172 acres of land overlooking La Grange that included the tombs of several Texas Revol-untionary-era heroes (Monument Hill). Using his skill as a master stonemason, and the spring water from the land, Kreische crafted one of Texas’ first commercial breweries.

His handiwork has stood the test of time as much of the brewery survives and can be toured at the historic site.

“Kreische’s engineering was so well thought out,” said Brian Bush, the head brewer at Twisted X. “People don’t think about ventilation and floor drainage and things like that, even today ... His brewery was designed to take advantage of all sorts of things - gravity natural cooling, It’s all fascinating to me as a brewer.”

Bush said the new Kreische Bluff Bock uses products of all German origin and they “came together into a “very drinkable, dark amber colored beer with a roasty smooth character.”

Bush added that the color of the beer is all natural and is not a result of colored syrups.

The taste is less sweet than some other Bock beers.

The beer is packaged in orange and white cans with rendering of the iconic “Frisch Auf!” (which means freshen up) flag that Kresiche supposedly used to fly when a new batch of his beer was ready.

“Frisch Auf! Freshen Up. Raised for You After Every Brew,” each can states and each also includes a lengthy description of the Kriesche history.

“It’s been great fun to make a modern beer with a nod to history,” Bush said.

“It’s a story for all Texans,” said Hunter Stewart, CEO of Twisted X.

And while the reimagined Bluff beer already seems to be a success story, it is the next Kriesche beer they are working on that is really interesting.

“It’s some weird science,” laughed Stewart.

Back in 2007, long before Bush was the head brewmaster at Twisted X, he visited the Kreische Brewery just for fun one summer Sunday afternoon.

And besides being really impressed by the park, he remembers seeing a park ranger go inside the still-intact aging vault cellar (which still stays remarkably cool) amidst the rest of the brewery ruins.

“I thought, huh?” Bush said. “Yeast is pretty hardy. I wonder if there’s any yeast left in that cellar. Yeast is well suited to hang around for many years.”

Bush said he remembered stories about people finding yeast in old Egyptian clay pots and bottles of old shipwrecks, and recreating beer from those bygone eras by re-growing the yeast.

Seven years after his first visit to the Kreische site Bush was working for Twisted X and he pitched the idea to his CEO.

“My boss Hunter talked to a park ranger and set up a meeting and they let me come out and take some swab samples,” Bush said.

“The culturing process is a long one, but now we have some viable samples,” Bush said. “I’m a 1986 brewing science grad from the University of California-Davis. I’m relying on microbiology knowledge from a long time ago - and it takes a long time to grow yeast back from the brink of extinction.”

That’s right, in some vials at the Twisted X labs, Bush has regrown the same yeast Kreische was using to make his beer.

Bush has tried and failed to find Kreische’s exact beer recipe. But he does have that historically-linked yeast, information from the Texas Historical Commission (including photos that exist of Kreische’s ultra-dark beer) and historical experts from Germany, who have studied the techniques for beer making Kreische would have learned before coming to America.

Bush says that with all that combined, he can make a beer that probably comes very, very close to what Kreische was making on the bluff150 years ago.

“I think we can come up with something very authentic,” Bush said. “I think in a month or so we hope to have the project done.”

Though this second round remake (Bush says maybe they will call this strand Frisch Auf! Beer) might not have the wide-ranging commercial appeal that the Bluff beer does.

Bush said the beer Kreische was making in the late 1800s was likely “sour, smoky and very dark.”

When Twisted X starts making this yeast-linked beer, Bush imagines it will probably not be marketed in cans, but just in keg form.

He’d love to see it sold and enjoyed in the La Grange area - maybe even at the historic site, he said.

Bush said he’s talked with the park about maybe reproducing the beer on a small scale on site.

“What a perfect venue for the historical product,” Bush said.

Miculka said that sort of thing might fit in with the Kreische Brewery’s mission as it transitions from a state park to a state historic site.

“We’re trying to work on new interactive programs and developing some demonstrations,” Mikulka said.

The story of the Kreische family, and particularly the brewery are perfect examples, Mikulka said of the immigrant story of Texans in the 1800s that Texas Historic Sites are trying to emphasize more and more to visitors.

It was back on May 14 that Mikulka bought his first six pack of Kreische Bluff beer, and on the birthday of the brewing legend, he tried it for the first time. He took a can to an overlook area above the brewery and took and picture and sent it to Bush.

“He said he thought Heinrich would have been proud,” Bush said.

Cheers!

Twisted X Brewing in Dripping Springs has just released a new beer, Kreische Bluff Bock, which is inspired by the late-1800s La Grange brewmaster Heinrich Kreische.

Here’s what is printed on the side of the cans:

When German immigrant Heinrich Kreische pronounced (Cry-Sha) put down roots in Fayette County in the late 1800s, he chose a quiet bluff overlooking the Colorado River to raise a family and build a new life. It didn’t take Heinrich long to realize that the spring water below his bluff would be perfect for brewing beer. So being a master stonemason, he went about building one of the earliest breweries in Texas. Townsfolk from all around knew that afresh batch of his prized beer was ready when he raised a banner with the words Frisch Auf! That’s German for Freshen Up! It is in this spirit that TwistedX Brewing Co. brings you Kreische Bluff Bock, celebrating 150 years of brewing tradition.

The folks at Twisted X are also currently working on another beer using yeast that was collected and re-grown from the Kreische Brewery aging vault.