SALADO, Texas — 25 News has an in-depth look at two Bell County businesses and their annual project to create a beverage everyone in Bell and even the rest of us can enjoy.
You might call these two brewpubs competitors, they couldn't be more different.
A collaborative beer project in Bell county puts the county’s two oldest brewpubs together, but there’s a lot that makes these businesses unique.
Quiet, peaceful Salado, the little arts community on the edge of Bell County, had the first brewpub around when Barrow Brewing opened several years ago.
"For Barrow Brewing Company, we stay pretty traditional for most of our beers and so it's really fun to collaborate with a brewery that does so many things differently than we do," said Katie Hill of Barrrow.
For the second year in a row, Barrow has formed a "one beer" partnership with a popular Belton Brewhouse with a wide reputation for creativity.
"The thing that's great about craft beer is it's not what beer is it's what beer can be," said John Patrick Hodges of Bold Republic Brewing Company.
Hodges started brewing beer as a kid in his parents' garage.
He watched Barrow open and gain popularity, so he decided to start a smaller, but very different brewpub in Belton.
He brews basic beers with a twist.
"Once you have the beer fermented and ready to go you know you obviously want to taste your beer," he explained.
His craziest creation? "We did a fruited FDA approved glitter beer that we had released it was called leprechaun farts and it went it went really well," said Hodges.
So the two oldest breweries in Bell set an example of cooperation for others to follow.
"We're really lucky to have brewpubs popping up here around Central Texas and to show that we work together so well to create something fun and it's an opportunity that we want to take advantage of and continue every year," said Hill.
