Roughhouse Brewing celebrated their four year anniversary this past weekend with first-time visitors and long-time lovers of the brewery gathered together in the beer garden.
The event took place at Roughhouse on Saturday, Jan. 21, complete with live music on stage and a blue, number four piñata. Anniversary art, an armadillo on his back blowing smoke rings, was printed live onto t-shirts by The Workschop, a craft print and design shop based out of Buda.
Roughhouse is owned and operated by the Pasternak family, made up of two couples: Davy and Alex Pasternak and Andy and Naz Pasternak. Together, they manage brewery operations — production, taproom, marketing and distribution — focusing on cultivating sustainable practices and partnerships that highlight local resources and talent.
The Roughhouse Vision is straightforward: Beer. Together. Outdoors. Each ice cold brew on tap is a Farmhouse Ale — an old-world style beer brewed by and for farmers — using yeast cultivated on the Pasternak property and well water from the Cow Creek aquifer.
Roughhouse’s most recent release is a beer called Smoke Rings, a dark and smokey lager with cocoa nibs. Davy, the head brewer, worked in tandem with Vector Brewing out of Dallas to smoke oak from the property into the malt, leaving a Wimberley campfire finish.
RH was the gold medal winner in the 2022 Texas Craft Brewers Cup for Treeform, their Farmhouse IPA.
One of Roughhouse’s more distinctive offerings are its Cave Ales, thanks to an unexpected find on the property in 2018. During the initial construction process, the Pasternaks found an 18-foot by 20-foot cave below ground, something they like to call “nature’s cellar.”
“The best way to represent the cave would be to think like a traditional brewer,” Davy explained. “Spontaneous fermentation is as closely tied to the land in which it’s made — as any beer style can be.” Thus, the Cave Ales were born.
To make the beverage, boiling, unfermented beer is poured into an open face vat overnight and as it cools, the beer collects natural particles from the air. These naturally occurring yeasts ferment the beer in contrast to traditionally fermented beer, where yeast strains are added by hand.
With ten beers on draft, Roughhouse Brewing has a wide selection of offerings. But what its owners are most proud of is how they have grown and developed over the last four years.
“Looking back on the last four years, we are most proud of our team and our adaptability,” Alex said. “Coming through COVID-19 required a lot of flexibility and focus on working smarter and doing a lot with a little. Our small team allowed us to be nimble and pivot when something maybe wasn’t working.”
“Now that we are mostly on the other side, we are excited to decide to focus more on fun events that enhance the lives of those who live out here… us included,” she added.
Named for its familial, playful and welcoming energy, the brewery hosts weekly and seasonal events that are family friendly.
“We are very much inspired by the local beauty and outdoors of this area and the people who live and create here, so we aim to focus on events that celebrate those aspects as best we can,” Alex said.
For more information about Roughhouse Brewing and its upcoming events, visit roughhousebrewing. com or drop by their brewery at 680 Oakwood Loop in San Marcos.
