Franconia Brewery Brings German Brewing History to Texas

Quietly tucked away down a little known side street in McKinney, Texas, sits a little Texas brewery with a huge Bavarian taste. There was a small buzz building around McKinney about this place, so this past Saturday a group of buddies and I made the twelve minute drive to find out if it really exists. Franconia Brewing Company offers a $5.00 tour every Saturday morning from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. As we pulled up, we noticed a small line forming down the side of the building. It was a hot Texas day, so if this many people were willing to brave the heat, then this must be worth it.

The owner greeted us before we entered the main floor of the brewery. Dennis Wehrmann was born in Nurnberg, Germany and at the start of the tour, informed everyone that he started working for a local brewery in Germany at the age of 12. He also holds a Masters Degree from Doemens Brewmasterschool in Munich. He also volunteered that his great grandfather was brewing beer in the 1800's. Just to back up a little bit, after paying my $5.00 fee for the tour I was offered a pint glass bearing the Franconia logo for an extra $5.00 for my beer. You can drink out of a plastic cup if you like, but I can always use another pint glass. I started my tour off with the Dunkel, a dark beer similar in look to a Guinness, but in my opinion, blows the Guinness right out of the water.

Once everyone was checked in we stopped outside to see one of the mixing tanks. We learned a little about what goes into their beer. Actually, Dennis is proud to tell you exactly what is in his beer. He was very outspoken about some of the misleading advertisements that some of the "Big Guy" beer companies are putting out there. Just ask him what "triple hopping" or "frost brewed" means and he'll set you straight. We went inside next, into the hot room where the brewing takes place. I was interested to learn that the only real secret that brewers keep from each other, are the temperatures they use while brewing their beer. About this time, I was finishing my first beer and was curious about tasting the rest.

We went next to the cooler where the Lagers have to stay cold. This was the most refreshing part of the tour, seeing as how my friends and I had sweat off about five pounds each. Dennis made us an offer we couldn't refuse. He said he would let anyone who wanted taste a new batch of beer, right out of the barrel! We left the cooler, and were told, "feel free to try the rest of the beers." This is about as close to angels singing as I have ever heard. The tour was over by about noon, and we spent the last hour tasting the different types of beers that Franconia offers. This was a great time and my friends and I will be attending again.

Source:

http://www.franconiabrewing.com/homepage.html