The Birth of a Movement

Well, its been quite a while since I posted anything on the blog. But know that I haven't just been sitting around drinking beer (well ok, I didn't do just that). Instead, myself along with some other Houston Beer enthusiasts have started Open The Taps. I won't use this blog to talk to much about them, but I wanted to post the formal press release here so that you can see what we are trying to do and have the contact information to get to our website.

(Houston, TX) - The recent demise of two House Bills (HB 602 & 660) that would have significantly improved the horizon for the Texas craft beer industry, coupled with the outdated restrictions on the industry, led a few citizens to band together to garner real change in our state laws to benefit the craft beer community. Thus, Open The Taps was born-- not only because the restrictions of the current system are stifling our craft beer community, but from the realization that the Texas craft beer industry could be so much more vibrant.

By approaching legislative change from the consumer side, as opposed to from within the industry, Open The Taps hopes to reach more Texas residents on a personal level in order to bring change from the ground-up, unifying voters and consumers into one voice.

With the recent boom in new breweries and brewpubs in the state, now more than ever is the time to make meaningful change in Texas as it relates to the beer industry. From allowing sales at breweries and lifting restrictive limitations on production and distribution for brewpubs, to reaching outside of our state to make entering the Texas market more feasible by easing antiquated labeling restrictions, Open The Taps wants to advocate craft beer in a complete, holistic sense.

Open The Taps will have a launch party on Saturday, July 23rd, at 4PM at Moon Tower Inn (3004 Canal St.). Moon Tower features a great craft beer selection along with some amazing hot dogs, the perfect setting to introduce Open The Taps to the general public. Open The Taps will also be at the Bay Area Mashtronauts’ homebrew competition, the Lunar Rendezbrew, on Saturday, August 6th, 2011. The Lunar Rendezbrew is an AHA (American Homebrewers Association) approved homebrew competition and a member of the Lonestar Circuit. See their website, http://mashtronauts.com, for more details. Open The Taps will be accepting memberships and the board members will be on hand to discuss their plans for the future of the organization.

The Houston citizens that founded Open The Taps and sit on the board are Ted Duchesne (President) of the beer blog Barley Vine, Leslie Sprague (Secretary/Media Relations) of the beer blog Lushtastic and Chris White (Treasurer/Controller), an avid craft beer enthusiast and home brewer. Also part of the Executive Committee are Cathy Clark Rascoe of the beer blog Brewtiful and John Speights, another craft beer lover and home brewer.

About Open The Taps:
Open the taps is a grassroots, non-profit organization that will act as an advocate for craft beer enthusiasts in Texas within the bounds of the multi-tier system and the legislative process. We are incorporated in Texas and are operating as a 501(c)(6). The organization is headquartered in Houston, Texas, but regional branches will be established as support grows. More information on Open The Taps is available at http://openthetaps.org, on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OpenTheTaps and Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/OpenTheTaps.