Saint Arnold Brewing Company
Encyclopedia
Microbrewery
A microbrewery or craft brewer is a brewery which produces a limited amount of beer, and is associated by consumers with innovation and uniqueness....
located in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, named for a patron saint of brewing, Saint Arnulf of Metz
Arnulf of Metz
Saint Arnulf of Metz was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia, who retired to the Abbey of Remiremont....
. It was founded in 1994 by Brock Wagner and Kevin Bartol, graduates of Rice University
Rice University
William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...
. The brewery offers tours every weekday & Saturday afternoons which have attracted a large following. Saint Arnold has won numerous national and international awards.
History
Saint Arnold Brewing Company was founded in 1994, and was originally located on the far northwest side of Houston. It operated out of that location for more than fifteen years.In 2008, St. Arnold announced that it planned to move from its current northwest Houston facility to a new facility in the Northside
Northside, Houston
The Northside is a district of Houston, Texas, United States. It is within the Greater Northside Management District.-History:House Bill 3634, authored by state representative Jessica Farrar and sponsored in the Texas Senate by Mario Gallegos, created the management district...
district, north of Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...
. By 2009 the company had purchased a three story 104000 square foot square foot brick building, constructed in 1914, which most recently served as a food service facility for the Houston Independent School District
Houston Independent School District
The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and insular municipalities...
. The prominent location of the new brewery on the highway was key to its selection. The redevelopment effort was expected to take a year to complete and cost a total of almost $6 million. Due to unforeseen events, such as the theft of copper pipes from the building, the move was delayed, and was not completed until the northern hemisphere spring of 2010.
A new round of investing to help finance the new brewery gave 100 investors 30% of the company at an average investment of $25,000 each. St. Arnold also received a bank loan from the Small Business Administration
Small Business Administration
The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...
at a 4.17% interest rate over 20 years. The brewery anticipated brewing over 30,000 barrels in 2010, up from 26,000 barrels at their previous location. The maximum capacity of the new brewery is over 100,000 barrels.
Marketing
The brewery relies on guerrilla marketingGuerrilla marketing
Guerrilla warfare is about waging small intermittent attacks on different territories of the opponent with the aim of harassing and demoralising the opponent and eventually securing permanent footholds....
, brewery tours and e-mail marketing to grow its business. It has an e-mail list of 30,000 people and has run innovative programs like auctioning off naming rights to its brewing vessels on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.
Recycling program
The brewery offers an uncommon recyclingRecycling
Recycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...
program through which usable bottle carriers may be redeemed for promotional merchandise. 200,000 bottle carriers can be redeemed for the official St. Arnold's 1957 Bentley.