Today we’d like to introduce you to Kerbey Smith.
Hi Kerbey, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My father had owned this great piece of land off Fitzhugh Road in Dripping Springs for a few years now. And one day, we looked around and said what businesses seem to be doing well in this area and saw that a few breweries had opened and seemed to be thriving. So, we said, ok, if we can find a brewer, we will work on opening a brewery as those seemed to be thriving. My father is an appraiser, land developer and builder by trade and myself and my family own a wedding venue, Pecan Springs Ranch. So, I knew the customer service side of things, my father new how to build an amazing building and develop the land but we didn’t know the beer-making side of things.
Luckily, we were able to find Nathan through the grapevine and what a find he is. Nathan Rice, formerly of Maverick Whiskey, New Braunfels Brewing Company and 3 Stars Brewing Company, brings more than 12 years of brewing experience. Nathan had a federal job in D.C. but wanted to pursue his real passion, brewing. Nathan takes his passion very seriously and truly does his homework for every beer he makes. Fitzhugh Brewing is so lucky to have Nathan creating unique and approachable beers that will dazzle every palate. He has a truly refined and well-rounded knowledge of beer styles and has created a unique menu for us. We decided to specialize in forgotten or historic-style beers from all over the globe. With beer recipes that have very old roots to create beers that people have never seen before. But we also have fan favorites such as a Blond Ale and a Hazy IPA that speak to the masses. We’ve made beers like the Wee Scot from Scotland, a Barbados Stout, an Irish Red, Rosa Zoigl from Germany, Kentucky Common and a Hoppashu Japanese beer, plus many more.
We partnered up with a local BBQ company called Pokejoes Smokehouse to run our kitchen, which is called PEJ Kitchens. They provide amazing food from smokehouse brisket nachos; bunt ends, brisket tostada stackers, chicken fried steak specials and amazing deserts like the s’mores brownie sundae and the turtle cheesecake with fresh pecans and a caramel drizzle. These guys know how to make everything taste delicious and we are so lucky to have gotten to pair up with them. PEJ has been around for 40 years, so they really know what they are doing in the food game.
I had gone to some other breweries before and had found that most of them skewed towards a certain clientele, men. I never really felt like I was that welcome or fit in at these places as a woman that didn’t know much about beer. No one was that willing to teach me any basics or go over the beers and there just seemed to be a lack of inclusivity. When we decided to create our place, I knew I wanted to create a wildly inclusive place where everyone from the beer novice to the beer expert felt comfortable at. We designed the building to be modern farmhouse meets old-world antique, which is very classic with clean lines and colors. We have a large playscape out in the beer garden that has brought out family’s time and time again. We are very family-friendly and love that we can provide a place that mom and dad can both enjoy drinks and food while watching their kids have a great time as well. So many breweries are not kid/family-friendly and again, we saw that as a missed opportunity. I think we have done a great job making everyone feel very welcome and comfortable at our place. You should feel like you’re walking into your backyard with your best friends, enjoying a nice warm day with an ice-cold refreshing beer and some great food.
I am learning so much as we go along and am now Cicerone trained for beer. As an owner, I didn’t want to just sit back and not learn everything I could about my business. I work behind the bar and behind the scenes every day to make this business a success. I also have an amazing team of servers, beertenders, bar management and of course, help from my family. None of this would have ever happened if I didn’t have help from my mother Judy, sister Paige, father Dubb, husband Richie, bar manager Joel and my brewer Nathan. We are all one big team and family and I think it shows in the product we are putting out there to the public. I never thought I would love a job as much as I do this one; we are very blessed with how well the business is going and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We had to open during the height of Covid mid-October of 2020. I think that was our biggest struggle was dealing with Covid shutdowns, restrictions, building supplies being delayed or higher prices, opening delays month after month. But in a way it was also better we opened later in the year like we did as it gave time for customers to get used to wearing masks and all the new covid restrictions. People always ask us why we opened during a pandemic, and we have to laugh because in no way would we have chosen this but we had to get open at some point and October ended up finally working out for us.
We were supposed to open the spring of 2020 and I’m glad we didn’t open then just to be forced to shut down. I’m not sure we would still be here doing as well as we are if we had opened in the spring 2020; we got lucky in a way. But it was very challenging and daunting at times, the not knowing what was going to happen next was very trying. It’s crazy to see where the world was when we opened to where we are now. We’ve been through so much in a short period of time with Covid, a blizzard snowstorm in Texas and now intense rains. We are so looking forward to a warm and happy summer where everyone wants to come by for a great afternoon at their favorite brewery.
As you know, we’re big fans of Fitzhugh Brewing. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a brewpub that specializes in historic styles and regional beers from around the world. We are a modern farmhouse meets old world antique building and aesthetic. White, black and navy and gold are our main colors for our building. We decided to specialize in forgotten or historic-style beers from all over the globe with beer recipes that have very old roots to create beers that people have never seen. But we also have fan favorites such as a Blond Ale and IPA’s available as well. We’ve made beers like the Wee Scot from Scotland, a Barbados Stout, an Irish Red, Rosa Zoigl from Germany, Kentucky Common and a Hoppashu Japanese beer, plus many more.
This type of beer style truly sets us apart from all the rest of the breweries in the area. We don’t have your typical 5 IPA’s or basic beers. My brewer is one of the things I’m very proud of; he really does his homework. He will contact the city or country that we’ve chosen for new beers and find out what their water composition is in order to dial in our water, so we have the same minerality as their water. Water is such a huge part of brewing as beer is 90% water, so he really does think long and hard about each beer. And I am very proud of our inclusivity; we truly make so many families, women and men feel very welcome here. We have heard great things from people saying how they never thought a brewery would be their regular hangout but our place made them feel so welcome so they come out every week. I think we really found a niche for ourselves in a world where you tend to see the same thing over and over. I’m so happy to see that our ideas have really worked out for everyone for the better.
I am the owner and general manager for the brewery, my father and I created the concept. He built it and I dreamed it up, it took us four years, but we finally got it up on its feet and thriving. We are open four days a week, Thursday-Sunday our hours are on our website. We are hosting many events, live music and brewers tasting dinners this summer, all working towards expanding business. We also have a full kitchen through PEJ Kitchens, delicious food with weekly specials.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I’ve learned that being patient is key with this business. That there might be many things that can be frustrating but just being willing to roll with the punches helps immensely. Learning how to give the best customer service as possible for our guests, basically treat everyone here the way I would want to be treated at a brewery/restaurant. That always helps me when training my servers and helps make our guest’s experience top-notch. As long as we are creating the most enjoyable experience for our guests, then we did our job.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@fitzhughbrewing.com
- Website: fitzhughbrewing.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/fitzhughbrewing
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/fitzhughbrewing
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/fitzhugh-brewing-austin
Image Credits
Amy Scarbrough with Al Gawlik Photography does all our photos and social media.
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