Red Horn to Brew Beer, Roast Coffee in Cedar Park

Red Horn team L to R: Jared Hill, Zach Gardner, Jon Lamb and Chad Misner

With the success of joints like Brew & Brew, Radio Coffee and Beer and Stouthaus Coffee Pub, the combination of Craft Beer + Craft Coffee served under one roof has already proven to be a winning one in Austin. But, that trend has yet to extend to the northern suburbs.

Red Horn Coffee House & Brewing Company is about to change that, and even take it to the next level, when they open their doors in Cedar Park in the coming weeks to brew beer and roast coffee under one roof.

“We’re trying to bring a slice of Austin up to Cedar Park,” Head Brewed Zach Gardner said, in a recent interview with Bitch Beer. “There are so many people that don’t want to commute all the way down for a good beer or a good cup of coffee, so we’re trying to bring a taste of that up to them.”

Gardner, a born and raised Austinite, was brought on board by Jon Lamb and Chad Misner, who initially met through their wives a few years back, before becoming friends and now business partners.

“Chad’s always had an entrepreneurial mindset, as have I,” Lamb said. “We just hadn’t collided yet.”

The spark came on a long duel family road trip to Florida, where Lamb and Misner spent hours in the car spit-balling about a business plan that could let them pursue their mutual passions–coffee and beer.

When they returned home from the trip, they continued on in their respective careers in home construction and teaching. Eventually the desire to own their own small business took over, their wives pledged their support, and Gardner was brought in the loop on the beer side.

“We all kind of shared the same passion,” Lamb said. “So we dusted off the old business plan and got after it, and took it to the next level.”

To take it to the next level, they needed a name.

Strapped for a name that resonated, but wasn’t yet snagged up but one of the other 3,000+ breweries in the United States, Misner and Lamb, being the family men they are, decided to let their children take a crack at it. Lamb’s son submitted his favorite color–red, and Misner’s daughter cycled through a list of her favorite animals before proposing the rhinoceros to pair with the color. While the name Red Rhinoceros Brewing sounded a bit silly, the animal’s signature horn as a synecdochic representation of her pick struck a cord with the pair. Add in a logo and brand identity from the folks at Austin-based Pound Design & Branding, and Red Horn Coffee House & Brewing Company was born.

Next, they needed a location in their desired neck of the woods, and eventually a 4,300 square foot space presented itself at Parmer and FM 1431.

“This space had been sitting right in front of us staring us in the face,” Lamb said.

The brewpub will boast around 20 guest taps, as well as enough taps for Red Horn’s own mainstays and rotating seasonals brewed on their 7bbl system.

Mainstays will include an IPA with a sturdy malt backbone, dry finish and pungent citrus nose, an approachable gluten reduced Blonde Ale brewed with a late kettle addition of Amarillo hops, a Texas Brown Ale with hop and chocolate notes, a Red Ale and a Semi Sweet Breakfast Stout brewed with oatmeal and  Red Horn coffee.

These beers will be draft only initially, but the Red Horn crew hopes to work with a mobile canning company to get their beer in sixpacks to take away soon thereafter.

To pair with the coffee and beer they’ll serve up, Red Horn will offer light fare like Antonelli’s cheese and charcuterie plates, fresh local pastries and homemade sandwiches.

Red Horn will have live music a couple of nights a week, and will be open morning through evening to supply both AM coffee fixes and post-dinner beer cravings.

“We want people to come in and have an experience, whatever that experience may be,” Lamb said.

Red Horn Coffee House & Brewing Company recently received its TTB Brewers Permit well ahead of schedule, and is awaiting some final city permitting before it’s time to open doors. The plan is to be open and brewing at least a portion of their mainstay beers before the holidays. Keep up with their Facebook page for updates on the opening.

-Caroline

 

Update 2/5/15: Red Horn is now set to open in late February, 2015.