by JEN BIUNDO
Jeff Stuffings used to be a lawyer. Co-owner Michael Steffing fled a job as a banking analyst. And Stuffings’ college roommate, Joe Madia, started a career in medicine but decided he’d rather brew beer.
Together, the trio have opted out of the corporate world to develop Jester King, a craft microbrewery under construction in Hays County near Dripping Springs off Fitzhugh Road. Focusing on local ingredients and unique brews, they hope to share their love of handcrafted beer with Central Texas.
“We really want to take beer in our own creative direction,” said Stuffings, Jester King’s master brewer.
Jester King master brewer Jeff Stuffings welcomes visitors to the 65,000 square foot brewery under construction on Fitzhugh Road outside of Dripping Springs. (Photos by Cyndy Slovak-Barton)
Stuffings, 30, was introduced to hobby homebrewing during his law school days at Boston College. It was love at first taste.
“I really fell in love with it and developed a passion for brewing,” Stuffings said.
When he and his wife Amber moved to the Austin area, he found a job in a large law firm. But dissatisfied with the daily grind, Stuffings decided to take a leap into the unknown. Last summer, he quit his job as an attorney and began writing a business plan and raising funds to build the brewery.
“I decided to really make this dream of mine a reality,” Stuffings said. “I had to follow my passion.”
Stuffings’ brother Michael (who changed his name to the old country spelling of Steffing after researching family genealogy) jumped on board to help oversee construction of the 65,000 square foot brewery on four acres in rural Hays County.
With a 30-barrel brewing system and four fermentation tanks, Jester King will have the capacity to produce 25,000 barrels of beer per year.
They plan to spend the summer building the facility, and hope to start brewing in August. Initially, Jester King will produce keg beer for distribution at bars and restaurants through the greater Austin area. Once the operation is streamlined toward the end of the year, they’ll start packaging beer for distribution in stores.
Some specialty brews will be sold in glass champagne bottles, a method used for upscale brews such as Lindeman’s Lambic. But most Jester King beers will come in cans, a method that Stuffings says is both better for preserving the quality of the beer and easier on the environment.
When he’s not drinking his own beer, Stuffings said he’s a frequent patron of local microbreweries, such as the Austin based Independence Brewing Co., (512) Brewing Company and Live Oak Brewery, and the Real Ale Brewing Company based out of Blanco, Texas.
He wants to bring that emphasis on local ingredients into his own company. One beer, a blonde ale dubbed Hill Country Ale, will be brewed with fresh central Texas peaches.
“I think it’s important for people to know that the big beers use rice and corn to make a cheaper product, whereas the small brewers actually go out and find the ingredients that are about making the quality of the product better,” Stuffings said.
According to the Brewers Association, a professional organization for craft brewers, 2009 saw growth of more than 10 percent in the microbrewery business, despite the fact that overall beer sales in the U.S. dropped 2.2 percent. Microbreweries make up just 4.3 percent of the total beer industry in America but their numbers are steadily rising.
In a recession era, microbrewed beer is an affordable luxury, Stuffings said. And like the emerging food movement supporting farmer’s markets and fresh, local and organic produce and meat, small breweries tie into the educated consumer’s desire for sustainable and well-crafted products.
“I think it’s people embracing something that’s local and made by hand, instead of these giant processing machines,” Stuffings said. “They’re embracing flavor and creativity.”
The Beers
The Jester King will start with four brews:
Das Wunderkind – An American wheat ale, heavily hoppy but with a bright citrus and floral character. About five percent alcohol.
Danse Macabre – A heavy black Russian imperial stout, perfect for sipping around the fire, with a bitter but flavorful note of espresso and dark chocolate. About 11 percent alcohol.
Hill Country Ale – A classic blonde ale enlivened by a puree of fresh central Texas peaches. Five percent alcohol.
Farmhouse Ale – This is made in the style of a Belgian Saison, a light, highly carbonated beer traditionally brewed for farmworkers to drink in the late summer. Farmhouse ale will be brewed in oak barrels with wild yeast, yielding a rustic and slightly spicy but still very delicate beer. Less than four percent alcohol.
