Southwest Austin Dripping Springs Edition | August 2023

BUSINESS FEATURE

BY ELLE BENT

Meet the goats of Jester King 1 Shepherd Lissa Rowe holds 2-week-old Chickpea. Rowe works with goats to ensure they are healthy, fed and socialized. 2 After the goats graze, their excrements help fertilize the farmland, which in turn brings healthy soil for brewery. 3 Goats are born on the farm in late win- ter and early spring. Breeding is planned with health and genetics in mind.

Bug farm beer is a farmhouse ale with watermelon, lavender, mint and rosemary.

Jester King is set on 165 acres of farmland 18 miles from downtown Austin.

PHOTOS BY ELLE BENTCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Jester King Local brewery oers Hill Country escape with sustainable approach L ocated on 165 acres of farmland o Fitzhugh Road, Jester King is a brewery, restaurant, farm and event hall founded in 2010 by brothers Jerey Stungs and Michael Steng. “We’re small, local, independent. We stand up for those things,” direction where we make beer that is wild in nature,” Stungs said. The brewery makes about 2,500 barrels of beer a year, including ales, lagers, IPAs and stouts. Jester King beers incorporate well water, local grains, fruits, vegeta- bles and native yeast and bacterias. goats living on the farm, primarily taken care of by goat shepherds such as Lissa Rowe. Rowe said the goats help restore the soil by grazing and educate the public on restorative farming practices. When visiting Jester King, guests can walk a half-mile loop that

Jester King 13187 Fitzhugh Road, Austin www.jesterkingbrewery.com Hours: Thu.-Fri. 2-9 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.- 9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., closed Mon.-Wed.

Stungs said. “Then we try to do something that can only exist here. As we like to say: ‘tied to time, place and people.’” Stungs said he was inspired by the “rustic” and “land-driven” Belgian farmhouse tradition. “Most beers are made with a pure culture of yeast that makes the beer very repeatable and consistent, and we kind of y in the opposite

To play a part in sustainability, Jester King uses a solar grid for the brewery and treats its own wastewater on-site that is used for irrigation, Stungs said. Stungs said the water-to-beer ratio is about two barrels of water per every barrel of beer, which is lower than the industry standard. About four years ago, Jester King began raising goats and now has 82

circles the initial farm installation where the vineyard, inaugural berm and goats can be seen. Jester King also features a playground. “[Jester King] is where you put away your device and just enjoy conversation with friends and family in a rural, relaxed setting with really good food and drink,” Stungs said.

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SOUTHWEST AUSTIN DRIPPING SPRINGS EDITION • AUGUST 2023