Craft Beer News
Craft beer-loving couple persevere to open brewery in Rockwall
A craft beer brewery long in the making is finally ready to break ground. Called Siren Rock Brewing Company, it's a mom-and-pop that will open in Rockwall's Historic Downtown District in spring 2021.
Siren Rock will comprise a 13,000-square-foot facility across from Rockwall's City Hall, at South Goliad Street & TX Hwy 66, and less than a mile from Lake Ray Hubbard. It will feature a full production brewery, taproom, event space, kitchen, and two landscaped beer gardens.
Founders are Cory and Eva Cannon, who traveled to study beer and wine culture in places like Belgium, Netherlands, Czech Republic, South Africa, and Napa Valley. They became entranced with the possibilities of what a regional brewery can do for its community, Eva says in a statement.
"These places in Europe become a part of their neighborhood and a gathering destination where everyone is welcome, including dogs," she says. "Great conversations happen over pints and long-term friendships are formed. We want to recreate that sense of community, that local gathering place here in Rockwall.”
Their operation will use a 30-barrel brewing system with state-of-the-art equipment for canning and packaging for distribution.
Their core lineup will feature German, Belgian, and American style ales. The tasting room will offer 24 taps of core beers, seasonal offerings, and rotating taproom-only batches.
But they'll incorporate community input on which beers get added. If a particular test batch becomes popular, it might then be added to the core brand.
The couple endured a drawn-out, at times ridiculous, process to gain the necessary permits to open across from City Hall, including a change to city ordinances to allow a brewpub in the downtown district.
Some of the obstacles encountered included crackerjack objections such as the one by Planning and Zoning Commission Chairman Johnny Lyons who claimed he was not opposed to a brewery in the downtown area but was concerned that the brewery was located "on a downhill slope and on a curve," he said those exact words.
Rockwall Mayor Jim Pruitt, whose law office is near where the brewery will go, was also opposed, suggesting that patrons might leave with open containers of alcohol, or that the brewery could become a "beer joint," or that the business could fail, or that demons could take over and then where would they be. He didn't really mention the demons but he might as well have.
Cory says their goal is not only to brew beer but also contribute to Rockwall.
"We are so excited to share our love of craft beer with the greater Dallas Fort-Worth community, and our hope is to facilitate a new beer destination in historic downtown Rockwall," he says.
