TEMPLE, Texas — If you have ever spent time around Rod Henry, the President of the Temple Chamber of Commerce, you know he exudes the excitement of all things Temple like a child on Christmas Eve.
"This is a celebration of the Agri-Business, craft beverage industry in Central Texas and we have seen this continually grow eight-plus years," Henry told 6 News this week. "This is a chance for the Chamber to encourage the community to go out and enjoy the opportunities that are made available to everyone."
Beginning today and running through April 3, The 2022 Spirit of Santa Fe Trail is a chance to explore Central Texas wineries and breweries. Henry said there are seven wineries and four breweries on this year's trail and all of them have something special to offer those that purchase a ticket and visit.
"What you receive from that location during the trail is left, primarily, up to the location itself but it's going to be good no matter what," Henry explained. "It is an opportunity to celebrate growth in the industry."
Alex Martinec, who owns and operates Tanglefoot Brewery in Temple, is no stranger to the craft beer scene as his fingerprints are all over the empires built in Austin.
"Tanglefoot, I technically opened, I would say in May 2021, but we did open it super quietly, didn't have a sign, didn't have the building painted, just nothing," he admitted. "If you didn't follow me on social media you wouldn't have known we were there."
Martinec has been brewing professionally in Austin for the last nine years and still runs a brewpub called Black Star Co-Op there. Open only Friday and Saturday, Tanglefoot is a small Czech lager-focused brewery in the back of Al's BBQ in downtown on West Avenue M in Temple. The location is special for Martinec, the BBQ Barn has been in existence for 53-years and opened by his grandpa.
"We're Czech, there's a huge Czech population in Temple and so, Czech lagers it is and being a professional brewer, I'll I want to drink after work is a lager," he said. "I specialize in producing authentically brewed Czech-style lagers."
Opened with little fanfare, this is what this weekend is about for Martinec and all of the other breweries and wineries participating.
"Five to seven years ago there was nothing, so it's really cool to see. Coming from Austin where there's 70-plus breweries in a 30-mile radius, to Temple, Texas where there's three official breweries in Temple," Martinec said. "Bold Republic in Belton will be moving to Temple, it's just cool to see that small community off of the I-35 corridor kind of growing and being a part of that is super awesome."
Henry agreed, citing the coffee explosion and equating that growth with the same meteoric rise of the adult beverage scene.
"They in-turn get to experience the community as a whole, they get to experience what's going on all over Temple, yes the downtown, but it's all over Temple," Henry said when talking about attracting new people to the City. "The West side, the north side, the east side and the south side, everywhere, and they come away thinking, 'wow, you know this is a happening place.'"
Those that do participate and purchase a ticket will be given a punch card and trail-goers can return completed Spirit of Santa Fe Trail punch card to the Chamber office for 10 raffle tickets. Those tickets will be entered into a raffle for a chance to win a for a raffle prize Frigidaire Beverage Center (donated by Sam’s Club of Temple) and Central Texas Wine & Beer. The drawing will be held Wednesday, April 6, 2022 at 12 p.m. on Facebook Live.
Completed punch cards will be collected through close of business, at 5 p.m., on Tuesday, April 6, 2022.