Salty Lady, Big Hoppa, Kafkaesque: Fort Worth owes much of its craft beer notoriety and popularity to Martin House Brewing Company. This Saturday, the Riverside brewery will be celebrating five years of making beers and memories with an epic party.
Martin House co-founder David Wedemeier said the business, branded on an adventurous spirit, has become a fun place to work too.
“I love working with my friends,” he said. “It’s all about enjoying where you work. People stick around here. I think that’s why we’re thriving.”
That adventurous spirit has spilled over into the work culture too. Many of the employees at the brewery camp, hike, and hunt together on their days off (with carefully stocked cans of Martin House brews, of course).
“Everybody is into something here,” Wedemeier said. “We all destroyed our arms playing disc golf,” he said with a laugh as he glanced at a semi-retired disk golf basket in the corner of his office. Wedemeier, an avid bicyclist, occasionally paddles down the Trinity River to work.
Martin House’s beer portfolio runs deep. With dozens of recognizable releases, Martin House staff relies on consumer feedback when deciding which beers are year-round, seasonal, special releases, or one-offs.
“Salty Lady was so popular back in the day that we would have been fools to not make it year-round,” Wedemeier said. “There are some micro-seasonals we’ll bring back frequently like Big Hoppa. For others, part of the charm is that you can only get them once a year.”
American palates are pining for lighter beers these days. Wedemeier said Salty Lady and True Love have served that market well, but there’s a top-secret lager in the works.
So what will the Martin House staff and volunteers be celebrating this Saturday?
“Being around for five years,” the brewery co-founder said. “This thing going from me, Cody, and Adam to having 25 to 30 employees. Our reach is growing. We will be celebrating five years of our friends coming to the brewery and being a part of Fort Worth and the North Texas beer scene and being a leader in it. It’s been a long and really cool journey. It’ll be a time to look back and celebrate with all my friends.”
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On Tap this Week:
Martin House Brewing Company 5 Year Anniversary Party
From Martin House: Join us Saturday, March 24th from 12-5pm for our 5 year Anniversary Party! We’ll have over 40 beers on tap, including eight unreleased barrel-aged brews, live music, food trucks, and a whole lot ridiculousness. We’ll have 500 custom 5 year nine-ounce tulips available online only for $20. Buy your tickets now and skip the line. You will get eight eight-ounce pours of beer. If you buy your $20 ticket at the door, you’ll receive a MH pint glass and eight half pours (eight ounces). Each attendee will get eight eight-ounce pours of beer (or four 16-ounce pours of our year round brews). Visit the event page here.
