Local brewery is 'hoppy' to bring new techniques to its processes

One local business is taking charge of engaging in environmentally sustainable practices, both from a practical and community-minded point of view.

Roughhouse Brewing, located at 680 Oakwood Loop off of Ranch Road 12 between San Marcos and Wimberley, said it is not only planning to brew some of their beer using honey from the ranch that houses the brewery, but it will also utilize drip hoses, and give spent grain to local farmers. But most recently, the brewery has partnered with Texas State University to create a wildlife and water conservation garden on site.

According to Nazish Pasternak, one of the owners of the brewery, the wildlife and water conservation garden will incorporate what is termed xeriscaping– with the aim of using as little water as possible to sustain the plants. It will incorporate the use of many native plants that will provide a habitat for local pollinators, which will do their job by assisting in the survival and growth of more plants at the garden, achieving an offsetting of atmospheric carbon dioxide.

“We have really enjoyed creating a relationship with Texas State in many different ways,” Pasternak said, adding that Dr. Colleen Myles from the university, who had worked with the brewery previously, reached out about a service learning project she was doing for one of her classes and whether or not the brewery would allow them to create it on site.

Pasternak agreed to the arrangement, and over time, the garden came to life.

“It’s been a nice way to collaborate with them,” Pasternak said. “It makes our parking lot look a lot nicer, and it’s also educational for the general public who comes out. There are QR codes set up throughout the garden … that will link to more information about the plants that we’ve planted and the methods we’re using to cut down on our water usage, and hopefully that will influence the public to do more of the same.”

As mentioned earlier, the wildlife garden is not the only environmentally sustainable practice that the brewery participates in.

“We recycle. We have a compost pile … all of our kitchen scraps go in there,” Pasternak said. “We try to use as many resources from our land as we can. If there’s any fallen cedars we’ll use that for the posts for our garden fencing. ... We have a big cedar that holds the lights up. We use a lot of fallen limbs from the ice storm a couple of years ago for our fire pits.”

Nothing goes to waste at Roughhouse.

“The grains that we use to brew the beer, our spent grains [a byproduct of the brewing process] we give to a local farmer to feed his cattle and other livestock,” Pasternak said.

The brewery tries to limit its water consumption as well.

“We have our own well, but we use drip lines for our garden,” Pasternak said, adding that the brewery utilizes a lot of mulch to assist the soil in retaining water.

The brewery is located on a slice of land from the Pasternak Ranch, owned by Gary and Camille Pasternak, and is able to use some of the resources it provides.

The ranch has bees, which Pasternak said the brewery plans to use for one of its beers in the future, and the yeast used for the beer is harvested from the property as well.

The ranch also utilizes environmentally friendly practices, including deer feeders, turkey feeders, watering troughs, bird houses and sanctuaries and owl houses.

“They do a lot of stuff for the land as well,” Pasternak said. “We’re trying to work together as a team to be as environmentally conscious and stewards of our environment as much as possible.”

Roughhouse Brewing is family friendly and has food as well, and Pasternak invites the public to come out and see the garden and hang out under the welcoming oak trees on site.