The Czech phrase “dej buh stesti” means “may God grant luck and joy” and is a common brewery greeting in the Czech Republic. However, Dej Buh Stesti means something else in Texas as it’s a new brewery located in Lovelady, about a 30 minute drive northeast of Huntsville. Dennis Gore, brewmaster and owner of the new venture, was willing to talk to us about the brewery, how he got started in the business, and what Texas beer lovers should expect from them.
I was fortunate enough to sample their signature brew, Stare Pivo, recently at Brews Brothers in Galveston. The traditional Bohemian lager is currently their only brew, but not for long as new beers are in the works. Dennis is sticking with the traditional Czech method of brewing as this was how he was trained. He went to brewing school in Plzen, Czech Republic and learned from a former brewer for Pilsner Urquell. Once Pilsner Urquell was purchased by Gambrinus, the former brewer decided to open his own brew spa (the Czech version of a brewpub) in Plzen and start a brew school. Stare Pivo was one of the beers that was on tap, so if you get a chance to drink it, you’re drinking a real taste of Bohemia.
Unlike most startup breweries, they have an unusually large brewhouse. Currently, they are on a 30 barrel system with four 30 barrel fermenters. With only one beer being produced, it allows him to make a large batch to have enough inventory for all of their accounts. He says he designed the brewery to allow for future growth without needing to add all of the equipment later on. My only concern as a craft beer drinker is their current number of accounts aren’t large enough to go through the entire inventory of beer in a quick manner, meaning some kegs may sit for months at a time. Dennis is aware of this potential issue, especially considered it’s unfiltered, unpasteurized beer, and even sampled some of his first batch that had been sitting kegged in his cold room. He assured me that it tastes exactly how it should, which put me at ease and should put any future customers at ease as well.
The brewery is very much a small family affair with only three people currently involved: Dennis, his wife, and Charles (brewery manager). Right now, they are working on getting more accounts with many of them in and around the north side of Houston (Spring, Cypress, and The Woodlands area mostly), Bryan/College Station, and Galveston. With Galveston being an oddball location compared to where the brewery is located, we asked why it was a focus for them. It turns out that Dennis is a Galveston native and has many connections on the island allowing him to be able to get on tap at places like Brews Brothers and The Spot.
Future beers for the brewery include a dark lager that is tentatively slated to be released at the end of May and a seasonal beer also released around the same time. The first seasonal is a peach-flavored beer using Stare Pivo as the base. For this first batch, he is using real peaches (no extract) and has allowed it to ferment in the brew for several weeks. This ought to drive up the ABV up to around 9.0% at the time of release. Future seasonal beers may include a blueberry beer and future flavored offerings. Because all beers will use the traditional Czech brewing style, these lagers will need a little extra care, with a 40-48 day turnaround time for consumption.
Overall, Dennis Gore is doing something in the state of Texas that few others have dared to do. He is taking a traditional brewing style of a well-known beer region and bringing it to beer drinkers here. To ensure the integrity of the beer, he has a water filtration system that will take their current well water being used and filter out the high levels of calcium to give it a clean, crisp taste. We’re excited about what he has to offer the industry and if you see Dej Buh Stesti on tap, don’t worry if you pronounce it wrong, just order it. You’ll be happy that you did.