What creates local pockets of craft breweries opening within mere miles (or sometimes yards) of each other? Some areas such as an urban downtown or dedicated entertainment districts are natural draws for the social climate of a craft brewery (if zoning allows), as are more remote bland industrial parks (if zoning does not).
Every so often, enough craft breweries arise in close proximity to make one take a longer look at the area, and the search for a common thread begins. One such area is the cluster of small townships surrounding the county seat of Parker County immediately west of Fort Worth. Weatherford, Hudson Oaks and Willow Park together have seen no less than four craft breweries pop up since 2018 in a rural, metroplex-adjacent county with an overall population roughly equivalent to the city of Denton.
Weatherford is a quaint near-West Texas town where the dominant industries are agribusiness and ranching. It is home to the annual Parker County Peach Festival each summer, one of the largest of its kind anywhere focused on the celebrated local Texas peaches. The town is also known as the “Cutting Horse Capital of the World,” with active equestrian events and competitions held all year long. (It’s not out of place to spy a real working cowboy wearing spurs walking the downtown streets.) But as for a history of beer or brewing, especially the modern craft beer trend, the staunchly conservative Weatherford has no historical precedent.
Unfortunately, two of the four local Parker County craft breweries have already closed, lasting no more than a hiccup on the commercial scene due in part to the stresses of the pandemic restrictions and related economic downturn of only a few years ago. Pathfinder Brewery opened in Hudson Oaks in the summer of 2020 at the height of the pandemic, and was forced to close only two years later. Likewise, Bourbon-n-Branch Brewing also opened in Hudson Oaks in 2022 (only 1500 feet away from Pathfinder), and included plans for a whiskey-focused nanobrewery, bar and restaurant, but did not last even a full year.
The two remaining craft breweries have been moderately successful, Parker County Brewing of Willow Park (opened 2018) and Edgewise Eight Brewing in downtown Weatherford (opened 2020). In fact, both these breweries recently announced they would soon close their current facilities but due to relocation and expansion plans rather than financial shortfalls. Parker County Brewing has outgrown their current space in The Shops at Willow Park, and will be moving just across the highway to a new site with space for a larger kitchen and brewhouse. Edgewise Eight Brewing, already with a medal from the Great American Beer Festival (GABF), is being forced to move by the city to a larger space about a block over—presumably due to the greater economic development plans for a growing downtown.
Given the amazing growth and expansion of the DFW metro area of the past few years, perhaps craft beer in Parker County makes more sense.
Housing costs have skyrocketed in the North Texas area these past few years due to unprecedented growth, with no change anticipated for the near future. As Lloyd Potter, the Texas state demographer, stated in one recent interview: “As there becomes less residential opportunities in Tarrant County and as the price of housing goes up in Tarrant County, there’s pressure for people to look out into the suburban ring counties. And that would be, certainly, Denton, Parker and Johnson [counties].”
With the DFW Metroplex leading the nation in new residents for 2022-2023 (on the county level, Collin County ranks No. 2 in the nation), it would make sense that Parker County would also see similar growth. And without major employers or commercial industries in the area, it would also follow that at least some of that growth would come from younger residents, couples and families seeking relief from crushing housing costs and the associated lack of housing inventory. With Weatherford situated only a short 15-minute drive from Fort Worth proper, it can provide cheaper country living without being so remote as to not have the advantages of the more urban areas just down the interstate.
Weatherford itself is also responding: The city has seen 94% growth since 2000, and its historic downtown area is being revitalized with fresh commercial projects, including improved infrastructure. It would only be natural for a few new craft breweries to insert themselves into a promising market with younger consumers and an environment more receptive to their efforts.
Likewise, with commercial rents quickly becoming untenable in larger cities, in the future we might expect many craft breweries to seek more manageable operations in the growing rural edges of the Metroplex. Your next craft brewery experience may share space adjacent to stables or crops instead of lattes and clubs, which might not be such a bad thing. PH
