local pints
DOS SIRENOS BREWING CO. BY J.E. JORDAN
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e sampled a few beers at Dos Sirenos Brewing Co., Southtown’s latest brewpub at 231 E. Cevallos St., just before the soft open. “Well, it wasn’t a lifetime dream, but within the last three years, this has become a dream of ours,” Mike Sireno explained. In the early 90s, while Texas was lagging behind other states in brewpubs and craft beers, Mr. Sireno was an avid home brewer. On a visit to Colorado, his cousin said he should get ready because the new Texas brewpub law would open up opportunities. “I thought (opening a brewpub) was the stupidest idea ever,” Mr. Sireno said. And, for a time, work and family even made him forget about home-brewing – until Mike’s son brought home supplies for a Father’s Day brew and the brewing team was back in action. As soon as they got started, demand quickly exceeded supply. They scaled up a bit and one thing led to another. “So here I am, this is my retirement plan,” he looked around the taproom. “I thought, I wanna hang out and drink beer someplace, so it might as well be my place. I didn’t want to look back in 10 years and wonder what if.” After scouting locations, he liked the look of the building on East Cevallos and the promise of the up-and-coming area, but turned it down at first, thinking it might need too much work. But something kept him coming back. There were challenges and sometimes he felt like giving up, like when he discovered the entire pier and beam substructure needed upgrading. But his vision kept him going, and the result proved him right. “I could picture the feel it would have,” he said. “Now it’s exciting and I’m hoping it will be fun. I still enjoy construction and I’m still
Dos Sirenos Akaushi burger and fries. (Photo courtesy)
working, but I gave my ten-year notice last January.” The spacious interior is bright and open, with an upbeat industrial look and a pop of color in a curvy overhead feature. A wall of windows looks out on a large, covered beer garden. The logo, featuring two “mermen,” each holding a stein of foaming beer, is designed around the family name, which means merman in Italian. Mr. Sireno brews the beer with his son, hence “Dos Sirenos.” The Sireno family – Mike, Kari and Jacob – expect the brewery to stand out in Southtown. He describes himself as an “equal opportunity beer drinker,” and Dos Sirenos offers up stouts, English ales and hoppy IPA’s and with his favorites, German and Belgian styles. “And then there’s the 104 bananas, Hefe Weiss. It was the first batch we brewed onsite and we had temperature control issues ... we caught it and got the temp back down – that’s the skill of brewing – and it turned out better than we thought,” he said, confessing the “banana forward” Hefe was a one-time thing, not easily reproducible. We checked in for the grand opening and found we’d landed in the sweet spot, right between brunch and lunch, with ten blissful minutes to choose from either menu created by Chef J.D Rivera, formerly of Fair Oaks Country Club. While we waited for the French toast from the brunch menu and the crispy fried chicken sandwich and Akaushi burger from the lunch menu, we sipped a flight of the five beers on tap. As we finished the flight, our meal and pints arrived, a Dark Belgian, a Saison, and a Winter Brown ale. The five-barrel brewery is just big enough to guarantee the beer is always fresh. I’m looking forward to the Caerus, a dunkelweizen, one of my favorites. For now, the brewpub at 231 E. Cevallos St. is open Thursday through Sunday. Visit dossirenosbrewing.com for hours, live music info and updates. ediblesanantonio.com
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