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Hi Sign Brewing
A
fter 10 years in politics and three tours of duty with the Marine Corps, Mark Phillippe was searching for his next career and life path. An idea started brewing in
2010 while he was fishing with family in his father’s home state of Montana, on the banks of the Blackfoot River. Inspired by his love for craft beer and encouraged by two of his mentors, Tito’s Handmade Vodka founder Tito Beveridge and Deep Eddy Vodka and Sweet Leaf Tea founder Clayton Christopher, Phillippe set his
by CLAUDIA ALARCÓN
sights on a microbrewery.
photography by ANDY SAMS
To set things in motion, he took coursework in brewing science at the University of California, Davis, attended the Business of Craft Brewing program at Portland State University and graduated from the Boots to Business program in entrepreneurship at Syracuse University. His hard work and efforts paid off when, in 2017, Hi Sign Brewing opened in East Austin. Named after his family’s cabin at the end of Hi Sign Road in the mountains of Montana, the brewery has enjoyed rapid growth and great success in just over two years. The one-acre property houses the brewery as well as a small tasting room and an ample, grassy backyard. Although the space
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