San Antonio has seen quite the influx of new breweries in the last two years, with Longtab Brewing, Back Unturned, Black Laboratory, and Second Pitch to name but a few. This weekend San Antonio’s latest, Man Overboard Brewing, held a soft opening to introduce the Alamo City to their brews in advance of their grand opening next month.
Captained by 30-year Navy veteran Ron Merriman, Man Overboard is located at 1203 Camden St on the southwest side of the Pearl complex in the old Bexar Stage comedy club building. Man Overboard is a family affair with Merriman’s wife Cindy, son Justin, and Justin’s wife Irene involved in all aspects of the operation.
Merriman is originally from San Angelo, Texas where he met Cindy, and later settled in Virginia due to his time in the Navy, where Justin was born. When it was time to retire though it was a no-brainer for Merriman to come back to Texas, though it would be San Antonio this time. His son Justin and Irene soon followed suit.
In the last 10 years that Merriman (a 12-year homebrewer) and his son Justin (a 5-year homebrewer) decided to give the thought of opening a brewery a real go. The brewery’s name honors Ron’s navy service, though they went through a lot of naming possibilities before settling on Man Overboard.
Once they truly settled on starting the project, they first looked for a location. After seeing several areas of town as options, the old comedy club became an option. “Without realizing it, we later found that the location had a lot of foot traffic from the Pearl, cyclists, those parking to go to the Riverwalk, as well as being a part of the Fiesta parade route,” says Ron Merriman.
About the time they signed the lease on the building, Ron and family found their brewing system with Table Talk Brewing, a brewery that was never able to get off the ground due to Covid. This 3-barrel ‘Brew in A Bag’ (BIAB) system had once been owned by fellow Texas brewery Bandera Ale Works, who had just recently upgraded their system and sold it to Table Talk.
Smaller BIAB systems are popular with homebrewers due to their simplicity.
“It’s a simple system to brew on,” says Justin Merriman “We have two 3-barrel kettles that allow us to brew two 3-barrel batches at a time, with our stainless ‘bags’ lowered into each kettle with a winch.” At that point, the electric kettles take over.
Man Overboard’s soft opening saw four house beers on tap. “J’s Tangerine Wheat”, an American Wheat Ale; “Coffee Porter”, a well…coffee porter; and “Ron’s Blonde” an American Blonde Ale with honey; and “IPA” a malt and hop balanced American IPA sans the haze. For those that do not normally vibe on beers, wine is also available, as well as a cider, and a house-made hard seltzer with has several flavored syrups available depending on what tickles your fancy.
At the grand opening, expect to see the same four beers from the soft opening with a couple more added: wa Belgian-Style Golden Strong and a version of it with raspberry added to the lineup, as well as a house-made root beer for the kiddos and those who do not imbibe on adult beverages. Ron and Justin plan to have other styles debut over the coming months while retaining a core group of year-round beers.
The grand opening is set for this Saturday, December 4th, from noon to 10:00. Mad Cow food truck will be onsite for food options. Man Overboard has no plans for distribution outside of the brewery initially, wanting to get off the ground and onto solid footing first. Come out and see them this weekend!