A new microbrewery just east of Boerne has just “Z” stuff you need to enjoy a Texas summer afternoon: a variety of beers, pub grub, and live music.
Z Brewz Beer Co. recently opened its doors at the site of the short-lived Silber Brewing Company, off FM 46.
The new brew pub, located at 39 Rust Ln., is the brainchild of Zachary Disch, the chef/owner of Z’s Wood Fired Pizza in Boerne, and his wife and business partner, Jodi.
While their pizzeria serves up plenty of beer options befitting a pizza feast, the new Z Brewz Beer Co. takes a craftier approach, offering an array of beers on tap, house “brewz,” and guest “brewz,” in addition to a stout pub-eats menu.
Z Brewz is a labor of love for Disch, who was in his late teens when he got introduced to brewing and the craft-beer scene by his best friend, who led a beer club at Ohio Wesleyan University. Before long, Disch was brewing his own beer at home.
Later, the Disches moved to Northern California, where both made lots of beer and wine, enough to perfect their boozy recipes. And moving to Texas — along with a growing love for craft beer — only got Disch more hopped up about brewing.
“I have always been a huge fan of great breweries,” he says. “Throughout the years, my wife and I have been to many beer festivals in Oregon, toured breweries in Germany and Belgium and all over the United States. I have just always been fascinated with the business and chemistry of beer making.”
While developing his own brewery concept, Disch came upon Silber Brewing, which eventually closed mid-2020 because of the pandemic.
“I wanted to sell their beer in my pizza shop, so I started doing business with them. I loved the space, so I kept my eye on the location,” Disch says.
Z Brewz poured into business with several original beers, including three IPAs (Redemption, Lemon Haze, Slightly Hazy), the Sonneweizen hefeweizen, the Dark Knight American brown ale, the Lost Anchor American amber ale, and two blonde ales (E-Z Blonde and Rust Lane Blonde), the latter of which is named for the road where Z Brewz sits.
The taproom also offers ciders from the likes of Austin Eastciders, Ace Cider, and Bishop Cider Co. Even wine lovers have a few choices available to them at Z Brewz.
Z Brewz is among a pack of breweries to open in Boerne and San Antonio in recent months, perhaps speaking to the area’s craft-beer demand and ripe-for-growth standing.
Short-term plans are for Z Brewz to keep at least six core beers on tap. Disch looks to sell his beer at his pizzeria and distribute to other Boerne-area restaurants.
“I also plan on expanding our brew system with more fermenters ASAP,” Disch adds.
The long-range plan calls for the Disches to finish building a commercial kitchen inside the brewery and make Z Brewz a full-blown brew pub. In the meantime, the Disches are repurposing the trailer they used to start their wood-fired pizza business to feed hungry visitors at Z Brewz.
“Now, with the new brewery, we needed to be able to sell food as well, so we brought it out of retirement and hauled it to the brewery,” Disch says.
The trailer, dubbed Z Bites, provides plenty of pub grub fare, and the “Z” theme is prevalent throughout the menu, which features specials like the Brewerz Plant, a charcuterie board loaded with assorted cheeses, meats, bread, and dried fruits; the Big Tex Pretz, a Texas-sized soft pretzel served with three dipping sauces; Thai Lettuce Wrapz with grilled chicken or portobello mushrooms; and Fajita Tacoz with a choice of marinated steak, chicken fajita, or portobello mushrooms.
There’s also a range of “sliderz,” with each order consisting of two all-beef patties on Hawaiian rolls and served with chips. In the Smokey Boi, the patties are covered with barbecue sauce, applewood bacon, and cheddar cheese, then topped with haystack onions. And the Grandpa’s Jam sliderz come with a smear of bacon jam, cheddar cheese and mozzarella, and are then topped with green onions.
Visitors to Z Brewz can also catch singer-songwriters in action inside the spacious taproom. Check the brewery’s website for upcoming live shows.
Z Brewz will keep at least six craft beers on tap, including original brews.
