Wednesday 25th of August 2010 06:02:10 AM

link
I am not totally certain, but I believe that this brewery is now closed. For years, the Holland Hotel and Edelweiss Brewery and Restaurant operated together in a nice harmony that made Alpine a fantastic little town to stop in.
I stayed at the hotel three times, the last time being in 2007. Then, things had gone downhill dramatically. The owner was having medical problems, apparently, so the food menu at the Edelweiss had deteriorated dramatically and the hotel breakfast, which had previously been served as a meal at tables in their dining room, was now in a small meeting room at the front and consisted of cereal and bread. The room and hotel in general were both in really poor condition.
I wasn't surprised to see the place close for sometime and then reopen as the apparent boutique hotel it now is. With the economy the way it is though, I don't know that this was the best way to go, although it appears to still be open and I certainly wish them luck. I still would not stay anywhere else in the region. The Holland is a really special hotel that should be preserved.
The link on the hotel's website for "dining" brings up the Reata in Marfa, so I don't know if that really does mean that the restaurant & brewery is closed. If it is, that's a real damn shame.
To say the brewery was small is an understatement. This was a true, small-scale, old style brewpub. They distributed nothing, the beer selection changed constantly, and the few beers that they had consistently were always a little different. Everything served was European style: wheats, pilsners, etc. The beer was not fantastic, but it was very good and the atmosphere more than made up for it.
I plan on stopping by the next time I'm in Alpine again to check the new hotel and this place out.