Beer, BBQ & burros: A look at Village Creek Brewing Co. in Rendon

Photos © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D.

If you're looking for a place to go where you can get away from it all, a new venue in Rendon may be just the sort of spot you seek. What's more, with the primary offerings being craft beer and barbecue, one wonders what more does a Texan need?

Founded by Art & Sunny Anderson, you could certainly call Village Creek Brewing Co. a labor of love, considering the couple has been working to make the business a reality since 2019. That year, they poured beer at Luckapalooza V, hosted by LUCK at Trinity Groves, while they were scouting locations for their future endeavor.

By the end of 2019, the Andersons had purchased a 4.7-acre site in Rendon, with the brewery and an expansive biergarten set to front the property while occupying around an acre of that land at 6690 Levy County Rd.

So, why did it take six years to get here? Well, to start, there was this pandemic thing that caused a few disruptions. Beyond that, by all accounts Village Creek was built by the family from the ground up, almost completely by hand. The result being the very definition of a destination brewery, given the remote, rural locale and wooded surroundings.

As for what the experience is like at Village Creek, it begins with the aforementioned beer and barbecue.

Liquids pour from upwards of 20 taps, with the menu featuring mostly classic styles or slight variants of such. Examples include This Spuds for You (potato cream ale), Hopfire Amber (hoppy amber ale), Big L Vanilla Porter and a favorite of those sampled, Blackwater Scotch Ale. You could even turn back the clock with a pint of Threat Level Midnight, a peanut butter and chocolate milk stout dating back to the Luckapalooza days.

Among other beverages available, Village Creek's house hard seltzer can be enhanced with one of four flavoring options, while those preferring wine can choose from varieties bottled by Burning Daylight Estate Vineyard & Winery of Mansfield.

Then for non-alcoholic drinks, canned soda and bottled tea are sold at the Smokehouse Republic food trailer, an on-site barbecue purveyor. There, hungry patrons can order from a food menu consisting of brisket options (sandwiches, nachos), smashburgers and more.

And entertainment? If communing with nature while holding a beer in hand isn't quite enough, you can find widescreen televisions and board games in the taproom, with cornhole and giant connect four set-ups outside. There are also donkeys in an attached pen, who appear to quite enjoy poking their heads through the fence line for a friendly pat.

That brings us to the topic of when to visit, as Village Creek has been opening at noon on weekends - beer and food stock permitting. Given the latter, it's best to check the brewery's social media channels for updates before heading down south.

A look at 2025 North Texas production numbers

Click to enlarge.

This is the annual update of the breakdown of brewery sizes in North Texas, based on 2025 production data as reported to the Brewers Association (BA) and published in the May/June 2026 issue of The New Brewer.

Note, not all brewing companies provide their numbers, and some report statistics combining multiple locations. For 2025, roughly 80% of brewing companies active in North Texas are accounted for in the BA's production report.

Data also includes production from breweries that closed during the course of 2025. As a result, the number of entities represented in the chart is not equal to the total number of breweries open and operating at any given time.

Inside the numbers:

Brewery tiers in North Texas, based on production (shown alphabetically):

     Regional (> 15,000 bbls)

• Manhattan Project Beer Co. of Dallas.

     Large (> 10,000 bbls)

• Martin House Brewing Co. of Fort Worth.

     Mid-Size (> 5000 bbls)

• Community Beer Co. of Dallas.
• Four Corners Brewing Co. of Dallas.
• HopFusion Ale Works of Fort Worth.
• Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. of Fort Worth.
• Tupps Brewery of McKinney.
• Twin Peaks Brewing Co. of Irving.
• Union Bear Brewing Co. of Denton/Plano.
  
  

Tier movement

• Advancing from "Small" to "Mid-Size" tier: Union Bear Brewing Co. of Denton/Plano.
• Moving from "Large" to "Mid-Size" tier: Community Beer Co. of Dallas.

Year-to-year production change

• At 54%, just over half of the breweries in North Texas reported a drop in production during 2025 (flat compared to 55% reporting declines in 2024).
• Overall production in North Texas was down 3% for those reporting in 2024 and 2025 (compared to a 6% overall decline in 2024).
• Comparison: Craft beer volume was down 4% nationally in 2025, according to the Brewers Association.

Significant year-to-year production gains (based on those reporting in 2024 and 2025)

• For the fourth year in a row, Manhattan Project Beer Co. of Dallas had the largest year-to-year gain in raw barrels produced locally for 2025. The brewery is now the fourth largest craft beer producer in all of Texas, behind Gambrinus Co. of San Antonio (Shiner), Saint Arnold Brewing Co. of Houston, and Real Ale Brewing Co. of Blanco.
• The largest year-to-year percentage gains for brewing companies with production greater than 1000 barrels were realized by (alphabetically): Armor Brewing Co. of Allen, Four Corners Brewing Co. of Dallas, Manhattan Project Beer Co. of Dallas, Martin House Brewing Co. of Fort Worth, Oak Highlands Brewery of Richardson, Rollertown Beerworks of Frisco, Three Wide Brewing Co. of Fort Worth, and Union Bear Brewing Co. of Denton/Plano.
  

Lucky Vines closes tasting room in Dublin

Image credit: Lucky Brewing Co.

Lucky Vines Vineyard & Winery has announced the closure of its tasting room in Dublin. While not explicitly mentioned, this presumably means the company's side project, Lucky Brewing Co., is closing as well.

Owners Jeff and Kimberley Hutchins added house beers to the menu in August 2021, roughly three years after opening the winery in late 2018. The company's name and logo had an Irish theme, in deference to the more famous Dublin city across the pond, which extended to stylistic beer offerings like Beour Blonde, Emerald Isle IPA and Luck-in Bock.

From a social media post:

"After much consideration, we have made the difficult decision to close the Lucky Vines Vineyard & Winery Tasting Room."

This is not goodbye to Lucky Vines — it is simply the closing of one chapter and the beginning of another.

While our Tasting Room has closed, Lucky Vines will continue through wine sales, private events, and honoring all currently booked events. We are excited for what the future holds and look forward to continuing to share wine and special memories with you."

Second Rodeo joins Firefly Park project in Frisco

Rendering of Firefly Park in Frisco (Wilks Development).

For the past two years, Second Rodeo Brewing of Fort Worth has been actively exploring options for a second location, with the latest possibility - a least in North Texas - a new development being built in North Frisco.

Coming from Wilks Development of Fort Worth, Firefly Park is a mixed-used urban village set to occupy a 217-acre tract of land on the southwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway and U.S. 380, expanding down to PGA Parkway.

According to a press release, once completed "Firefly Park will feature 3 million square feet of Class A office space, 400,000 square feet of retail, dining, and entertainment, 1,200 hotel rooms, 230 townhomes, and 1,970 residential units."

Second Rodeo signed on as a tenant in late April. The brewpub, a concept from Jason Boso and Brain Storm Shelter (the group behind Truck Yard), debuted its original location in the Fort Worth Stockyards during the summer of 2021.

"Second Rodeo Brewing has always been about more than cold beer and good food - it’s about creating a place where the outlaw spirit is alive and the live music never stops,” says Boso. “Frisco is growing quickly and deserves a destination that grows with it, making Firefly Park a natural fit. We built Second Rodeo as a full experience, with house-brewed beer, strong cocktails, great food, and live music every day - all coming together to create a place people want to stay awhile."

It should be noted that plans for Second Rodeo - Frisco are in the very early stages, and details could change (dirt is moving at the site, with condos and office space under construction). Based on the current outlook, the brewpub is scheduled to open in Fall 2027, alongside other first phase retail, residential, office and hotel elements of Firefly Park.

As for other expansion options, Brain Storm Shelter previously looked into adding a Second Rodeo location in Richardson in mid-2024. That project is now a Truck Yard (with no attached brewing operation), opening later this year.

And if we're talking further out, both in terms of timeline and geography, Second Rodeo has eyes on San Antonio for its first location outside of North Texas.