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This time of year, with the holidays, they party most every night in the St. Arnold Brewing Company.

And the beer, itself, is the farthest thing from that can of Old Milwaukee Light in the back of the fridge.

Lupe Gonzalez liked them all. “When I walked in here and saw the kegs, I was wondering if I could buy one for a party?”

The answer is no.

St. Arnold’s is the state’s largest micro-brewery and a brewery, large or small, is prohibited from selling to Lupe Gonzalez or Jesus Guerra. “I’d like to buy it in wherever they sell it.”

Brock Wagner—who founded the brewery—is trying to get the legislature to change all that. “If you came on one of our tours, at the end of it if you wanted to buy a six-pack to take home, you could.”

The micro-brewers, he said, need help and are hardly threatening.

“The micro-brewery business is not a high margin business,” said Brock.

If you want an idea of how competitive the beer business is come to Spec’s and walk along the beer cooler.

There are 400 labels which may help explain why of the 19 micro-breweries started in Texas.

Only five are still alive.

Last year, St. Arnold has bottled and kegged the equivalent of 14,000 barrels.

The Anheiser-Busch plant, east of the city, produced that in 57 seconds.