What’s Brewing in San Antonio: A Star Chef, Anniversary Beers, and a Book Club

Editor’s note: The bustling San Antonio beer scene is always changing — usually with openings and closures, but there are other twists along the way. Let’s discuss it over a cold one.

Culinary Collaboration

The kitchen at Weathered Souls Brewing Co. is once again with a new chef at the helm. Nicola Blaque, a rising star in San Antonio’s culinary circles, is taking over the kitchen at the north side brewpub. Blaque is the creator of The Jerk Shack, an acclaimed local restaurant that focuses on traditional Caribbean cuisine.

Blaque has been nominated for the prestigious James Beard Award, and was crowned Chef of the Year in this year’s CultureMap San Antonio TasteMaker awards, among other accolades. She also leads Freight Fried Chicken at Pearl, and Jerk Shack was recently featured in an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

Weathered Souls owner and brewer Marcus Baskerville, himself a previous James Beard Award nominee, went onto social media to announce the new collaboration. He called it “Barrel and Bloom,” referencing both the brewery’s barrel-aging program and the results of Blaque’s culinary exploration.

Baskerville detailed how drawing upon Weathered Souls’ brewing processes and Blaque’s cooking talent will produce new dishes such as Smash Burger Sliders with a hop aioli using in-house beer, street tacos, and a grilled watermelon salad. The salad features a watermelon champagne vinaigrette and pairs with the Raze Some Helles beer and the Grand Champion Strawberry Blonde.

Under Blaque’s direction, the Weathered Souls kitchen will serve food Thursdays from 3-9 pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 11 am to 9 pm, and Sundays from noon to 8 pm. A soft launch of the new kitchen is set for April 25, with a limited menu that will grow through the end of the year.

Anniversary Collaboration

April and May mark special occasions for two fledgling San Antonio-area breweries. Breakaway Brewing Co., on San Antonio’s near East Side, recently introduced Echelon, an IPA resulting from a collaboration with 28 Songs Brewhouse and Kitchen from Boerne. Echelon will be offered at both taprooms.

The team at Breakaway noted the collaboration beer was developed to celebrate the first anniversary for 28 Songs, which held its celebratory party on April 13. The event featured music, a patio cookout, a car show, a vendor market, wine tastings, a trivia contest, and brewery tours. Also, they introduced a limited bottle release for their 2023 barrel-aged Phainopepla Porter.

Breakaway will host their own first anniversary party on May 4. The event will include new merchandise, new limited-release beers, live music, a special menu, and drawings for a chance at free beer.

Brewery Book Club

Thirsty Pups, another young San Antonio-area brewery, is continuing a monthly book club that was launched this winter. Patron Colette Garcia suggested the creation of a book club at Thirsty Pups, the dog-friendly brewery that opened in 2023. Garcia moderated the most recent book club discussion on April 11, and is scheduled to lead another club chat on May 9.

The last book was A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers, about a food writer who sometimes snacks on people. Next up will be The Rose Code by Kate Quinn, about code breakers during World War II. Thirsty Pups is promoting book club meetings with alerts for new beers, such as Webster’s Irish Red Ale and Mike Hats’ Nitro Irish Stout.

Photo courtesy of the Jerk Shack – Diners, Drive-ins and Dives star and host Guy Fieri visits with actor Bruce McGill and Chef Nicola Blaque at The Jerk Shack in San Antonio.