Thursday, May 16, 2024
Dr. Texas Ruegg got his first name from his great-great grandmother.
“The family was moving from Tennessee, traveling by covered wagon,” he says, “and my great-great grandmother was born in the back of that wagon right as they crossed the border into Texas. To commemorate that, they named her Nancy Texas Arnett. And, so down the family tree, I get the Texas name.”
He lives at Nesbitt, a small place northwest of Marshall. He’s a fireman there. Texas has a good education.
“My undergraduate and graduate degrees are in business. Then I went on to earn my PhD in higher education administration and leadership.”
He spent twenty years in college and university administration and resigned to start a brewery in Marshall.
“I’ve been home brewing for about twelve years. It was always a passion and kind of a dream to one day open a brewery. We purchased a building downtown on the square and basically gutted it and started over. That building had been where Dr Pepper was bottled and distributed. We found out that the building was actually the first fire station in Marshall. It was built in 1871. My great-great grandfather, G. W. Rains, was one of the founding members and was a board member of that fire department. I had no idea anyone in my family had any fireman background. So full circle. I’m a lieutenant in the Nesbitt fire department and serve as public information officer.
His fellow firemen helped build the brewery. A stair railing is made of fire hose. There is no fire pole.
“When you mix alcohol and a fire pole … we just thought it wasn’t a good idea for us to have a pole in the building.”
The brewery is named Rueggenbach.
“We have two bars, one on the first floor, one on the second floor. Folks can come have a beer, hang out, visit with friends, and enjoy live music. We really want it to be a community gathering spot.”
He has seven tanks for brewing.
“I can have seven beers going at one time. We have fourteen taps, so that on both bars we’ll have fourteen types of beer available. Some taps we’ll keep kind of consistent, and the others will rotate out different specialty beers we’ll do. We’ll have experimental beers to keep it exciting and lively.”
His beer is available in cans.
“We can and keg. We have 32-ounce cans available right there at the bar. You can purchase those and walk out the door with them.”
