San Marcos Brewery Debuts Beer Aged In A Limestone Cave

The family behind Roughhouse Brewing is making the most of a cave on its property.

The brewery in San Marcos unveiled a series of 100% cave-brewed beer on Wednesday, but craft beer lovers will have to wait a little longer to get their hands on UNDERGROUND.

The Pasternak family found the cave by accident in 2018. They thought it was a small sinkhole, but geologists uncovered that it was actually a natural 18-by-20 feet underground limestone cave.

"It's hard as a brewer to see something like this and not think I have to put some beer down there," said Davy Pasternak, owner and brewer, in a Facebook video.

With the help of friends and family, the Pasternaks were able to clear out the have one bucket of rocks at a time. Once oak barrels, a humidifier, and lighting were installed in the cave, beer was added to the barrels so it can ferment.

“We wanted to make a beer that honored the natural space we were given,” Paskternak said in a statement. “A spontaneously fermented beer using all Texas ingredients was the most honest way to do that.”

The beer is a collaboration between Roughhouse and Jester King Brewery, but it won't be ready until 2021. The cave-aged brew is an experiment so the Paskternaks don't quite know exactly when it will be ready, but they expect the first run to be small.

Roughhouse plans to ferment other foods inside of the cave, too. The brewery expects to have a 4-month cave-aged hot sauce that'll be ready by the end of the year.