Closing news
NOLA-inspired Neutral Ground Brewing Co. in Fort Worth to pour last beer
Neutral Ground served a king cake-flavored beer.
A Fort Worth brewery known for its NOLA-inspired brews is set to pour its last beer. Neutral Ground Brewing Co. will close after three years at 2929 Race St., in Fort Worth’s River East District.
The brewery’s last day is March 29; they plan to host a three-year anniversary party on March 23 to celebrate “one last hurrah.”
Neutral Ground was founded in 2021 by Texas native Stan Hudson and NOLA-transplant Sean Doublet, who combined their backgrounds in Texas and Louisiana to create the concept.
The brewery offers up to 20 beers on tap, with creative brew such as the Epiphany, a cinnamon and nutmeg beer that tastes like king cake. Other selections include the Sang Cerise Stout, with dark chocolate and black cherry flavors, and the Satsuma Cum Laude, with spice, grain, and satsuma orange.
Doublet says they decided not to renew their liquor license, which expires at the end of March, because of a lack of sales and what he calls "a culmination of bad timing and changing market conditions."
The year 2023 was especially tough, he says.
"We had a brutal summer, like a lot of other people in the industry, and the fall didn't make up for it," Doublet says.
They're also in a neighborhood that's going through a reset. When they opened the pub in 2021, Race Street was a promising location with a buzzy roster of new businesses such as Tributary Café, The Post at River East, La Onda, and several shops.
Since then, the neighborhood has witnessed a round of closures including The Post, Tributary Café, Fuzzy’s, Zonk Burger, and Calisience, as well as a few new openings, like Kingyo Sushi & Ramen House and Ostara Coffee + Wine + Market.
“There's been a lot of turnaround on this street,” Doublet says. “We bought into the potential of Race Street, but it never materialized.”
Meanwhile, it's time to drink up: Neutral Ground has to sell or dispose of their inventory before their liquor license expires. Any beers that don’t get consumed before they close may be distributed to local bars and restaurants.
They also recently got a deal with H-E-B in Hudson Oaks and Burleson to sell their canned beers, so they plan to offload leftover inventory to the two store locations.
“It’s definitely nobody’s plan to open a business just to shut it down,” Doublet says. “We’re sad that our dream didn’t pan out, but the regret of trying and not succeeding is a lot better than the regret of not trying and not knowing.”
