I'm not saying I won't brew a hazy or throw something weird in the pilot system to see what pops out but I don't have the intention of plopping a Martin House in a farm town. It would fail.

Ok yeah, that makes sense. I think a lot of breweries hurt themselves because they try to be Martin House or Jester King, but that's a tough row to hoe. They end up making lots of bad beer and go out of business.

i think you can do just fine with "standard" styles in a rural type brewery. Make solid beer and make sure the brewery is a gathering place for the community. My in-laws live in northern wisconsin in a rural area. There are several breweries in the surrounding areas that are always packed and everyone knows everyone. None/very few of them are cranking out hazy IPAs or pastry stouts. They will drop a couple barrel aged beers a year and then have their standard styles like a regular IPA, brown ale, hefe, lager, etc.

Would that same brewery flourish in Austin? probably not. But for the community they support, it is perfect, and they only distribute to a couple local grocery stores and a few bars.

I don't know why (probably state laws) but Texas doesn't have the sort of brewpubs you see in places like Wisconsin, Iowa, or Illinois. These are places that have more of a restaurant feel and strictly brew for sale on premises and are not looking to scale up for package sale or distribution. Pecan Street in Johnson City or Faust Brewery in New Braunfels are the closest I can think of in Texas. That doesn't mean it can't work, but it seems like you're getting into two tricky business at once.

the specific ones I was referring to are actually breweries, not brew pubs. Forgot to mention that, but was mostly just getting at the fact that they are very successful with "standard" beer styles.