A Red Rock brewery known for cooking its beer over open flame instead of electric or steam equipment is opening the first taproom to ever operate inside Luling city limits. Wild Bunch Brewing's new location at 522 E. Pierce St. debuts September 26 in a former service station most recently used as an insurance office, bringing the small town's decades-old barbecue reputation a new drinking companion.
The expansion marks a milestone for a brewery that has spent a decade honing an unusual technique. As reported by CultureMap San Antonio, Wild Bunch was founded in 2013 by Charlie Sullivan and Larry LaViolette in La Grange, Texas, before opening its first taproom in 2018 inside a converted farmhouse and barn in rural Red Rock. That original site, at 1764 Taylorsville Road south of Bastrop, runs on a custom gravity-fed brewing system built without modern pumps, according to Craft Beer Amethyst.
What sets Wild Bunch apart is its commitment to direct-fire brewing, a pre-industrial method rarely used by modern commercial breweries. Heating mash and wort over an open flame, rather than electric or steam systems, causes a slight caramelization of sugars that produces complex, caramelly flavors, but it demands constant temperature oversight to avoid scorching a batch, per Texas Highways. The technique shapes flagship beers like the Red Rock Wild IPA, Waterhole Gold — described as a crisp ale — and a classic hefeweizen, all of which the brewery has produced under this method, the outlet's report notes.
A Biochemist's Path to the Brew Kettle
Head brewer Jarle Lillemoen brings an unusual résumé to the kettle. He is a home-brewer, industrial distiller, and Ph.D. biochemist who picked up homebrewing while pursuing his doctorate at UT Austin in the 1990s, according to the same CultureMap report. Before joining Wild Bunch, he spent six years as a commercial distiller at Bone Spirits in Smithville, where he developed BŌN Akevitt in 2016, according to the Aquavit Catalog. That publication reports Lillemoen launched into brewing after being laid off from the distillery when he proposed adding beer production there — a detour that eventually led him to Wild Bunch.
The Luling grand opening, set for September 26, will roll out six beers on tap alongside special food offerings, the brewery announced. A Facebook post detailing the celebration says draft lines have been engineered for ultra-cold pours, with live music starting at 3 p.m. from Smoke and Flowers, Talia Bryce, and Luke Langsjoen. The conversion of the former service station took roughly a year, per the same post.
Beer-to-Go Law Fuels Small Brewery Growth
Direct taproom sales like these became possible statewide under Texas House Bill 1545, which took effect in September 2019 and let independent craft breweries sell up to 288 ounces of beer per day directly to consumers for off-premises consumption — the equivalent of a 24-pack or nine 32-ounce crowlers, according to The Texas Observer. Texas was the 50th state in the country to legalize beer-to-go sales at craft breweries, the outlet reported at the time.
Wild Bunch's expansion arrives as the broader industry contracts. Active Texas craft breweries fell from 440 in 2024 to 420 in 2025, mirroring national headwinds where craft beer production dropped 4% in the first half of 2026 and operating taprooms decreased 2% nationwide, per the Brewers Association. Still, the state's craft sector carries outsized economic weight: despite ranking 48th in breweries per capita, Texas generated $4.62 billion in economic impact and produced 1.42 million barrels of craft beer in 2025, ranking third highest nationally in overall economic impact and production volume, according to the Texas Craft Brewers Guild.
Setting Up Shop in the Toughest Town in Texas
Luling itself carries a colorful history that predates its new brewery by more than 150 years. Founded as a Chisholm Trail cattle stop in 1874, the town earned the nickname “Toughest Town in Texas” thanks to rowdy cowboys and gamblers before a 1922 oil discovery turned it into a petroleum and agricultural hub, according to Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative. More than 180 active pump jacks still dot the town today, the cooperative notes.
Luling's biggest annual draw is the Watermelon Thump festival each June, which brings more than 50,000 visitors to a town of roughly 5,600 residents for seed-spitting competitions, live concerts, and food exhibitions — an event held every year since 1954, per the city's official tourism materials. Hoodline previously covered the melon mayhem as the town geared up for this year's Thump.
The new taproom also lands within walking distance of Luling's culinary claim to fame. The brewery sits about two blocks from Original City Market BBQ at 633 E. Davis St., a Texas meat-market barbecue destination that has operated since 1958 and remains a landmark stop on the Central Texas barbecue circuit, according to Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative. For a town built on cattle drives and oil derricks, adding a fire-brewed pint to go alongside the smoked brisket seems, in its own way, entirely in character.
