Let's Go !

Schoolhouse brews
Historical building specializes in homemade beer

By CONNIE TORRES, ctorres@sastandardtimes.com or 659-8263
June 12, 2006

EOLA - James ''Mark'' Cannon had a few ideas brewing when he bought the Eola school building in 2004.
''I wanted to be a place that has a number of businesses,'' said Cannon, the owner and sole full-time employee of the Eola School Restaurant.
The business opened in June 2004. The building's first-grade classroom was converted into the dining area. The chalkboard remains, serving as the menu, and classroom chairs encircle a few of the square tables.
Eola is 20 miles east of San Angelo.
The school was built in 1928. A gymnasium was added in 1939, almost doubling the size of the facility. The school closed by 1983 and remained vacant until Cannon bought it.
In April, he received a plaque from the National Park Service designating the building as part of the National Register of Historic Places. That same month, he began selling his ''Bright Beer'' from his brewery, which is a few classrooms down from the dining area, for customers to wash down their chicken-fried steak or cheese fries.''We've got seasonal beers,'' Cannon said. ''Right now, it's wheat beer. Everybody loves it.''
Although now a restaurant and brewery, the building still looks like a school inside and out. From the campus' archway entrance to its long square windows to the wooden floors, Cannon said he has only been repairing the school, not transforming it.
His next plan is to make the building's other classrooms into another business.
''I really want to do lodging.'' Cannon said. ''That's my primary goal.''
Why did you add a brewery to the restaurant?
Cannon: I always envisioned having the brewery. It just took this long to get it.
How did you learn to make beer?
I lived in Portland, Ore., for a while and they had a lot of breweries there. I just had an interest in it and hung out there and picked it up.
Do you work alone?
I got a buddy to help me once or twice.
How is ''Bright Beer'' different from other beers?
There's a little bit more flavor. The domestic beers are popular, but they're typically lighter flavored. This beer is a little bit more of a traditional type of beer. But people like that flavor.
How much does ''Bright Beer'' cost?
It's $2 a pint and the one-gallon jug is $16, including the jug itself. It's $6 for the jug itself. So someone could come back with the jug and just pay $10.
How has the brewery been doing so far?
It's been real good. I work day and night to keep it up.
What are your future plans for it?
It's rapidly expanding. It's a thing where I'm really pushing the limit. There's a demand, and I feel the pressure to actually have a product in stock. I foresee it going just straight forward as far as volume goes.


Eola School Restaurant
--Where: 12119 Farm to Market Road 381, Eola.
--Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays.
--Telephone: (325) 469-3314.
--Specialty: American food and homemade beer.
source: http://www.sanangelostandardtimes.com/sast/bu_local/article/0,1897,SAST_4920_4768224,00.html