Texas Forestry Association Presents Fredonia Brewery with Award

Fredonia Brewery in Nacogdoches is used to getting high marks for their custom brews and warm atmosphere.  Well, now they've been awarded for their aesthetics and design.

According to a press release, the Texas Forestry Association (TFA) presented the annual Excellence in Wood Design Awards to Fredonia Brewery in Nacogdoches and Texas Farm Credit in Brenham during the organization’s annual conference held Oct. 16-18, 2019, at The Fredonia Hotel in Nacogdoches, Texas.

The Excellence in Wood Design award has been presented for fifty-two years as a positive outreach program for TFA. The main criteria for the nominations include the projects must be located in Texas and they must have been completed within the past five years. This year, the award was presented in two categories: Special Project and Commercial.

“The Fredonia Brewery received the special project nomination for its creative use of existing wooden structures,” said Rob Hughes, TFA Executive Director. “Though the main building which houses the brewery is metal, it was situated in the middle of the property to maximize the use of the existing wooden garden building, pergola and arbor design that were part of the Dragon Fly Nursery. The garden building is made of pine lumber and shiplap siding. The pergola and arbor are made of pine lumber as well and stained dark in color.”

Inside, the bar surround is timber framed local pine built by Red Suspenders and uses no nails or screws in its construction. The huge, heavy pine beam framing, which displays the beauty of the bar is held together by mortise & tenon construction. The bar top is made from a few very large pieces of local black walnut harvested after a massive lighting strike hit the tree.

Vince Beard, Paul Murray and some of Paul’s Coast Guard friends, and Chris and Jacob Philbrook, built thirty tables and sixty benches for seating both inside and out. These benches and tables were all constructed of pressure-treated loblolly pine from 4”x4”s, 2”x4”s and 2”x6”s, cut into pieces utilizing different types of rabbet joinery. The wood for the tables and benches was all obtained from Cal-Tex Lumber Company.

(Pictured above - Paul Murray and Vince Beard receive the award for Excellence in Wood Design, Special Project, from members of the TFA Marketing Committee: John Boyette, Robert Christ, David Macher, Ed Dougal and Jeff Zwolinski.)