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Our first experience with Independence Brewing Company came just a few short years ago when browsing the beer aisle at a nearby Austin grocer. Shuffling past the quick favorites (Lone Star) and growing tired of the old standbys (Shiner) we noticed the logo of a shaggy-haired kid jumping, cannonball-style, into a pool not unlike Barton Springs. With curious minds and ever-growing sobriety, we jumped in and discovered what has quickly become one of our favorite beers, The Freestyle Wheat Beer by Independence Brewery. More than a year and a few dozen six-packs later, Independence continues their local good taste campaign with additional brews including Pale Ale, Bootlegger, Austin Amber and Stash IPA.

On the first Saturday of every month, brewmeister and owner Rob Cartwright, his border-collie Jasperilla and the rest of the folks at Independence open their doors and tap their kegs for an all-out celebration of gratis home-grown beer - as well as the conversations and friendships that grow after three free pint tickets are handed out to a full crowd. A couple of Saturdays ago, we visited their humble South Austin brewery on Todd Lane to enjoy the all-day event, which included free snacks, free tours and free beer. Their next "Open House" is Saturday, October 8—read the bottom of your next six-pack for directions.

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Outdated Texas beer laws make breweries like Independence a rare breed in a state where people love beer. In fact, there are only five microbreweries in Texas (Colorado has 44). Aside from Independence, there's Saint Arnold's (Texas' oldest microbrewery in Houston), Rahr & Sons (Fort Worth), Real Ale (Blanco) and Austin's best beer on draft, Live Oak.

Under current Texas laws, breweries must use a three-tier system to distribute their product, which means using a middle man, the distributor, to deliver the product to retailers. These five microbreweries (small-operating breweries, producing less than ten thousand barrels annually) are currently in a legal battle to give them more say in a very competitive market. All breweries stress that they do not want to undercut the business of the distributor (many of these small breweries cannot handle their own large-scale distribution load), they simply feel it should be the brewer's right to distribute straight to the consumer. In 2005, wineries were granted this right. Ironically, there are specially designated Austin brewpubs that are allowed to sell their own beer on site, but not in retail stores - exactly why you can drink home brews at places like The Draught House or Copper Tank.

The five craft breweries of Texas produce around 30,000 barrels a year, a mere fraction of the 30 million barrels sold annually in Texas. Protectors of High Life and Bud, Miller Brewing in Fort Worth and Anheuser-Busch in Houston produce the majority in the state.

Breweries like Independence may not stand a chance against these behemoths of beer, but with events like those of the last few Saturdays, craft breweries will continue to hold the hearts—and livers—of all true beer drinkers.