Throwback Thursday: The time a guy got a pint glass smashed in his face during a brewery tour

The man in this picture did not get a pint glass smashed in his face.  This man is my uncle Jimmy, who was with me on the day that I toured Jester King Brewery just outside of Austin.  It is the only picture I have of that day because mere minutes later, the whole place would erupt into pure chaos and safety was more of a concern than documentation.

The back story here is that Jester King was still in its first year of operation when we visited in October 2011.  The brewery itself is nestled in the beautiful Hill Country near Dripping Springs.  It was Texas vs. Oklahoma weekend in Austin, which means that a majority of the city is drunk and ready to fight.

There was a party bus that arrived to the brewery just before we pulled in that afternoon.  The bus was filled with fratty UT students who had clearly been drinking all day.  Now they were touring a brewery that gave free samples.  Oh boy.

The tasting room was crowded, but we were able to enjoy some of the great selection that Jester King had on tap and were excited to take the tour.  Shortly after the we met in the main brewing room (a barn) to begin the tour, a group from the party bus situated near the front continued to talk throughout the whole presentation.

The rest of the crowd was visibly annoyed, but one man just off to the side of the talking group spoke up.  He told the group that they were being rude to everyone else in the room who were trying to hear the presentation.  One of the dead-eyed frat boys in the group responded with curse words and tough guy posturing, which were met with the same from the man who spoke up.  Before you even knew what was happening, the frat boy threw his full pint glass of beer at the man's face, shattering it and leaving a bloody mess all over the area.

Chaos ensued.

The rest of what happened was sort of a blur, but I do remember that they guy who threw the glass went into hiding when he found out that the police were on their way.  He stole a Jester King shirt from the tasting room, changed in the bathroom and ditched the hat he'd been wearing.  Most of his friends from the party bus were covering for him when the cops came.

Luckily, one of the people from the party bus who was appalled enough with what he had done was finally able to identify him to the police (I couldn't because all of those guys looked the same to me).

It was a good long while before the cops unsealed the only exit to the property, so we were stuck there as things were sorted out.  Jester King was kind enough to reward the few of us who were not involved with either group with a few more pints in the tasting room while the dust settled.

We got to chat with owner Jeff just as the police were finishing everything and he vowed that they would never let another party bus on their property.  I would say that was a wise decision and I doubt that anything like this would ever happen again at Jester King.

I'm visiting Jester King for the first time since that incident this coming Labor Day Weekend for the release of their new Atrial Rubicite brew.  No matter how bad I want one of those bottles, I'm out of there if I see a party bus pull in.

Drink pairing for this post: Real Ale Hans' Pils (I'm pretty sure this is my new favorite pilsner)