This has been yet another trying year for Houston area brewers, and especially for those north of the Interstate 610 Loop. Joining the likes of Southern Star Brewing and Fire Ant in the brewery graveyard is 10-year-old City Acre Brewing.
City Acre didn’t blast out an announcement; instead, it recently quietly changed its Instagram profile description to “Permanently Closed.” The Houston Business Journal was first to the news. City Acre owner Jimmy Garrett has yet to respond to Chron’s request for comment regarding the status update.
The story of City Acre goes back more than a decade, when Matt Schlabach and Meredith Borders purchased a Victorian home with a sprawling backyard at 3418 Topping St., a mere stone’s throw from U.S. Route 59 a little less than four miles north of the inner loop. They opened City Acre at the property in July 2016 after about four years of preparation and patience, unveiling one of Houston’s most charming brewery destinations.
An archive photo of the beer garden at City Acre Brewing in Houston, Texas. The brewery is closed, according to reports.
City Acre was one of Houston’s best little family friendly hangout spaces, complete with a beer garden, an area for lawn games like cornhole, and an actual vegetable garden that produced ingredients for its food menu. And on that note, City Acre featured arguably the best in-brewery food menu in the region, specializing in big burgers and adding several sandwiches and salads.
The house-made beers at City Acre, including a core amber ale, IPAs and darker fare like porters and stouts, were always well received.
July seemed to be a key month for the brewery. City Acre was set to close back in July 2022, but Garrett, a solar energy business owner and longtime City Acre customer, bought the brewery from Schlabach and Borders.
“It’s definitely an understatement to say I’m excited about what lies ahead for City Acre,” Garrett told Chron at the time.
A number of Houston breweries have shut their doors in 2026, part of an ongoing trend of closures across the industry nationwide. More recent shutterings include those of Platypus Brewing in April, and both Tomball’s Fire Ant Brewing and Conroe’s Southern Star Brewery.
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This article originally published at One of Houston’s best family friendly breweries closes after 10 years.