Tap Handle #853: Yellow Rose - Pale Ale

Tap size:  8"

Rarity:  10 or less seen, hand-made, brewery closed

Mounting:  internal 3/8" nut

Statue of Emily Morgan
(Houston Chronical)

Back in the late 2000s I started seeing a few Yellow Rose Brewing taps hit the secondary market. After conferring with other collectors, it became clear that these were considered "grail taps", or taps that were impossible to find and highly prized by knowledgeable members of the tap collector community. Part of this was due to Yellow Rose closing in 2000, part was due to how good their beer was, and part was due to scarcity (with collectors holding on to their "Grails"). The taps were heavy, hand-made out of what I believe is plaster, by Carolyn Flannery, who was the co-owner of the brewery along with her husband. Her initials "CF" appear on most of the taps (but not on this one). I obtained my first 2 Yellow Rose taps from fellow collector Bill Gibson, so this one belongs in the "Bill Gibson Wing" of the museum. True to reports, the tap is very heavy (1.5 lbs) and features Emily Morgan, heroine of the Texas Revolution, and by some accounts, the subject of the song "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Since the tap is short I have not taken zoomed in photos. There were 5 taps produced by Yellow Rose, and this one is probably my favorite along with Bubba Dog. While more Yellow Rose taps have appeared over the years and are less likely to be considered Grail Taps, some of them are still not easy to find. In fact, this Pale Ale tap has not been seen since 2022. The historical price range has been from $37 (2008) to $228 (2017), with the last one selling for $128 (it did have some paint loss).

Editor's Note: There's not a lot of information available on Yellow Rose. They closed down when the internet was still in its infancy, so despite a lot of digging - hours of searching trying every trick I knew - I couldn't come up with much. The story of Emily Morgan (below) was taken from a blurry image of a Yellow Rose Pale Ale label, and I think it's correct except perhaps for a word or two that I had to guess at.

Heroine of the Texas Revolution

Emily Morgan is the name of the woman behind the song and legend of "The Yellow Rose of Texas". Prior to the famous battle of San Jacinto, April 21, 1835, Emily was a servant and member of the household of Colonel James Morgan. Colonel Morgan owned a large plantation near the town of New Washington, and was active in the Texas Revolution. Emily, a 20 year old intelligent and beautiful mulatto girl, was captured by the forces of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna on April 18. History records that she not only protected the movements of the Texas troops but immediately caught the eye of the 42 year old general. Overwhelmed by the charm of Emily, Santa Anna let down his guard and ordered a grandiose celebration to impress his gorgeous female prize with pomp and finery. In the dissipation that followed, Sam Houston's men were able to easily defeat the disheveled Mexican troops. Santa Anna was caught the following day after having fled on horseback in only his house slippers, linen shirt and white silk drawers. For her part in the battle, Colonel Morgan gave Emily her freedom and a house in Houston. She was later granted a passport and left for New York. This exciting story of the bravery and intrigue of "The Yellow Rose of Texas" was clearly documented by both the Texas and Mexican historians of that day. Today, a prominent downtown San Antonio landmark is named The Emily Morgan Hotel.

Yellow Rose Brewing Company (YRBC) was founded in 1994 in San Antonio, Texas by Glen Fritz and Carolyn Flannery. The husband and wife team built the brewery from scratch, starting with a converted ice house building that was about the size of 3 garages put together. The brewmaster constructed much of the brewing equipment himself. Carolyn molded, casted and painted the tap handles. A family operation, Glen's parents also pitched in to help with bottling and labeling. The brewing system had a 10 barrel capacity, with 5 fermentation tanks and the previously mentioned bottling line. The brewery produced 8 core beers, each representing Texas history or lore, which were extensively written about on the label of the beer. These beers were produced in the English style, with English barley malt, hops, yeast, and water from the Edwards aquifer in San Antonio. From 1996 to 2000, Yellow Rose won over 50 brewing awards, many of them at the World Beer Championships.

In 2000, Yellow Rose was on track to produce 1000 barrels for the year, and was San Antonio's only surviving distributing brewery at that time. They were also the state's second largest in market presence and the most widely distributed Texas brewery. However, later that year Glen and Carolyn decided to call it quits and closed the brewery. Their brewery recipes were sold to Great Grains Brewery in Dallas, Texas, and for a time Yellow Rose beers continued to be produced by Great Grains. In 2004, Great Grains also closed, putting an end to the brief, award-winning story of Yellow Rose.

According to beer reviewers, Yellow Rose Pale Ale was a medium copper color with a nice white head. The aroma was of sweet malts and citrus with hints of a hop bitterness. It was very smooth in mouthfeel with a malty and nutty flavor and only a small amount of bitterness in the aftertaste.

BeerAdvocate:  81 out of 100 (good)

Since Yellow Rose is out of business, no address or website is provided.

Source Material

Realbeer.com

Yellow Rose beer labels and brochures