LONGVIEW, Texas (KETK) – Oil Horse Brewing Company just celebrated their fifth birthday in May. The brick building in the corner of W. Tyler Street and Center St. has become well known in Longview for their in-house brews and atmosphere. 

Owner John Oglesbee says every beverage sold in-shop is crafted at Oil Horse. The only exception is a Dallas-made seltzer. The total life cycle of brewing a beverage from fermentation to pouring it into a glass takes about a month. His shop typically has anywhere between eight to 10 different beers offered at a time. Five of these are sold year-round.

Each hand-crafted beer is named specifically after a Longview or oilfield reference. One of their brews is called “Ossamus,” named after the founder of the city. Another is titled “Brent Crude” which is also a type of oil pulled from the North Sea. “1877” is a popular seller. The name of that brew came from the fire of 1877 in Longview that burned all of downtown except the building holding Oil Horse Brewing Co. 

The beverages they brew bring many customers in. The team is always experimenting to bring new things to their guests. Oglesbee and his wife are both gluten sensitive, so every beer created at the small business are crafted to remove gluten. 

While selling a “cold one” straight from the fermenter is unique, the sense of community created at Oil Horse is what makes the small business a hit in Gregg County. The LOBO location is pet and family-friendly, making the downtown spot an ideal place to gather. 

“We really push for community and what that looks like here. So, we have some intentional events as a part of that. We don’t have TVs so that people can come in, sit down, and have conversation. We found that if you have a beer in your hand you can have conversations as strenuous and as intense as politics and as religion and for some reason if you’ve got a beer in your hand and you’re sitting down, you can have real conversation and listen to both sides of that.”

John Oglesbee, Owner of Oil Horse 

Oil Horse was shut down for nine months during the pandemic, but they opened their doors again in December and the business is back in full swing again. The brewery is expanding, hoping to market its beer to the Tyler and Dallas areas soon. 

This is a part of KETK and Fox 51’s “Small Business Tuesday.” Morning reporter Corrine Benandi will be going out into the community each week to feature a local business that is building a presence in East Texas.