Lincoln roots,Texas brews

Passion and staying true to your story are big parts of Hi Sign Brewing.

Started by Mark Phillippe in 2017, Hi Sign Brewing is located in Austin, Texas, but has roots in Montana. Phillippe came up to Lincoln for the first time in 1996, and recalls his memories of time spent at his family's cabin on Hi Sign Road, "starting off years ago, before the craft beer boom, just coming up there and filling growlers in Helena and Missoula, hanging out on the Blackfoot, drinking beer in the summer."

These weekend fishing trips along the Blackfoot with his dad, Jerry, inspired the backstory and name for the brewery.

Phillippe grew up in California before his family moved to Texas when he was 13, but his dad is originally from Great Falls. The family has property located on Hi Sign Road off Highway 200, and Phillippe's parents still come up to Lincoln from May to September each year.

"It was an inspiration. Even though the brewery isn't in Montana, that is our story. A lot of people spend a lot of money manufacturing a story like that. For us, it was really important to me to stay true to that," Phillipe said. "Hi Sign Road is where I spend my summers drinking beer with my family. We go out back and play horseshoes. We go out on the Blackfoot and fish and drink beer."

Describing how this time in Montana has informed the brewery and the beers, Phillippe said, "We wanted to create super-fresh beer, and that's what I remember from going to places like Kettlehouse or Big Sky. You could walk in and see the equipment. It's a truly handmade product by these people that are passionate about what they do. You get locals to support your product and care about what you do."

The Hi Sign Brewing story starts in 2010, when Phillippe was in the Marines. "I had a lot of down time on the weekends. A big mentor of mine was the creator of Tito's Vodka. I was surrounded by some people who were super passionate about what they do, and I was such a huge fan of craft beer in college and beyond," he said.

Phillippe decided to follow that passion, learning more about brewing, business, and eventually hiring Hi Sign's head brewer, Andrew Shelton. With approval for the brewery granted in 2016 by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, the brewery itself held their grand opening on March 18, 2017 during South by Southwest.

One of Hi Sign Brewing's newer beers, Berto's Mexican Lager, is even named after Phillippe's friend and founder of Tito's Vodka, Bert Beveridge.

Hi Sign Brewing's beers aren't available outside of the Austin area, but they are generating buzz. Early on, Hi Sign Brewing's beer Violet, the Blueberry Blonde, won a bronze medal in a veteran brewing competition.

"It was probably one of our proudest moments. It was one of our first beers," said Phillippe.

More recently, their Super Astronaut Double IPA was a finalist in the 2019 Alpha King Challenge.

"We beat out some of the largest breweries in the country in a blind taste test," said Phillippe. Currently, Hi Sign Brewing has seven beers they make consistently year-round, including five beers that are packaged and two more that are only available on draft.

On Nov 12, 2019, Hi Sign Brewing held the kick-off for the Empowering Texas Veterans Initiative, which strives to pair military veteran entrepreneurs with veterans hoping to start their own business in the alcoholic beverage industry. Phillippe has tentatively been paired with a couple of guys, but hasn't yet had a chance to sit down and work with them.

"I believe in paying it forward; I'm the benefit of a lot of knowledge from guys that have been in the beverage industry for a long time. It's a great program to help people in our industry," he said.