Three breweries north of Houston will now operate as a taproom and a distribution-focused brewery after a new merger.

B52 Brewing Co., 11 Below Brewing, and Fortress Beerworks breweries joined forces this week.

John Ohara, co-owner of Conroe's B52 Brewing Co. and Spring's Fortress Beerworks, said the market can be tough, and it made sense to strike a deal with his friends over at 11 Below on Bourgeois Road in Houston.

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He said 11 Below has closed the Bourgeois location after 9 years and has now taken over the taproom at the original Fortress location at 2606 Spring Cypress Road. B52 in Conroe will be able to expand distribution as a result of the merger.

Ohara said visitors to both locations will still be able to experience brews on tap.

"I think as the industry changed kind of over the last five years, we wanted to focus on kind of a premium tap room experience while also supporting that big distribution piece," said Ohara.

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Ohara said feedback about the merger was mostly positive, but some customers were disappointed with 11 Below moving away from the original location. A Labor Day celebration as the location closed drew a big turnout.

"There's some people that obviously lived really close to that and what we tried to highlight is we're not really moving that far away," Ohara said.

He said customers will still be able to get familiar beers, such as 11 Below's Oso Bueno, from the taproom, and they'll now be able to showcase more small, unique releases at the Spring Cypress location.