Food & Beverage

For Project Halo Brewing, four years in business is about more than the number of batches brewed or medals hanging on the wall. It is also a measure of how much Fulshear has embraced a small brewery that set out to make beer for the people living right around it.

The Fulshear craft brewery marked its fourth anniversary over the weekend, 1,468 days after opening in August 2022, and is now preparing for an official 4 Year Anniversary Celebration on Saturday, September 19, 2026.

“So many long days and hours have gone into this place. What a ride!!” Project Halo Brewing shared in an anniversary message Tuesday.

The brewery credited its hometown with helping carry the business through its first four years.

“We couldn’t have done it without the support of Fulshearians, the amazing City of Fulshear, and of course our amazing customers and friends!”

For residents who have watched Fulshear grow rapidly over the same period, Project Halo's milestone is another example of a locally owned business finding its footing while trying to preserve the neighbor-to-neighbor feel that has long been part of the community.

From a Military Family's Travels to a Fulshear Brewery

Project Halo Brewing was founded by husband-and-wife team Steve and Melissa Mendez, whose interest in craft beer developed in part through years spent traveling while Steve served in the U.S. Army Special Forces.

Steve, a former Green Beret, and Melissa encountered different beer cultures and flavor profiles while living and traveling around the world, including significant time in the Pacific Northwest. When the family eventually settled in Fulshear, the couple began turning that interest into a business of their own.

Their concept officially began taking shape in 2021. With assistance from the Fort Bend County Small Business Development Center, the couple worked through market research, financial projections, a business plan and financing before opening the brewery the following year.

Project Halo held a soft opening on Aug. 19, 2022, followed by a larger grand opening celebration that October. From the beginning, Steve and Melissa described the brewery as intentionally hyper-local — a place where people from Fulshear, Katy, Richmond and surrounding communities could experience craft beer without making a trip into central Houston.

The original Project Halo occupied a relatively small space along FM 359, fitting its early description as a boutique or nano craft brewery. As its customer base grew, Project Halo relocated in spring 2024 to a larger facility at 6510 FM 359 S., Suite 300 in Fulshear, expanding both taproom and production capacity.

Today, the brewery remains there, with an air-conditioned taproom and space designed to welcome families and dogs as well as craft beer enthusiasts.

Melissa Mendez Leads the Brewhouse

While Project Halo is a husband-and-wife operation, Melissa serves as head brewer, bringing both homebrewing experience and formal training through the West Texas A&M brewing program to the brewhouse.

The brewery's fourth-anniversary message placed particular attention on the person behind many of the beers.

“A BIG Shout out to our fearless Bosslady, Melissa, for running the best brewery in Fulshear! She doesn’t get enough thanks for her hard work.”

Melissa has also been involved with the Pink Boots Society, an organization supporting women and nonbinary professionals working in the fermented beverage industry. Project Halo made inclusivity part of its identity from its earliest days, including featuring beers created by female brewers and drawing inspiration from the couple's Mexican and Salvadoran heritage as well as cultures they encountered during their travels.

That international influence has helped produce an unusually broad beer list for a relatively small brewery.

Small-Batch Beer With Plenty of Personality

Project Halo describes itself as a boutique craft brewery producing artisan lagers and ales one batch at a time. Its approach favors variety and experimentation rather than a tap wall built around just a few styles.

Among its year-round beers is Patagucci, a 7.2% West Coast IPA dry-hopped for fruity hop character; Halo Light, a 4.9% light lager; and Gatos Before Vatos, a 5.8% Mexican amber lager balancing malt sweetness with traditional noble hops.

Frosted Tips, a 5.3% blonde ale brewed with Citra and Cascade hops, brings citrus character to a lighter style, while Frida Forever, a 7.5% Cold IPA, is double dry hopped with American hops and fermented with lager yeast for a cleaner, drier finish. The beer was named in tribute to Mexican artist Frida Kahlo.

Other releases over the years have reached considerably further outside the traditional craft beer playbook, including Vietnamese coffee beers, ube-flavored beer, Baltic porters, specialty IPAs and experimental lagers. The brewery has said its small-batch format gives it the flexibility to rotate offerings frequently and respond to what local customers are asking to drink.

That experimentation has increasingly attracted attention well beyond Fulshear.

Project Halo's Beers Are Collecting National and State Awards

The brewery entered only two major competitions — the U.S. Open Beer Championship and Texas Craft Brewers Cup— according to Project Halo, yet its medal list has grown considerably.

At the 2026 U.S. Open Beer Championship, Project Halo earned gold for Frida Forever in the Cold IPA category, silver for Manekineko in the Rice Lager category and another gold for Maverick Hazy IPA in the Pink Boots Hops Beer category.

The Maverick win carried an additional connection to Melissa's involvement with Pink Boots. The U.S. Open's Pink Boots category uses a special hop blend developed by the Pink Boots Society and Yakima Chief Hops, with competition entry fees matched and donated to the society's scholarship fund.

Project Halo also won silver for Mean Girlz in the Amber and Dark Beers category at the 2026 Texas Craft Brewers Cup.

The medal streak stretches back several years.

In 2025, Disco Demon won gold in the Texas Craft Brewers Cup's Specialty Hoppy category, while High Frequencyearned bronze in Barleywine & Strong Ale.

That same year at the U.S. Open Beer Championship, Scattered Castles earned gold in the Nut Beer category and High Frequency received bronze for Baltic-Style Porter.

In 2024, Project Halo's Coopa Troopa earned bronze in the New Zealand Lager category and Chill Brah took silver in American Style Dark Lager at the U.S. Open Beer Championship.

For a brewery built around producing small batches for its neighbors, those awards have given Fulshear a growing presence within the wider Texas and national craft beer scene.

More Than a Taproom

Beer may be what Project Halo produces, but gathering people together has been part of its mission since the beginning.

Steve and Melissa have repeatedly described the brewery as a place where neighbors can meet one another rather than simply arrive, order a drink and leave. Early plans emphasized room for children, dogs and groups of friends, and the larger taproom has allowed the brewery to expand that community role.

Over the years, Project Halo has hosted or participated in an eclectic range of local events, including bingo and Lotería nights, an adult spelling bee, Pilates and Beer, fun runs, car shows, live music, vendor markets, Oktoberfest celebrations and special beer releases.

Its original 2022 grand opening even incorporated a family-friendly Halloween trunk-or-treat.

The brewery has also connected its beer directly to Fulshear history. During the city's bicentennial celebration, Project Halo produced 1824 American Ale, tying a local beer release to Fulshear's 200th anniversary.

That combination of brewing and community programming has helped make Project Halo one of the gathering places highlighted by the Texas Craft Brewers Guild in its coverage of Fulshear's local beer scene.

What Happens Next: Project Halo's 4 Year Anniversary Celebration

The milestone itself has already passed, but the party is still ahead.

Project Halo Brewing says its official 4 Year Anniversary celebration will take place Sept. 19, 2026. Additional celebration details can be followed through the brewery as the date approaches.

For longtime customers, the anniversary offers a chance to look back at a business that started small, moved into a larger home and accumulated an increasingly impressive collection of beer medals along the way.

For newer Fulshear residents — and there are plenty of them in one of the fastest-growing areas west of Houston — it is also an introduction to a brewery whose story has unfolded alongside the community's own growth.

Project Halo Brewing is located at 6510 FM 359 S., Suite 300, Fulshear, TX 77441. Current posted hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 3 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 3 to 11 p.m. Friday, noon to 11 p.m. Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Four years after opening, the brewery's original idea remains recognizable: make interesting beer, make it locally and give neighbors a reason to spend some time together.

As Project Halo put it simply in announcing the anniversary: “Cheers!”

Stay tuned to My Neighborhood News for more Fulshear business news, local events, restaurant and brewery openings, and community stories from across Fort Bend County.

By Tiffany Krenek, My Neighborhood News 

Tiffany Krenek has been on the My Neighborhood News team since August 2021. She is passionate about curating and sharing content that enriches the lives of our readers in a personal, meaningful way. A loving mother and wife, Tiffany and her family live in the West Houston/Cypress region.