Frisco's first brewery, Three Empires Brewing, tapped in fall of 2023. Any given day you can find local owners and Frisco residents, Mandy and David Wible, hard at work in the nanobrewery tucked in the Ford Building off Main and 5th Street. David is the CFO and Head Brewer, while Mandy is the CEO and Recipe Wizard. Fascinated by the brewing process, the story of how this family came to open the city's first establishment, the uniqueness of a woman at the helm in the craft beer industry, and more, we asked a few questions to get know these familiar faces in Frisco.
Pull up a chair, order up a tasty beverage, and stop by to say cheers with the Wibles at Three Empires.
When did you get to Frisco?
I (Mandy) moved here in 2004 to work for JCP Corporate office, and Dave moved here in 2006 after receiving his MBA from SFASU. Dave bought his first home in Frisco in 2007 while we were dating, and we were married in Frisco June of 2009 and had a ceremony on the beaches of Mexico on July 4th, 2009. Our first and only son, Jackson, was born at Baylor Frisco in 2011. We moved away from Frisco in the Fall of 2012 as I had a career opportunity to be a buyer for Target in Minneapolis, where we fell in love with craft beer and the craft beer community! We moved back to Texas a year later in 2013 and settled in Pearland for the next six years finally making our way back “home” to Frisco in the Summer of 2019.
Why a brewery?
Even back in college when most kids were drinking Bud Light or Miller Lite, Dave and I both drank what was considered craft beer back in the 90’s, like Shiner Bock and Ziegenbock. In Frisco there wasn’t much of a craft beer scene, but we always had a monthly craft beer subscription delivered to our house where we got to taste craft beer from across the U.S. When we moved to Minneapolis that is where things really started to take shape. Both of us are native Texans and outdoor winter activities were just not in the cards for us in that type of cold. So, we ended up spending a lot of weekends visiting breweries around the Twin Cities. We fell in love with Fulton Brewery! Its original location was in an old warehouse with long picnic tables pushed together to create community tables and lots of card/board games for families to play. This is what inspired our community table inside our brewery today. We loved the community feel of the brewery, would chat with whomever sat next to us, and we just felt right at home.
During a game of Jenga and drinking double IPAs, we decided once we moved back to Texas we would start home brewing. In April of 2014, our first beer was brewed using a 5-gallon extract kit on an electric stovetop in our corporate housing apartment. That beer, named Amber’s First Time, is still in production today! After we brewed our first beer we were hooked and ordered more extract kits, upgrading to all grain once we moved into a house but still brewing 5-gallon batches. We would brew beer for our parties, friends' parties, weddings, and even joined our neighborhood craft beer group where we shared our custom brews. From a brewery in our garage to finding a space in Pearland that didn't work out and finding a space near Frisco Fresh Market that didn't work out, we eventually signed the lease for our current space in the old Ford Dealership building.
What was the timeline to get the brewery open?
We signed the lease in April 2022 and in May hired a firm for architectural design and MEP (mechanical/electrical/plumbing) engineering. After 10 months working to get approval from the city as the first brewery permit, we were approved by Planning & Zoning in February 2023, then City Council the following month. After six months of construction, opening day of Three Empires Brewing Co. finally happened on September 30, 2023.
What’s the nature of the name Three Empires?
When we created our LLC in 2014 our first three homes had been on the following streets: Canterbury, Empire, and Cambridge, which all lean into an empirical vibe. And, my husband had actually nicknamed himself 'The King of Frisco' after he bought his first home which he called his castle. Additionally, there are three of us in our family, and we said we wanted to build our own little family empire, so the name Three Empires Brewing Co. just naturally fell into place.
Tell me about the importance of the family dynamic in opening and running this business?
Before opening, we had been home brewing for almost a decade, and it was always a family affair. We nicknamed our son, Jackson, the hops and yeast guy. He probably knows more about beer than any other 13-year-old at this point. I also consider many of our close friends, our family as well.
Unfortunately, during the midst of the planning and zoning process for our brewery, I was diagnosed with stage 2B breast cancer on September 1st of 2023. I underwent 16 rounds of chemotherapy losing all of my hair and becoming very ill. I still fought for our business as much as I could, even speaking on behalf of our business one day after I finished my 16th and final round of chemotherapy at the Planning & Zoning meeting on Feb 28th of 2023. In April of 2023, I had a double mastectomy and in July and August I completed 28 rounds of radiation which gave me 3rd degree burns.
There is absolutely no way on earth this brewery would have opened if it wasn’t for our family and friends who helped support me and my family through my cancer treatments and helped us with their own blood, sweat, and tears build out our brewery. We actually hired a few of our friends to work behind the bar, and along the way, a few of our regulars became friends and now employees. Family is everything to us. People bring in their entire families and we love it. We usually have a deck of cards or some type of game on each table, a table cart with additional games, and once a month we throw a theme party like 'bring your own pool party', 'Christmas in July', and 'Summer in Paradise'.
Having access to Imagine Park out our backdoor provides a great place for families to bring their kids as they can run around and burn off some energy. When it’s not blazing hot outside, we typically set up picnic tables along with some outdoor games that families can play. We want everyone to feel welcome here.
Can you explain what a nanobrewery means?
By definition, a nano brewery generally produces beer in batches of 3 barrels or smaller and produces less than 2,000 barrels of beer per year. Our brewhouse is a 1 bbl system and we have a total of 8 barrels for fermentation. Since we have such a small system everything is considered a small batch, so we focus on creating unique, experimental beers almost every time.
How does being located in the historic Rail District shape the type of community feel you’ve created at Three Empires?
I’ll start with the building…it was built in 1911 and mostly known for being the old Ford dealership building. The exterior charm of the building lured us in with the great mural adjacent to Imagine Park. Once we walked inside the space, we knew we could turn it into what we had always envisioned. We kept as much as the original brick exposed as we could, the ceiling rafters are exposed giving a warehouse type of ambiance, and even though we had to put down an entirely new concrete floor, we stained it to give the feeling that it's always been there. In addition, we kept the early 1900’s vibe going with two 8x10 black and white murals on the inside - one with an old Model T Ford (nod to the building) and the second mural a photo taken of women during prohibition holding signs that say “we want beer”. Making sure women are represented in the brewing community is important to me. Additionally, we’ve had the opportunity to partner with a couple of local businesses. We partnered with Lone Star Roots on our coasters and growlers, and just recently partnered with The Game Show Experience as a prize partner! As a member of the Rail District Merchants Association, we’ve made friends throughout the community and participated in strEATs festival this year.
What’s the most popular beer you serve and some of your favorites?
Most of our beer names are a little cheeky and always have a story behind them. Our most popular beer is the Juicy Booty Hazy IPA. It’s always funny when people first read our menu and decide to order this beer. Gives them a little chuckle…and us. Our highest rated beer is Black Hole Sun Schwarzbier which we brewed for the solar eclipse.
Additionally, a fan favorite is our Sticky Fingers Peanut Butter Stout. Typically, people think stouts and dark beers are saved for the colder months, but we’ve had people request this beer even when it’s over 100 degrees outside.
I can’t leave out our Betty White Ale. Betty White is an American legend. I grew up watching the Golden Girls with my grandmother (who raised me), so this beer is a nod to her as well. During our opening weekend, my sister-in-law came up with a secret menu adding raspberry syrup to our Betty White Ale and it instantly became a crowd favorite, which we named the Blanche, as in the character Blanche Devereaux, played by Rue McClanahan in the Golden Girls.
Finally, since we are a brewery and not a brewpub, we are restricted in what we can produce and sell. We can’t sell ciders, meads, or wines but we can sell beer and seltzers. Our seltzers have become a staple in our tap rotation. While we only offer one seltzer at a time (as we only have eight taps), they are extremely popular. Our Cabana Boy Seltzer and Tart-n-Tangy Teaser Seltzer are the best!
What’s your favorite spot in Frisco (besides your own!)?
Such a tough question and honestly depends on what we are doing. For special date night/occasion/holiday we love The Heritage Table, WB’s Table, or Randy’s Steakhouse. For a casual dinner, probably Salsa Tex Mex or Didi’s Downtown.
My favorite place to shop for me is Bittersweet Ivy Boutique located right next door. The owner, Kristen, always has the best apparel and has great gifts as well.
Jackson loves to go to Nerdvana in the square so we can play video games and eat dinner at the same time! As for my husband, oftentimes, he will head down to Frisco Rail Yard after we close the brewery.
Additionally, we try to have a food truck/vendor every Saturday but when we don’t have that, we always go to Mariana’s Taco Shop located next to our parking lot - super convenient and tasty!
What are you doing when you aren’t running your brewery?
I am the VP of Finance for a tee-shirt company based out of California. I’ve spent my entire career (25 years) in retail buying and planning working for companies such as Belk, JCPenney, and Target but have spent the last 10 years on the vendor side. My husband has his MBA and has over 25 years in accounting and finance in industries such as restaurant, medical, and retail. Prior to opening our brewery, he did consulting work and currently takes contracts/consulting work as needed.
Plan Your Visit
Local owners like the Wibles are a cherished part of what makes Frisco a special community to live, work, and visit. Get inspired by trip ideas for a weekend away, a staycation, or a special event. Follow Visit Frisco on Instagram and Facebook for event roundups, spotlights, and more.
