Ben Rogers and Jeff “Skin” Wade have been friends since they were 12 years old and have hosted a radio show together since 2001. Today, you can find Ben and Skin on “The Freak” KEGL-FM (97.1) during the 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. time slot each weekday.
The way they tell it, it’s a blessing this whole radio thing worked out, because their budding rap career was cut short, and they weren’t much good at waiting tables. But the goodwill they’ve built up over two decades of talk radio has led to this point, in which they’re able to make the freewheeling show they’ve always wanted — and drink some beer on the side.
The duo’s brewery — Rollertown Beerworks — debuted in the inauspicious month of March 2020, inhabiting a small industrial building in Celina. The pandemic shut the doors as soon as they opened, but loyal listeners snatched up cans as quickly as they were filled. Rollertown has already outgrown its space and is working with the city of Frisco to open a new, larger facility.
That growth continues via a new partnership with Chili’s that brought Rollertown’s The Big German kolsch into all 80-plus Chili’s locations across D-FW. The partnership was no accident. And it wasn’t Chili’s idea.
“That came from our side,” explains Rogers, a self-proclaimed fanatic for Chili’s Southwestern egg rolls. “Chili’s was good, they didn’t need us.”
Early on, Rollertown had meetings about expanding its reach into bars and restaurants, and even though Rogers and Wade were encouraged to set their sights lower, they identified Chili’s as their ideal target. After a lengthy back and forth, they were invited to the annual Chili’s GM conference last August, in which potential vendors set up and pitch their wares. Those GMs gravitated to the radio duo, their history with the restaurant, and their beer.
Roughly two years after first approaching the restaurant chain, Rollertown’s kolsch launched in all D-FW locations on Jan. 16.
“The company means a lot to us,” Wade says. “It’s part of our story.”
The two friends worked as waiters at the Chili’s on Spring Valley in Richardson beginning in 1990.
“This was the cool place to work,” says Wade, who was poached from T.G.I. Friday’s to join Chili’s by an old high school friend. Within weeks, he brought Rogers on board.
“I remember coming here as a teenager thinking that the Chili’s waiter was the coolest person in the world,” Rogers says. “So when I got a job here, I felt like I had made it. This is the big leagues. When I walked up to a table, I thought everyone felt the same way, like ‘what a badass.’”
“You might not get your food on time, but we had a lot of fun,” adds Wade.
There are dozens of breweries across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and Rollertown isn’t the only local option on the Chili’s menu. But the restaurant was intrigued by the full-circle nature of the relationship.
“Ben and Skin have really embraced our ‘once a ChiliHead, always a ChiliHead’ mentality on their radio show through the years, and we’ve listened and kept them on our radar,” says Chili’s senior beverage manager Nicholas Foley. Putting the kolsch on tap gave the relationship a clear path forward.
Rogers and Wade describe The Big German kolsch as light and refreshing, but flavorful. It has bready notes with pops of citrus and honey. It’s also a nod to former Mavericks great Dirk Nowitzki.
“It’s a good example of how Ben and I function,” Wade says. “Sometimes he has a great idea, and sometimes I have a great idea. The Big German was Ben’s idea, and we started to think about what a Dirk beer would be like. I landed on a kolsch because it’s a beer of the people, and Dirk is a man of the people.”
Unlike a heavy stout or märzen, kolsches are crisp and golden, reminiscent of Dirk’s flowing mane. And just like the NBA great, it has “minimal hops with a smooth finish.”
The beer doesn’t invoke Nowitzki by name, but Rogers and Wade still wanted his blessing before launch. They got it, as the good-humored Nowitzki signed off on the beer and the tagline.
With Chili’s heavy presence across D-FW, the kolsch is easy to find. Rollertown’s other beers, including the American light lager, a pilsner, wheat beer, IPA and stout, are on tap at the Celina brewery, with select beers available at the H-E-B in Frisco and other bars around town.
Rogers and Wade are working through the planning process with the city of Frisco for the new Rollertown facility, and they hope to open the doors in late 2024 or early 2025.
Rollertown Beerworks is at 412 N. Oklahoma St., Celina. rollertownbeerworks.com.