Thursday, November 13, 2014

north texas beer week recap



Ten days and countless pints later, North Texas Beer Week has come and gone, leaving us with blurry reminders of how much the North Texas beer scene has grown in just the last year. North Texas Beer Week has grown significantly with over 200 participants and events, giving people plenty of beer to choose from. It's been an amazing ride to watch and be a part of the beer scene up here in North Texas, and there's only more beer to come. Kudos to the organizers of this beer week.

Four Corners Brewing

Ten different beers in ten days seems ambitious, almost impossible. However, Four Corners Brewing took it upon themselves to release 10 beers in 10 days for beer week, and living so close to them I'm glad they were able to do this. It felt more like going to a brewpub than a brewery during that time, trying so many different styles. They also incorporated Randalled and nitro versions of the beers at times, giving patrons an opportunity to expand their palate even more. Much fun was had by all, many beers were drunk and a whole pig was even smoked with Daniel Vaughn of TMBBQ in attendance.

While this is totally subjective (and you may or may not agree with me) these were my favorites and least favorites of the ten.


I absolutely loved the Peppercorn Pale Ale, where just a hint of peppercorn bite came through at the end, even giving an almost fruit-like aroma and flavor profile (the Mucho Peppercorn Pale was my absolute favorite, employing even more peppercorn flavor). The Braindead Brewpub collaboration Scotch Ale was another favorite with its intense malty profile. The S'more Stout was divine on nitro, taking me back to childhood (just with alcohol). I enjoyed the nitro version Altbier surprisingly even more than its normal sibling. The ESB, Imperial Red and Steam beers were all solid. The Belgian Waffle Tripel was a cool concept, but lacked any Tripel phenols and the flavor was masked by maple. And please, don't brew the lime wheat again. All-in-all, I was impressed with Four Corners and their ability to get so many different beers out in such a short amount of time.

HopChef Dallas




HopChef, a unique culinary event put on by Ommegang, came to Dallas for the first time during beer week. Six different restaurants created six different small plate offerings to pair with six different Ommegang beers. It was a well organized event that was fun for both beer newbs and beer enthusiasts. Blind Butcher, Meddlesome Moth, Libertine Bar, FM Smoke House, The Common Table and Whiskey Cake all created great dishes, but some pairings just fell flat (but hey, I'm not complaining).

My favorite pairing of the night was from Libertine Bar, where roasted lamb was paired with the Dubbel. The roastiness of the lamb brought out so much malty sweetness from the beer, it was phenomenal. I also thoroughly enjoyed Blind Butcher's homemade sausage, cooking with the bravo hop as much as possible to pair with the Hop House. They even had a little smoker machine available to 'smoke' the bravo hops, which was very reminiscent of the hop's biological cousin (don't worry, I didn't inhale).




Misc. Beers

So many different beers were released during beer week, it was hard to choose which ones to hit up. A lot of it had to do with scheduling and distance, but here are a few other beers consumed during beer week that I enjoyed.


During the Peticolas tour, I finally got to try their new Tripel, A Lost Epic. Per usual from Peticolas, this did not disappoint. Just be careful, the 11% abv is incredibly well hidden and it will sneak up on you like a.


Community released a vanilla version of their Asscension Coffee porter. I was surprised how much the vanilla subdued the coffee flavors, which made it feel more like a latte. It was delicious.


Franconia released their Triple Dunkel at Bryan Street Tavern (fuck those spicy wings!) in a 200 year old Franconia keg and it was incredibly creamy. The keg didn't impart too much flavor, but there was a slight 'woody' flavor mid swallow, almost like if you were to chew on a little wood chip.


Grapevine released an oak aged version of their Night Watch, an oatmeal stout. I honestly can't tell you much besides the fact that I enjoyed it, I was too focused on the bags game that was being played on the patio at LUCK.


I love this beer from Deep Ellum, and they released it in cans during NTXBW. Just read here how much I love it.

Here's to seeing y'all during North Texas Beer Week in 2015. Cheers!

For more information on the Dallas beer scene, check us out on Facebook and Twitter.



Four Corners Nitro Altbier

Four Corners Collabs (Braindead Scotch and Grapevine Imp Golden Stout)



Franconia 200 Year Old Keg


Sunday Funday at Luck with Grapevine

Sunday Funday at Luck with Grapevine


HopChef Dallas



Libertine Bar Lamb Dish

Smokin' Hops

Tony Drewry (@beerpedaler) at HopChef Dallas

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