Thirsty yet?
By Trevor Cadigan
A year ago, the founders of what is now North Texas Beer Week came together to create a “celebration showcasing the people, places and brews that make up the region’s booming craft beer scene,” according to its Facebook page. Since then, Beer Week has brought together local craft beer aficionados and businesses to support the growth of craft beer across North Texas through various events and festivals.
Formerly known as Dallas Beer Week, officials decided to change the name to better reflect the celebration across all of North Texas.
Previous events have highlighted the breweries and beers that make the craft beer scene in North Texas unique through brewer meet-and-greets, special tastings and rare tappings. Nearly 200 events at over 50 different venues comprised last year’s Beer Week. But as things in Texas tend to do, this year’s celebration is bigger and better than before.
North Texas Beer Week 2014 is a 10-day event, running October 31 to November 9. The Dallas Morning News is co-presenter and SportsRadio 1310 AM and 96.7 FM The Ticket is presenting sponsor.
This year’s celebration features some genuinely epic events, so pull out your calendars. Here are 10 events you don’t want to miss. For more event listings, visit ntxbeerweek.com.
1. Boo’s and Brews (October 31)
The first day of North Texas Beer Week Bryan Street Tavern is opening its doors all day for a dark beer tap takeover. The beers on tap will include Guinness, Lakewood Brewing Co. Temptress, Southern Star Brewing Co. Buried Hatchet, (512) Brewing Co. Pecan Porter, Peticolas Brewing Co. Sit Down or I’ll Sit You Down, Community Beer Co. Legion, Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. Ugly Pug Black Lager, Revolver Brewing Bock, Deep Ellum Brewing Co. Hatch Chile Stout, Peticolas Velvet Hammer, Grapevine Craft Brewery Sir Williams Brown Ale, Martin House Brewing Co. Pretzel Stout, and many more.
In addition to $5 dark beer heaven, there will be live music, a costume contest with cash prizes at midnight, and a drawing where you can win a flat screen TV. If you love dark beers and miss this event, you may never forgive yourself.
2. Untapped Festival (November 1)
Elizabeth McCalley, Anthony Brookshire, Julie Gowin and Ryan Miller (from left) at Untapped on Saturday, September 7, 2013 in Dallas, Texas. (Elizabeth Erickson)
Untapped Dallas is meshing “indie beer and indie music,” according to the event listing. More than 80 breweries will serve 300-plus beer samples to the tune of music from local and national touring acts. The festival is Saturday, November 1 at Gilley’s/South Side Event Center in Dallas. Doors open to VIP ticket holders at 2:30 p.m. and to general admission patrons at 3:30 p.m.
Some of the breweries featured in this year’s festival include Ballast Point Brewing Co., Deep Ellum Brewing Co., Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Four Corners Brewing Co., and Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Check out the full list of breweries to see what all of your choices are and how you can get your drink on.
Headlining musical acts include Cake, Shovels & Rope, and Deltron 3030. Check out the full list of performers. For more information or to buy tickets, visit the Untapped Festival official website here.
And beware if you are riding the DART:
Due to ongoing rail maintenance, which continues November 1, DART will provide nonstop, express bus service to connect passengers between Victory and Union stations; and between Pearl/Arts District and Union stations. Buses will run every five to 10 minutes.
For riders coming from the north/west on the Green or Orange Line: Exit at Victory Station, board an express bus to Union Station, then take a Red or Blue Line train to Cedars Station.
For riders coming from the north/east on the Red or Blue Line: Exit at Pearl/Arts District, board an express bus to Union Station, then take a Red or Blue Line train to Cedars Station. For maps and more information, go to dart.org/rideralert.
3. Deep Ellum Charity Beer Dinner (November 1)
This event provides craft drinkers an opportunity to support a cause and get some grub. Bryan Street Tavern will be hosting a four-course dinner that pairs each dish with a Deep Ellum Brewing Co. brew. The cost of admission is $30 and $5 from each ticket sold will be donated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The event begins at 6 p.m. For more information, including a full menu, visit the Facebook event page.
4. Rahr & Sons-Lakewood collaboration beer launches (November 2)
Local establishments Rahr & Sons Brewing Co. and Lakewood Brewing Co. have created a highly anticipated collaboration beer known as DFW: A Collaboration of Two Breweries. It’s a Belgian Dubbel. Join the two breweries on November 2 at five of the area’s Ginger Man locations as they do a special tapping of their signature beer and walk away with a limited edition glass. The five locations participating in the event are: The Ginger Man – Uptown, The Ginger Man – Plano, The Ginger Man – Fort Worth, The Ginger Man – Lakewood, and The Ginger Man – Southlake. (See map above for various locations.)
To honor the hometowns of each brewery, Fritz Rahr, owner of Rahr & Sons, and Wim Bens, owner of Lakewood, will be at Ginger Man – Lakewood at 2 p.m., followed by an appearance at The Ginger Man – Fort Worth at 6 p.m. The Ginger Man in Uptown, Plano and Southlake will start the tapping of the collaboration at 4 p.m. and will have representatives from both breweries on-site.
5. Ommegang HopChef competition (November 3)
Brewery Ommengang (Cooperstown, N.Y.) is bringing a national food and beer pairing competition, known as HopChef, to D-FW. The six North Texas chef competitors hail from Blind Butcher, The Common Table, FM Smokehouse, The Libertine Bar, Meddlesome Moth, and Whiskey Cake. The event is intended to ”bring together Dallas’ top beer-forward chefs under one roof to pair dishes with a variety of Ommengang’s ales and to compete for the title of Dallas HopChef 2014,” according to the listing.
The event at 3015 at Trinity Groves starts at 6:30 p.m. on November 3 and lasts until 10 p.m. Cost of admission is $60 per ticket, but includes samples of each chef’s signature dish, accompanying Ommegang beers, and a commemorative glass. Buy a tickets here.
The family style platter with beef rib, brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork and sausage from the Pecan Lodge restaurant in Deep Ellum, on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2014 in Dallas. (Ben Torres/Special Contributor)
6. Dinner with Pecan Lodge and Four Corners (November 5)
This pairing belongs on the ultimate list of North Texas Beer Week suggestions since it combines some of the area’s best barbecue and specialty beers from Dallas’ Four Corners Brewing Co. Dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. and features a menu that includes two off-menu Pecan Lodge items — smoked pig’s head tacos and venison sausage sliders — in addition to the smoke house’s irresistible brisket. Tickets for the dinner are $50 per ticket with only 100 available, but once inside, three 12-ounce pours of Four Corners beer are available as well as tastings from three food stations. So act fast and buy a ticket.
7. Lower Greenville Block Party (November 6)
The Lower Greenville Block Party highlights four of the best bars in the lowest of the Lower Greenville area. Bars include The Bottle Shop, The Libertine, Blind Butcher and Truck Yard. (Both The Bottle Shop and Blind Butcher were recently named among the top craft beer bars in D-FW.) Each participating location will offer a different beer from Revolver Brewing, the chance to talk with someone from the brewery and a special glass honoring the event, so feel free to bounce around.
Revolver’s featured brews include Mullet Cutter double IPA (2013) at Blind Butcher; Mullet Cutter double IPA (2014) at The Libertine; Fracker Barrell One stout and Sangre y Miel sour ale at The Bottle Shop; and Cinnamon Girl American amber at Truck Yard. Grant Wood, brewmaster at Revolver Brewing and one of DMN’s Craft Beer Insiders, is also scheduled to visit each location. The party starts at 7 p.m.
8. Brewer’s Ball (November 7)
North Texas Beer Week’s inaugural Brewer’s Ball is considered one of the week’s premiere and most exclusive events, with only 500 tickets being sold at $125 per ticket. The event is a black tie dinner-beer festival hybrid, featuring more than 35 brewmasters and owners from around the country. The Renaissance Hotel in Dallas hosts the event from 7-10 p.m. and include foods several local establishments. Purchase tickets here.
North Texas Beer Week attendees will be able to find multiple brews by local operation Lakewood Brewing Co. and Peticolas Brewing Co. For a full list of events visit ntxbeerweek.com. (Alexandra Olivia/ Special Contributor)
9. Beer and Bourbon/Bourbon and Beer (November 8 )
This event provides whiskey, bourbon, and beer lovers a place to mingle during North Texas Beer Week. The theme highlights the complementary characteristics of bourbon and beer, and to do that, The Common Table will host David Walker, the owner of Firestone Walker Brewing Co.; Yusef Churney, the brewmaster and distiller from Ballast Point Brewing Co.; Leonard Firestone, owner of Firestone & Robertson Distilling Co.; and Brett Vanderkamp, the co-founder of New Holland Brewing Co.
These masters of bourbon and beer will be pairing barrel-aged beer with rare bourbons and whiskeys. The event runs from 2-8 p.m. There is no cost for admission, so if you have plans cancel them.
10. 3rd Annual North Texas Beer Week Extravaganza (November 8 )
North Texas Beer Week Extravaganza, hosted by Lone Star Beverages, gives hopheads a healthy sampling of the area’s local suds. The event runs from 1-3 p.m. and showcases beers from 903 Brewers (Sherman), Armadillo Ale Works (Denton/Dallas), Cedar Creek Brewery (Seven Points), Community Beer Co. (Dallas), Deep Ellum Brewing Co. (Dallas), Four Corners Brewing Co. (Dallas), Franconia Brewing Co. (McKinney), Lakewood Brewing Co. (Garland), Martin House Brewing Co. (Fort Worth), and Revolver Brewing Co. (Granbury).
The North Texas Beer Week Extravaganza will have giveaways and special releases from your favorite local breweries, including some limited edition bottles and cans for free. If you did a double take on the price, you read correctly. This event is a must-go for craft beer lovers and only requires you to show up to have a good time.
Trevor Cadigan is a student at Southern Methodist University majoring in journalism and minoring in business and Mandarin Chinese. He wants to get his MBA in international business and hopes to implement news organizations into developing countries.