The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

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The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

The Independent Voice of Southern Methodist University Since 1915

The Daily Campus

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Dallas area breweries offer unique local beers

The world of beer has changed drastically in recent years, and craft breweries are popping up all over the country and the world to offer people more options than they’ve ever had before. Drinking locally produced beer is now just as easy around the country as eating local produce. It’s just a matter of looking in the right place.

Dallas’ beer scene, and Texas’ as a whole, has exploded in recent years, with several new breweries offering unique and tasty brews for all tastes. Here are some of the best local offerings.

Community Mosaic IPA

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Community Mosaic. Photo credit: Ellen Smith

 

Community’s Mosaic IPA is an India Pale Ale hopped with exclusively Mosaic hops, a relatively new American breed that lends a very unique tropical flavor profile to a beer. IPAs usually use a blend of different varieties of hops that work well together, but “Single Hop” beers, as they’re called, are brewed specifically to highlight the subtleties of a specific hop variety.

Mosaic’s tropical notes lend flavors of guava and mango, with a floral, bitter bite to counteract the sweetness. Community Beer Company has only been around for a short period of time, but they’ve already made their mark on the local beer scene. Mosaic IPA is moderately high in alcohol at 7.5 percent and has a solid malt backbone to counteract the traditional bitterness of an IPA.

Revolver Blood and Honey

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Revolver Blood and Honey. Photo credit: Ellen Smith

 

Revolver Brewing, based in nearby Granbury, Texas, has struck gold with their American Wheat Ale Blood and Honey. A traditional German Hefeweizen style with added blood orange peel and local Texas honey, Blood and Honey is easily one of the most popular beers in the metroplex, and is always in high demand on tap at local bars.

The sweet, yeasty and wheat flavors of the Hefeweizen base (usually described as a mix of banana and clove by connoisseurs of the style) play nicely with the slightly bitter and tangy citrus of the orange peel, and the honey adds a wonderful additional complexity.

Recently made readily available in bottles as well, Blood and Honey is a true highlight of the local beer scene.

Lakewood The Temptress

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Lakewood the Temptress. Photo credit: Ellen Smith

 

Lakewood Brewing Company in Garland, Texas, just celebrated their first anniversary in early fall, but their consistently solid beers have propelled them to the top of the pack in the area. Their milk stout, The Temptress is perhaps their most popular and well- regarded offering.

A milk stout is a dark beer with roasted malt brewed with lactose sugar to sweeten up the traditionally bitter stout base. The Temptress adds a hint of vanilla on top of the lactose sugar to add even more sweet complexity. The bitter roasted malt gives the beer a slight chocolate and coffee flavor, that combined with the lactose and vanilla makes a perfect beer to pair with dessert, or even breakfast. For something really special, try to search for the Bourbon Barrel Temptress, the barrel aged version that adds another layer of boozy complexity to an already fantastic beer.

Peticolas Velvet Hammer

This English style Imperial Red Ale brewed by Peticolas Brewing Company in Dallas is a local legend. A strong ale at 9 percent alcohol and loaded with bready, English malts and tons of strong, bitter and floral hops, this is a real highlight of the Dallas brew scene.

The banana bread and toffee flavor of the malt contrasts beautifully with the very American large hop profile. Peticolas brews a number of fantastic beers, including English Pale Ale “Royal Scandal,” and their Winter Warmer, “Wintervention.” Their double IPA, “Sit Down or I’ll Sit You Down” is another local highlight, although it is seasonal and relatively difficult to find.

Deep Ellum IPA

Deep Ellum Brewing Company, located of course in Deep Ellum, got in a bit of trouble recently for saying that their sessionable blonde ale “Dallas Blonde” “Goes Down Easy,” but their IPA remains as fantastic as ever. Loaded with a wide array of hops, this beer has a noticeable citrus character accented nicely with resiny pine flavors from the hops. A noticeable malt background helps keep the beer very well balanced and not excessively bitter.

Martin House Sugar & Spice

Sugar & Spice from Martin House Brewing Company in Fort Worth, Texas is a barleywine unlike any other barleywine. A strong beer at 12 percent alcohol, this is the newest beer on this list and was just released in December of last year. Barleywines are typically strong like Sugar & Spice is, but the addition of piloncillo, a Mexican brown sugar, makes this a truly unique beer.

The piloncillo adds some sweet tropical flavors, best described as papaya or cherimoya, as well as a slight molasses flavor. The dark fruit malt flavor typically found in barleywines is still there, but much less pronounced, and there is only a hint of bitterness, a quality usually found in barleywines, particularly of the American variety. Only available on draft seasonally, this is worth the search for while it is still around and is a completely different beer experience from most traditional offerings.

Other Texas Brews

While Dallas has plenty of fantastic beers, Texas as a whole has even more, many of which are easily available within the Dallas area. (512) Brewing Company’s Pecan Porter is a wonderfully dark and roasty beer with a strong nutty pecan flavor, available on draft most places in Dallas.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company in Houston has Endeavor, a double IPA, a highly regarded beer available in bottles across the metroplex.

Jester King Brewery in Austin, Texas, reserves their best and newest beers for sale only at the brewery (and they are certainly worth the trip down there), but their unique sour ales like Das Wunderkind are available at most bottle shops throughout the state.

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