The North Texas Beer Festival is happening this weekend on Saturday, May 12 at the Irving Convention Center. We’re sending one of our new summer interns, a beer geek, there to scope out the digs. The only thing that’s missing on the schedule is how to make some good moonshine, but I guess that’s sort of illegal anyway. Ticket prices vary, and you should buy them here.
Katy Ice Trail House is hosting Round Up De Mayo around the same time as the beer fest. If you’re into wearing neon clothing, drinking booze, and the possibility of giant slide, then this is your crowd. The Facebook event photo promises a giant slide, but I am wary of promises that include a giant slide from previous experience. It often turns out to be a disappointment.
Tickets for Flying Saucer on the Lake’s Annual Beer Festival (happening June 16) go on sale Thursday, May 10. Over 25 breweries and 60 craft beers will be hanging out at 4821 Bass Pro Drive in Garland, all selected by Flying Saucer’s beer gurus. These tickets are only $25 if you purchase them before May 25, so open those wallets for this special deal.
And just because I like charity events (plus, this organization is doing some good for this world), I’ll throw in a fundraising dinner here. Seeds of Africa, a non-profit that nurtures young children and adults in African communities, is teaming up with Bolsa for a four-course meal in hopes to support Seeds’ relief efforts. (more…)
Last night, a beer-making man asked me for my opinion. He wanted me to listen to some of the names he is workshopping for a Dallas-brewed beer. I told him I get paid for my opinions. (In truth, all of his ideas were moronic and demanding payment for my golden ideas was an easy way out of stating the obvious.) After we hung up, I thought of you. All of you who are so devilish and clever. He should consider himself lucky I’m tossing his question out there for all of you to answer. Do it. I swear if he uses any of them, I will get paid. For you, of course. Go.
Bolsa Mercado is officially a talent hog. It’s great if you happen to be cool (rich?) enough to live in The “fabulous” OC. However, it sucks for those of us who have to walk half a mile through a huge chain grocery store to buy a carton of milk. Or beer.
Deep Ellum Brewery has just released their first (only?) production of “Love Runs Deep” Cherry Chocolate Double Brown Stout (deets below). Think you’ll find it at Tom Thumb? Nope. Bolsa Mercado bought the entire batch. Each 22-ounce bottle is individually numbered and made with red tart and dark sweet cherries and Organic/Fair Trade cocoa nibs. Expect to find all 300 of them on the shelves of Bolsa Mercado during their next Open House on February 11.
If you can’t wait until the 11th to get a food fix from The ‘Cado, head over on February 8. If you are lucky, you may be able to look past talented chef chefs Jeff Harris and Matt Balke and spot the rare, elusive chef Sharon Hage in the kitchen. She will be creating a “Take Home Dinner For Two.” Who knows, by then Bolsa Mercado may have Alan McClure creating Fudgesicles or Grant Achatz doing dishes. Could happen. Pigs fly in Oak Cliff.
Dallas is a little late to the microbrewery trend, but we’ve finally hopped on the beer brewing business with gusto. Now we have three—Peticolas Brewing Company, Lakewood Brewing Company, Deep Ellum Brewing Company–and each plan to produce 1,500 barrels in its first year. Check out this report written by David Hopkins with delicious photography by Joshua Martin.
On Tuesday January 17th at 6:00PM, beer lovers will get a chance to taste the extremely limited release of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. Get there early, the last tapping of 120 in September sold out in 14 minutes. It’s the world’s strongest India Pale Ale (18%). Other tappings include Dogfish Head favorites such as Immort Ale and Burton Baton. Enjoy them with the ever popular Holy Grail house-made hot dogs. Check out the hunk nice young gentleman in this video as he talks about “calibrating hoppiness.” How good is that? Who doesn’t need their hoppiness calibrated?
Here’s a bare-bones rundown of what’s on the chalkboards for October:
Old Monk
Wednesday September 21—Oktoberfest kickoff at The Old Monk. Keg tapping at 7.30 pm. Dennis from Franconia will bring a 200 year old wooden keg of his Oktoberfest which we will tap at 7:30. Keg tapper this year will be our very own Tim Rogers. The beer is served in ceramic steins with the Old Monk logo. A 24 oz stein full of beer is $15 and you keep the stein. Bratwurst and knockwurst are available.
Beer for a cause. Every year The Monk hosts a pumpkin carving event to raise money for charity. Guests pay $10 and get a scooped out pumpkin, carving tools and a pint compliments of Guinness (Guinness, Harp, Smithwicks, Half and Half, or Black and Tan ). The Monk matches the $10 (last year they wrote a check for $5,500 to North Texas Food Bank) Carving begins October 19 and runs through Halloween night.
Currently The Monk has cask conditioned Fireman’s #4. Get it before it runs out.
Six firkins of Green Flash West Coast IPA (7.3% ABV and 95 IBUs) are literally on a truck from San Diego right now. They should arrive any day to go on the beer engines at The Monk and The Idle. This beer will most certainly go quickly; it’s pretty highly regarded in craft beer circles.
Mon., Sept. 26: Beer Dinner with Ayinger Celebrator, Pinkus Organic Hefeweizen, Avery Kaiser Oktoberfest, Kapuzinger Schwarz-Weizen, and Breckenridge Vanilla Porter.
Tues, Sept. 27: Magic Hat Hat Hex “Ourtoberfest Glass Night”
Weds., Sept. 28: Summit Oktoberfest Glass Night
Thurs., Sept. 29: Avery Kaiser Oktoberfest Glass Night
Fri., Sept. 30: Spaten Munich Mug Night
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Central Market kicks off the beer season on Sept 14 with its second annual Brewtopia celebration—a full two weeks from Sept 14 to 27 dedicated to celebrating all things brewed. The event will bring in more than 10 of the best beer creators in the business to host beer samplings, share brew tales, and talk one-on-one with beer lovers. Highlights include: Steven Pauwels, Brewmaster Boulevard Brewing; Keith Villa, Brewmaster of Tenth and Blake and creator of Blue Moon; Original Sin Cider owner Gidon Coll.
The store’s resident beer gurus will even be incorporating beers into their Cooking School recipes. On Friday, Sept. 23, Greg Engbert, beer director for Neighborhood Restaurant Group of Washington, D.C. will offer a “Beer, Cheese and the Confluence of Flavor” seminar in the Cooking School. (Engbert was named Sommelier of the Year by Food & Wine in April 2010, the first ever for a beer professional.) Classes run from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, unless otherwise noted. Classes run in the neighborhood of $60. Check the Cooking School site for details.
During Brewtopia, Central Market also discounts beer up to 25%, so stock up as is reasonable.
The upcoming 2011 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) sold out just seven days (gulp). No need to drown your sorrows if you aren’t already a ticket-holder, you still have another chance to be part of the mile-high fun. CraftBeer.com is giving away a trip for two to the festival. One randomly selected registrant will receive the ultimate GABF trip, including lodging during the Festival (September 29 – October 1, 2011), round trip airfare for two, and two tickets to all four sessions of GABF. Contest ends August 31, 2011 at 11:59 am, so enter now or forever hold your empty glass.
In May, World Beer Company founder Clay Hartmann opened the doors on The Bottle Shop in Lower Greenville. The basic premise: create a beer emporium where aspiring hopheads can not only buy, but also consume any of the 500 varieties on premise. You might be thinking: Hey, isn’t that just a bar? The couches and long tables might lead you to think so, but the presence of take-home growlers draws a very important line in the sand. The shop can get away with selling them (where others can’t) because a) they are not brewing onsite and b) by operating under retail license that skirts the whole brewpub/restaurant/TABC/licensing boondoggle.
It appears that everyone’s favorite reason to visit is the presence of Meddlesome Moth alum Stephanie Roethlisberger who’s known for matching beer lovers with their soon-to-be-favorite new beer. She plumbs the depths of your likes and dislikes and presents hopefuls. Kind of like blind dating without the humiliation. In that sense, she’s the beer shadchen of Lower Greenville.
The availability of delivery menus for Mextopia, Greenville Avenue Pizza, Nandina, and others means you’ll never have to mourn the absence of a kitchen.
Growlers are available for $7.99 plus the cost of the beer.
Ace contributor Julissa Trevino sends us this report from the field. Take it away, Julissa…
At the corner of W. Magnolia Ave. and College Ave. in the Near Southside neighborhood of Fort Worth, Carlo Galotto looked tired but was still smiling as he sat on a dusty wooden bar stool in the spacious brick building that used to house Gunn’s Cleaners in mid-June.
Galotto, owner of soon-to-open Zio Carlo Magnolia Brewpub, spends 10-12 hours a day, seven days a week working on what he hopes will become a neighborhood establishment reminiscent of old Europe.
But the 52-year-old, thin Italian immigrant from Turin doesn’t have much time. Having worked on the opening since Oct. 2008, when he bought the property, Galotto had hoped open up his business in July. With less than a week go for before the end of the month, it’s looking less and less likely for the hopeful brewer.
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As a tribute to Belgian Independence Week, Matt Quenette over at Meddlesome Moth has spent the week banging the drum of Belgian Beer, with the kitchen turning out some pretty memorable pairings to go along with each night’s featured ale. Tonight (Friday) and tomorrow night are the last of it. Tonight’s beer (Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence) is paired with red velvet waffles. Now, I ask you, could you have come up with that? If your answer is no, head over there as soon as possible after work today. If you answer was yes, come work for us!
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OK, folks. It appears that some of you have slipped too far into the summer doldrums because word on the street is that there are still tickets available for The Common Table’s Lagunitas beer dinner next Monday (July 25). The food will be amazing, the beers are top notch, and—hello—it’s only $45. Don’t even try to tell me you’re busy—no one is busy on Monday nights. Set the DVR to record Weeds and The Big C and get yourself down there. Here are the deets:
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Texas Hill Country’s Real Ale Brewing Company will represent at the Hilton Anatole on Thursday, July 28, when head brewer Erik Ogershok will host a Real Ale beer dinner in the hotel’s Media Grill & Bar. Hors d’oeuvres start circulating at 6 pm followed by a five-course dinner with six featured beers: Fireman’s #4 Blond Ale, Rio Blanco Pale Ale, Brewhouse Brown, Full Moon Pale Rye, Lost Gold IPA, and Sisyphus 2010.
Cost is $68 per person (plus tax and gratuity).
Call 214-761-7439 to reserve a spot.
What’s not to love about a Tuesday morning run-down of all of the buying/selling/contracting shenanigans going on in the Bud-Miller-Coors commercial brewing merry go round. For an amusing detailing of how it all spins out, read this Who Owns What article from the DrinkAmerican website. It’s enough to drive you to homebrew.
Straight from the Peticolas Brewing Co. (the new Design District brewery) Facebook page:
Wanna name a commercial beer? We are calling our Imperial Red the VELVET HAMMER, but haven’t settled on any other names.
Can you come up with a catchy or clever name that gets stuck in your head? Post up your great beer name ideas. The winner(s) get credit on our website and the satisfaction of being forever linked to the name of the beer. Some free beer will surely end up in the winner(s) hands as well!
If there’s an IKEA run in your future this Saturday and you can’t face yet another plate of Swedish meatballs, stave off the post-shopping hungries by hitting The Holy Grail Pub where on Saturday owner Brian Rudolph will be hosting an All-Day Summer Smokeout. Outside, starting at noon, they’ll fire up a smoker filled with beef brisket, cabrito, house-made hot dogs, and beer-can chicken. Top off your grub with house-made Texas, North Carolina, or Kansas City sauces. Each plate will be served with potato chip salad and cole slaw. Need we say that you need to hit it early before they run out.
Of course, Rudolph promises that “new and favorite beers will be featured to pair with each dish.” Any guesses (or requests) as to which ones?