Peticolas is more optimistic and com- pares the growth over the past decade to ships that rise together at high tide. “Dallas has a beer identity now,” Petico- las says. “And the quality of beer we have here is really, really good. We have some breweries that are making outstanding beers.” It’s hard to say if the industry has reached a high-level mark. New breweries continue to open while others close, although open- ings far outpace closings. BeerinBigD.com lists almost two-dozen variations of brew- houses, pubs and breweries on its “In Devel- opment” page. Even during COVID-19 shutdowns, new breweries continued to open at a decent clip. There were a total of 341 craft breweries statewide in 2019, 364 in 2020 and 406 in 2021, representing 20% growth over almost two years of a pandemic. Loyalty might not be for a style of beer, but for the community and engagement found in Celestial’s field day and in Commu- nity’s large new courtyard. Vector Brewing is a family-owned brewery in Lake High- lands that opened in 2020. It’s regularly packed with families; the brewery has even had to set a curfew for kids. For new brewery Siren Rock Brewing in Rockwall, community was the mission. Eva Cannon is the founder and vice president of marketing. “When we sold our technology company in 2017, we wanted to be part of the craft beer industry not only because of our love of craft beer but because the industry as a whole was unique in that it was a true com- munity,” she says. She says the vision for Siren Rock Brew- ing was a cross between Napa Valley and a modern production brewery. A chef-driven kitchen and open dining room that spills out into a courtyard, where they host morning yoga sessions and live music on weekends, help achieve that. “Our vision included an elevated yet comfortable place that the community could hang out and tell their out-of-town friends to visit when they come in,” Cannon says. If North Texans are looking for a locally made beer or a community space, they win either way. While the craft scene might loose some technical points for lack of clas- sic style brews to sail it through good and bad times, it gains points for ingenuity. While there’s no sign of this ship slowing down, that doesn’t mean the sailing is al- ways smooth. Armadillo Ale Works had been operating since 2010 in a large brewery in Denton but closed this year, as did Legal Draft Brewing in Arlington, even after re- ceiving hundreds of thousands in pandemic assistance. “I know one thing from being in the beer industry for 10 years: It’s that you don’t know anything,” says Wim Bens, founder and co-owner of Lakewood Brewing Co. “You just don’t. No one knew there were go- ing to be 90 craft breweries in North Texas, no one expected seltzers to be a thing, no one expected slushies to be a thing, no one expected hazy IPAs to be a thing.” Despite it being a tough business to pre- dict, Bens says people get into craft beer not for the financial rewards, but rather because of a passion for the craft and community, “and that’s what keeps people going as small, independent craft beer producers.” That and birthday par- ties, doodles, biergarten yoga and the whole family packing up to head to the brewery on a Saturday af- ternoon. Or getting sweaty at field day while sipping a beer that was made a stone’s throw away. This leads us to a hand- ful of our favorite craft breweries in the Dallas area. The highlight reel here focuses on good beer, convivial spaces and per- haps even some good grub to soak it up. Nathan Hunsinger Lakewood Brewing is celebrating 10 years. The Essential Dallas-Area Breweries of 2022 Despite our herculean efforts, we haven’t tried each of the roughly 90 breweries nor every beer at each, but below are some shining examples of what our local craft beer scene has to offer. For this list, we decided to stay close to Dallas — and our first cousin ’burbs — as a way to set a boundary instead of trying to run a full zone coverage from Weatherford to Rockwall. Here are a dozen plus local breweries you should check out if you haven’t already. 3 Nations Brewing 1033 Vandergriff Drive (Carrollton) 3nationsbrewing.com 3 Nations started in a small warehouse in a dry area of Farmers Branch in 2015, opening a tap- room two years later. They quickly outgrew their space and moved to their current location in 2019, which was built in a shed next to a historic grain silo. The family- and pet-friendly brewery has two taprooms, a large indoor beer hall, a sec- ond-floor mezzanine, an outdoor biergarten and grill. Their beer is a fresh take on old-world styles, with 16 on tap and a new beer release ev- ery Friday. Staples include the Mango Smash IPA, Royal Blood Orange Ale and Haze Wizard NEIPA. Their Biergarten Grill serves burgers, street tacos and favorites cooked up by a long-time food vendor at the State Fair of Texas. Weekly events include bingo, a cornhole league, trivia, live mu- sic and monthly holiday events, dog rescues, an- niversary parties and more. Celestial Beerworks 2530 Butler St. (Medical District) celestialbeerworks.com Celestial opened in 2018, and founders Matt and Molly Reynolds always dreamed of opening a brewery together where they could combine their love of beer, art, science and space. With an out-of-this-world brewery theme, Celestial lov- ingly refers to fresh, hop-forward beers as “Space Juice.” They have a medium size taproom with a back patio and are working on a satellite location to increase their production and distri- bution capacity while freeing up more room in the current taproom. Every month they choose two charities as their “Missions.” Customers re- ceive a token with their beer flights to drop into the charity box of their choice, which results in donations to charities like CASA, In My Shoes, DFW Pug Rescue and Texas Trees Foundation. They partner with 2nd Kitchen to have food de- livered straight to the taproom from Maple Land- ing. Events include weekly trivia and rotating fitness classes, and an annual Adult Science Fair and Best in Show Dog Show. Community Beer Co. sized up in space. Nathan Hunsinger Community Beer Co. 3110 Commonwealth Drive (Pegasus Park) communitybeer.com Community Beer Co. started out in the Design District in 2013, but after becoming the third-larg- est independent brewer in Texas, it needed more space for production and visitors alike. They re- cently debuted their new two-story space, with a full outdoor biergarten and Community Kitchen, a restaurant scheduled to debut next to the tap- room by this summer. They’ve been working hard to put together a calendar of events at the new fa- cility, from dog adoptions and fitness classes to live music, pop-up food vendors and special beer tappings. To make up for lost time, they plan to have two anniversary parties this year. Back in 2017, they formed The Community Greater Good charity to raise funds for charitable causes across Texas. Flagship brews include Honey Citrus Blonde, Community Bock and Mosaic IPA, the best-selling independent IPA in DFW. Four Corners Brewing Co. 1311 S. Ervay St. (Cedars District) fcbrewing.com Four Corners Brewing Co. started as a home- brewing hobby in 2004 and moved into its first space, an old mechanic shop in 2012, launching the brand we know today. The Four Corners name was inspired by an intersection in the founder’s neighborhood of Oak Cliff. As the company grew, it opened its current taproom just south of down- town in 2017, which quadrupled the size. In 2018, they were acquired by Constellation Brands (Mod- elo, Corona). They have a full kit chen of taproom comida, featuring street tacos and fried enchilada balls. Weekly events include lotería night, bingo and various activities such as pilates bootcamp. Sip on flagships like Local Buzz Honey-Rye Golden Ale and El Chingón IPA on their pet- friendly patio or in their taprooms. Lakewood Brewing Co. 2302 Executive Drive (Garland) lakewoodbrewing.com Lakewood Brewing, a family-owned, indepen- dent brewery, is coming up on its 10th >> p12 1111 dallasobserver.com dallasobserver.com | CONTENTS | UNFAIR PARK | SCHUTZE | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | MOVIES | DISH | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS DALLAS OBSERVER DALLAS OBSERVER MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 MAY 12–18, 2022
