We're now a couple of months into the New Year, so it's as good a time as any to reflect on those New Year's resolutions. We traveled on January 1 of this year, so score one point in the resolutions department for me! Our short trip (to Natchitoches, Louisiana) is a blog post for another day, because today I want to talk about my husband's belated Beerapalooza Birthday Bash. It was like a Dallas staycation daycation.
Hubs turned 35 in January, and for almost a year I had wanted to do something special to celebrate his milestone birthday. Of course, I initially had grand ideas of Caribbean travel and such, but eventually it became clear that wasn't feasible. So, Beerapalooza Birthday Bash was hatched. Being the media maven that I am, I had read about all the craft breweries popping up around the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. Hubs loves beer. Ding ding! I enlisted hubby's friend and fellow beer connoisseur, Jamie, to help with the planning. Jamie insisted we hire a car to pick us up and transport us around town. But the cost of hiring a limo for the entire day would have been exponential, so we decided just to have the limo pick our group up in our suburb and drive us down to the first brewery. I thought the limo pick-up would be a fun surprise for my husband, and a good way to get hyped for the day. After that, we would depend on Uber. If you haven't heard of Uber, you're totally missing out! Within moments of requesting a car from their iPhone App, a professional driver shows up at your location in a nice, clean vehicle to transport you to your destination. No cash exchanges hands, as the fare is paid via your credit card stored in the App. It's safe, affordable, and genius. And it's only in select cities, so check out uber.com to see if it's in your city or your destination city. Here's our ambitious schedule for Jeff's Beerapalooza Birthday Bash, put together by our friend Jamie:
11:00 AM – Depart suburb (limo pick-up at friends' homes)
Parents' Day Out! Sun in our face as we get ready to head to the "city" in our limo
Most of the craft breweries in Dallas have tours and tastings on Saturday during the day, with the exception of Peticolas, which is only open the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month. Below, I'm going to give my thoughts on each brewery we visited (the non-beer drinkers view) and I'll also share Jamie's thoughts on the beer.
Deep Ellum Brewing Hands down, Deep Ellum Brewing had the best atmosphere of all the breweries we visited. Its large outdoor patio has an almost garage-and-driveway feel, and picnic tables were set up near a stage where a local band was playing. We arrived too early for the tour, but when one of our friends mentioned hub's birthday, a Deep Ellum employee offered to give him a personal, up-close look at the brewing process. Afterwards, we enjoyed yummy "The Roadside" sliders from the Easy Slider Truck, which was parked in the alleyway. Luckily for us, the day we visited was one of those freakishly warm January days in Texas, so we enjoyed being outside in the sunshine. There's not much of an indoor area at Deep Ellum, so I would definitely say it's a fair weather kind of place. The guys enjoyed the beers they tried, and the Dallas Blonde was their favorite. Overall, our group gave Deep Ellum Brewing an A+.
Hubs receiving one-on-one special attention at Deep Ellum Brewing
Enjoying food from the Easy Slider food truck at Deep Ellum. Yum!
Peticolas Peticolas is the Dallas brewery which is only open the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month. This must be the reason for the LONG lines that were snaked around the interior of the building. I have to say, people must go for the beer, because the ambiance is VERY lacking. The two-story warehouse is long and skinny (perfect for standing in line), and there are just a few groupings of couches here and there for weary line-standers. The line system is also confusing, with different lines for different beers and no signage. We were given the scoop by a few beer drinkers standing in line, and it was rather annoying for the non-beer drinkers to have to stand in line with hundreds of other people for no reason. On the other hand, the guys enjoyed Peticolas's beer, especially Golden Opportunity and Royal Scandal.
On the day of Jeff's Beerapalooza Birthday Bash, Community Beer Company happened to be having their 1st anniversary party. Because of the party, this was the only brewery where the non-beer drinkers had to pay entry. We didn't complain though, because the place was happenin', and the beer was flowin'. That day they had 15 different beers on tap, including a few special releases, as well as a band, local art for sale, patio games, vendors, and a food truck. Beer drinkers were in heaven, with their entry fee including 8 tickets each, and they happily jumped from line to line for their full glass of each brew. Even though they tried up to 10 beers, the few that stuck out were Vienna Lager, Texas Pils, and the public ales. Another fun tidbit from our time at Community was the guys having their photo taken by a Pegasus News reporter, which ended up in a recap story about the anniversary event. Now the Dallas Morning News (owner of Pegasus News) has picked it up, and the photo appears in news stories about Community Brewery. Hubs is famous! (At least the kids think he is anyway).
The last destination on the big Beerapalooza brewery tour was Four Corners Brewery. Four Corners is located just over the Margaret Hunt Hill bridge near Trinity Groves, and it's the only brewery with evening hours on Saturday. It was probably around 4:00 PM by the time we arrived, and it was practically deserted. There were about 3 people at the bar inside, and one couple sitting on a patio table outside. I'm not sure if the lack of patrons was due to the time of day, or the fact that the other breweries were hoppin'. By the time we arrived, the guys were three sheets to the wind, and they have no recollection of the beers they ordered. The one female beer drinker in our group was unable to go on (she was four sheets to the wind), and the group started to realized that Jeff's Beerapalooza Birthday Bash was coming to a quick end. After some shenanigans including pretending to card other patrons at the door, we decided dinner plans had to be scrapped and to call it a night. By the time we got home, hubby was extremely tired, but very happy. The words "You're the best wife ever" were definitely confirmation that Beerapalooza was a success. So if you're looking for an innovative way to celebrate a beer-drinker's birthday, or just a self-proclaimed beeroisseur, you can't go wrong with a day spent at the craft breweries in Dallas. It's a fun way to spend a Saturday, with designated drivers or safe transportation of course. Oh, and leave the kids at home!
