3 big beer trends from the Big Texas Beer Fest 2021

After a pandemic-related break, the Big Texas Beer Fest returned to its homeland of Dallas for the first time since March 2019. The ninth edition of Chad and Nellie Montgomery’s Craft Beer Celebration promised over 100 vendors with more than 400 drinks to try, making the Fair Park Automotive Building the shabbiest place in the state in mid-November.

The biggest names in the craft beer scene in North Texas were there and provided samples. Brewers from other parts of Texas and beyond were also in attendance, but D-FW brewers filled a sizable section of the building. Some of the local brewers chose to stick with their core beers and only served customers cans of the same beers they find in their local grocery store, while others poured seasonal and limited offerings from portable tap systems.

Overall, there was almost as much to learn about the condition of North Texas craft beer as there was to be tasted. Here are our key takeaways.

Alternative drinks are no longer so alternative

Remember when Bishop Cider in the Bishop Arts District was the only ciderie in town a few years ago? What about a couple of years old when stores ran out of thin white cans of White Claw Hard Seltzer? Those days are long gone. And judging by the number of vendors only offering cider, hard seltzer, mead, and hard kombucha samples, those days are likely to be over forever.

Granted, we didn’t try many alternative drinks, but what no doubt was great was local in origin. Hard Red Cola from Rockwall’s Hemisphere Brewing Company was a sweet bang for the popular Texas soft drink Big Red. Along with Bishop Cider, local names like Breaking Brew Meadery, Trinity Cider, and Locust Cider joined out-of-town greats like Shotgun Seltzer, Top Chico Seltzer, Truly Seltzer, and City Orchard to show how far non-beer options have come.

The IPA is still king

With all due respect to the legendary Texas swing bandleader Bob Wills, whom Waylon Jennings is known to have proclaimed the eternal King of Texas, the hoppy IPA has been ruling these parts for some time. Note to all wannabe local brewers, however you choose to serve your IPA, be it a hazy New England style milkshake, double or triple, you’d better be pouring plenty of it and never running out of it. Dallas’ Manhattan Project Beer Co. and Celestial Beerworks as well as Farmers Branch’s Odd Muse Brewing were well prepared with our favorite IPAs of the day.

Welcome to the land of taste

Mixing extreme flavors in beer is certainly nothing new to many North Texas brewers. Martin House Brewing in Fort Worth has drawn a lot of attention in recent years for its adventurous flavors (squid ink and menthol, anyone?) Imperial stouts, with their dark, moist, roasted profiles are the ideal base for receiving flavorful ingredients. Peticola’s Brewing’s Worth the Wait Imperial Stout with Cherry and Vanilla was sublime, as was North Richland Hills’ False Idol Brewing’s Psyche Out! Imperial Stout, which offered Brazilian coffee and coconut flavors.

Pumpkin beers are in abundance at this time of year. Houston-based Saint Arnold Brewing poured their popular seasonal pumpkinator for the long lines outside their booth. But Denton’s Armadillo Ale Works used an autumn root vegetable in its Pump Up the Yams that isn’t exactly common in beer. The combination of pumpkin yams and spices resulted in a hearty beer that probably only fans of yams will appreciate. Very tasty, we say.

Cucumber beers have been popular for a number of years, and the Primal Brewing Company, based near Abilene, has served one of the better beers we have ever tried. Rather than going the sour or tangy route many brewers choose with their pickled offerings, Primals What’s the Big Dill is a smooth, impressively balanced blonde ale that perfectly spans the zesty notes of cucumber with the expected smoothness of a blonde.

Rockwalls Siren Rock Brewing gave us a taste of their Loyal Fool blackberry cobbler sour, and we loved it. The tart blackberry gave way to a graham cracker aftertaste that never felt too sweet or sticky. Pecan pie, oreo cookies, pickles, and limeade were also featured on tap handles and menu signs throughout the property. If variety is the spice of life, then the Big Texas Beer Fest was nothing but wonderfully tangy.

The date and place for the next Big Texas Beer Fest have not yet been set. Visit bigtexasbeerfest.com for information and updates.

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