A recent New York magazine article got me thinking about saison, the Belgian farmhouse ale style that was once considered an endangered species of beer but has in recent years become a rather hot craft-brew trend. I already knew that originally they were a relatively crisp and dry low-alcohol beer,…
Last week was spent building tolerance: It was the annual week of the Dallas Observer Music Awards. The tolerance of which I speak really has nothing to do with music, but of crowds, heat and hooch.Allow me to elaborate: The DOMAXXII (the 22nd year of the DOMAs) showcase took place…
Sometimes there’s some kind of theme to this column, like last week’s tie-in to Belgian Independence Day or previous weeks’ explorations of beers tried on a trip to Alaska. Other times, new or newly available brews are fodder for a Hophead column. Then there are times when I simply write…
Just as the hot summer months inevitably result in a spike in crime stats, something about the July heat must make people get the urge to collectively rise up against their oppressors. Not only is our own country’s independence celebrated in July, but the French (and Oak Cliff bikos) celebrate…
Paul Hightower’s recent Dallas Craft Beer Examiner blog item about The Common Table reminded me that I still needed to check out the Uptown gastro-pub. Today at lunch seemed the perfect opportunity, so I talked a couple of Dude Food dudes, a Girl Drinker and one very Roasted compadre into…
Last week I wrote about the Alaskan Brewing Co. beers that I tried on a recent trip to Ketchikan, Alaska. But Alaskan Brewing Co. isn’t the only Alaskan brewing company. Patrick Michels recommended Fairbanks’ Silver Gulch in the comments. While I didn’t see any Silver Gulch offerings on my trip,…
After a full-belly dinner at Smoke, girl drinker Marla and I headed off to meet other girl drinkers Sarah, Lindsey and Amy, and some other homies at the Kessler Theater. The Beaten Sea and The Naptime Shake were playing (full-disclosure: dude fooder Noah W. Bailey and my hubs-to-be are in…
Remember last week, when I wrote about how porters and barleywines weren’t especially appealing this time of year because of the heat? Well, they suddenly become rather inviting when it’s rainy and cloudy with a cool breeze and temps are in the 50s and 60s, as was the case last…
As if it weren’t hot enough already, summer officially began Monday. Temperatures are already steadily hitting the upper 90s and triple-digits mark. Delicious as a thick, dark, high-ABV Russian Imperial Stout or barleywine served just shy of room temperature may be in cooler weather, these days a cold, refreshing beer…
At a party recently, I was given a taste of one of the most refreshing vodka cocktails I’ve had in a great while.Josh — who wears a Canadian tuxedo with more style than anyone else I know, but that’s not really important right now — handed me his cup and…
Speaking of Shannon Wynne and the Meddlesome Moth…Fifteen years and 14 locations after the June 5, 1995, opening of the original Flying Saucer on Sundance Square in Fort Worth, the franchise’s “beer guru,” Keith Schlabs, still relishes the opportunity to evangelize about the virtues of good beer. That’s even easier at…
The last time I went to a Flying Saucer beer festival (the fall 2009 fest at the Fort Worth location), I learned that tasting the big, bad, high-gravity and high-ABV beers before trying lighter brews can throw off your tastebuds and make the latter drinks seem puny by comparison. At…
As many of our Internet-savvy readers have figured out by now, Andrea Grimes is back at ye ol’ Dallas Observer. After less than a week back on the beat, Grimes and I had enjoyed way more than one alcoholic beverage together — holy effers, someone alert the Dallas Marketing Group!…
Thanks to my generous in-laws, Lady Hophead and I headed to the Meddlesome Moth Monday night to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. Her mother and stepdad offered to take us to a much fancier restaurant, but we felt the Moth, with one of the best beer selections in Dallas, was…
For most music lovers, any old beer will do at a concert or club show as long as the music is good. At, say, Verizon Theatre or whatever they’re calling it these days, a big plastic cup or two full of American macro-lager is all it takes to get in…
I wouldn’t classify my mother as a real big drinker. More like a rare drinker. She’s never had a predilection for Pinot Grigio, and she doesn’t require a cocktail during her nightly stories. On a special occasion, however, she definitely perks up to a good Bloody Mary…prolly like your mom.On…
Just as I was finishing off the sample pack Harpoon sent recently, a few free samples from Magic Hat arrived, offering a nice opportunity to compare IPAs from two well-established New England craft brewers. The contrast between the two companies could hardly be starker. Magic Hat has a markedly lighter,…
As mentioned in Hophead a couple of weeks back, this week (May 17 to 23) is American Craft Beer Week. That item already mentioned the Texas Craft Brewers Festival Saturday night at the Dancing Bear Pub in Waco, but there are a few other ways to celebrate closer to home…
Ask for a Shiner in any Texas bar and you’re almost certain to get a Shiner Bock without any need to clarify, despite the array of other brews offered by the Spoetzl brewery under the Shiner name. In fact, Shiner Bock is so synonymous with Spoetzl that many casual beer…
Lots of people equate lavender with soaps, sachets and lotions. And that’s fair. So much of the reason lavender is even popular is due to its fragrance — which is soft, fresh and somehow, purple.But me, well, this Girl Drink Drunk likes my lavender like I like spiked ice tea…
One recent trend in the culinary world, the concept of the “gastro-pub,” is a boon for beer lovers. Pubs that focus their efforts on good food tend to serve higher quality beers and wines than your average bar. The late, great Zymology on Lower Greenville was one short-lived example, with…
A few new offerings from Harpoon Brewery should be making their way into North Texas: the New England company’s first offering of a Belgian Pale Ale, a new Imperial Red (as part of its Leviathan series) and the annual return of Harpoon Summer Beer. Harpoon is a veteran craft brewery,…
