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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 joining me there — where we ran into yet another City of Ate writer.
Glad we went, because not only did City of Ate’s own toque-testing Steven Doyle buy us a round, but owner Corey Pond introduced himself and shared news of a special keg tapping going on at 5 p.m. today — mere minutes from now.
Racer X, from California’s Bear Republic, is a double IPA that the brewery’s website describes as “a bold ale that follows English traditions with a California twist.” Not even Pond’s buddy Doyle could convince him to tap the keg before manager Jeff Fryman arrived. But a glass of the brewery’s Crazy Ivan, an unusual yet very well-done blend of IPA and red ale worts brewed with Belgian yeast, was enough to convince me that coming back for a pull off the Racer X keg would be a good idea. The A average at BeerAdvocate reinforces the wisdom of doing so. It’s a rare opportunity, too, as this is a brew that rarely makes its way to Texas — and it’s never before been available in Dallas, according to Pond. See you there?
