Eater Dallas’ Justin Carter’s May beer recommendations:
Make your drinking rotation more interesting with Imperial stouts, Imperial IPAs and an easy-drinking Berliner weisse
Now that many of us are drinking at home a lot more than usual, it’s officially time to step up your at-home beer game. In this new series, we’ll be looking at five different beers from North Texas breweries — some brand new, some a little older, and some classics — that beer enthusiasts should be drinking right now.
Some of these beers will be widely available at bottle shops and grocery stores all across the region, while others might require a trip to the brewery to pick up a four-pack. We’ll also try to mix up the breweries each month, as the DFW area is home to an almost uncountable number of craft brewers.
Community Beer Company, Medical Grade Haze
7.7% New England IPA
Perhaps best known for its classic Mosaic IPA, the new Medical Grade Haze is a strong contender for Community’s next beer. An IPA for people who like their IPAs high on the juiciness and light on that bitterness that used to define the style, this beer is brewed with Vic Secret, Citra, and Mosaic hops, and can only be described in one way: dank.
While the number of times that Community uses the word “high” in the branding of this beer can be a little eye-roll-inducing, the beer itself is far from a gimmick: it’s just a really good hazy IPA.
Manhattan Project Brewing, Leona Tiger’s Blood
5.2% ABV Berliner Weisse
Nothing says “Spring is here” like snow cones, and there’s no more classic snow cone combination than Tiger’s Blood. This beer from Manhattan Project tastes shockingly similar to the original, thanks to the blend of watermelon and strawberry with plenty of coconut in the mix. It’s definitely a sour beer, but the sourness is balanced by a hint of saltiness and all those fruity flavors.
Odd Muse Brewing, Dunes On The Cape
8% ABV Imperial New England IPA
Fans of 1970s one-hit wonders will immediately recognize this reference in this new Odd Muse brew’s name. For those who aren’t aware, the flavor profile is pure pina colada, inspired by the Rupert Holmes classic “Escape.” This hazy IPA is loaded with pineapple and coconut flavor, but those flavors don’t overpower the star of this beer: the hops. Brewed with three distinct varieties of hops, there’s a hopiness to this beer that comes through nicely, with the fruit flavors helping to balance everything out.
Peticolas, The Duke
12% ABV Barleywine
If you’ve never had a barleywine, don’t let the word “wine” fool you: this is a beer. The “wine” in the name is more about the alcohol strength of the style being similar to wines, not to the flavor or the process of making the beer. Barleywines are usually heavy, but The Duke is a lot lighter in color and mouthfeel than the average barleywine. There’s a little hoppiness, but mostly this beer is a smooth, easy drinker with faint fruit notes and a little sweetness. This isn’t a classic barleywine, but it’s a highly-drinkable introduction to the style.
Symbol Brewing, Imperial Diesel Stout
11% ABV Imperial Stout
Symbol is one of the most interesting breweries in DFW, in large part because it isn’t necessarily a brewer. Symbol is really more of a line of beers produced by 3 Nations in Carrollton, branded in a way that make the beers seem mysterious.
Imperial Diesel Stout might be the standout of the line so far. Officially described as a “white chocolate raspberry cheesecake stout with graham crackers,” the beer lives up to that decadent, dessert-style billing. There’s actual cheesecake in the brew, which helps produce a rich, creamy mouthfeel, and the raspberry notes come through strong. And while it checks in at a heavy 11%, it doesn’t have that overwhelming alcohol taste that tends to show up in especially strong beers. Somehow, the flavors manage to burst through the booziness.
