We're back with another chapter in our 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, honoring the people who make our local restaurant scene soar.
We've elected
nominees in all categories of food & beverage, who are featured in a special editorial series and whom we'll celebrate at a party on May 4 at Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G.) with tastings and awards. Tickets are on sale now.
We've already profiled the nominees for
Rising Star Chef, Neighborhood Restaurant, Bar of the Year, and Best New Restaurant (don't forget to vote!), and we'll soon be covering Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Bartender, Wine Program, and Best Burger.
This time, we're applauding the kings of craft beer. Here are our nominees for best brewery of 2023 in Dallas:
Celestial Beerworks
Delicious New England-style hazy IPAs are the specialty at this Medical District taproom, from founders Matt and Molly Reynolds with cool otherworldly names like Electromagnetism. For non-IPA fans they offer sours and a few lighter options, as well as wine by the bottle. Food is available via a taco truck parked on-site.
Intrinsic Smokehouse & Brewery
Craft brewery and brewpub serving house-made beer, soda and barbecue resides on the city's historic square, at 509 W. State St. Garland natives Cary and Molly Hodson wanted to bring something to their hometown with an equal focus on BBQ and beer as well as a spot to fill growlers.
Lakewood Brewing
Craft beer pioneer makes fine brews, which are widely circulated, on tap and in bottles and cans, to the exacting standards of founder and native of Belgium Wim Bens. The brewery is a destination for its tours, free to the public every Saturday and Sunday, where their 16 taps always feature something new such as the recent Bear Claw Brown Ale.
Manhattan Project Beer Co.
Acclaimed brewery in West Dallas is particularly accommodating, with numerous innovative beers on tap, a beer garden, live music stage, serious food program, and user-friendly hours: 7:30 am Monday-Friday, and at 9 am on weekends, when they serve coffee from Edison Coffee of Flower Mound.
Pegasus City Brewery
Design District brewery celebrates its Dallas roots, with its name honoring the city's iconic Pegasus red horse. Their beer lineup is extensive, and their Art Deco labels are cool. They have a second taproom with additional brewing space they opened in downtown Dallas' Dallas Power and Light building in 2020.
Rollertown Beerworks
Brewery in Celina has big hipster credentials: It's from the hugely popular radio team Ben & Skin, AKA Ben Rogers Jeff "Skin" Wade and has been bringing fresh beer (their most famous is The Big German kolsch), cocktails, distilled spirits, wine, live entertainment, and food truck fare to Celina since 2020. Things are going so well that there's massive new facility in the works for Frisco, as well.
Texas Ale Project
Veteran- and family-owned and operated craft brewery project in the Design District is a fun hangout with a beer garden, trivia nights, sports watching, parties, and food trucks. They're getting ready to celebrate their eighth anniversary with special brews as well as their signature Fire Ant Funeral American-style red amber ale.
Tupps Brewery
Since their 2014 launch, this McKinney brewery has earned a sterling reputation for its innovative and well made IPAs, seasonal, and sour beers. In a multimillion-dollar project with the city of McKinney, they'll be relocating in spring 2023 to the historic McKinney Grain site for a space that's double their current size, creating a destination on the east side of town.
White Rock Alehouse
Lake Highlands residents Dave Kirk and Greg Nixon opened this brewery-combination-restaurant with all of the things that Lakewood likes: food, drink, and dog-friendly outdoor space. They have a new spinoff in West Dallas called White Rock Brewing Co., which expands their offerings into pizza and cocktails.
