Craft Beer News

Latest craveable beer from DFW craft brewery is just like a spicy Michelada

It's spicy, it's pickly, and it's beer.

Photo courtesy of Martin House

Creative Fort Worth craft beer brewer Martin House is chasing the pickle theme one more time with a new pickle beer spinoff.

It's called Best Maid Bloody Mary Pickle Beer, and it is as it sounds: A beer flavored with pickle and tomato juice, sort of like the popular Michelada cocktail, which boasts the classic flavors of a Bloody Mary (tomato, citrus, Worcestershire sauce), with beer in place of vodka, but with a little pickle twist.

The new beer is the latest partnership between Martin House and Fort Worth-based pickle company Best Maid.

The two companies first joined forces in August 2019 with their hugely successful pickle beer, which earned national attention and has been one of their top sellers since they were founded in 2012. The pickle beer has become such a coveted item that they added it to their permanent rotation.

(Best Maid returned the favor by launching the Salty Lady Best Maid Beer Pickle, a dill pickle that uses flavors from Martin House's Salty Lady beer.)

The partnership continued in January 2020 when Martin House released a spicy follow-up called Spicy Pickle Beer, just like the pickle beer but with a spicy-hot tang. This was a limited-edition release, available in cans until March 2020.

Bloody Mary is the third in this series. It first surfaced as a taproom-only special, at their party to introduce the Spicy Pickle Beer. It proved so popular that Martin House decided to do a run.

"We've had a blast exploring new flavors with our friends at Best Maid," their statement says. "One of the most requested flavors we've had so far is Bloody Mary, so we did it."

They're launching the Bloody Mary Pickle Beer on September 21 at 12 noon in the taproom. It will initially be to-go only, as they can't be open for on-premise at the moment, but they promise they will have a few ways to entertain you as you wait to purchase your beers.

The beer will eventually be distributed in cans over the next couple weeks.

craft-beer

Bagel News

Buzzy Northeast chain PopUp Bagels ready to debut in Dallas

PopUp Bagels

PopUp Bagels coming to Dallas.

A buzzy bagel concept founded in the Northeast is coming to Dallas: Called PopUp Bagels, it famously started as a backyard project during the pandemic, and will open a location at Inwood Village, in the former I Heart Yogurt shop (which only just closed), next to the Inwood Theatre at 5450 W Lovers Ln. #143.

Signage has already gone up on the location and according to a spokesperson, the shop will open in early spring.

PopUp Bagels was founded in Westport, Connecticut by entrepreneur and home baker Adam Goldberg, with his cousin Jeff Lewis, as a side project during the pandemic, when everyone was baking at home. The bagels earned such a warm reception that Goldberg started hosting bagel popups in various locations near his home.

The concept's success has been helped by a national surge of interest in bagels, as well as viral moments on TikTok and other social media. Goldberg sold the concept to equity growth firm Stripes in 2023, who drew celebrity investors such as Paul Rudd and Michael Phelps, with plans to open hundreds of locations across the U.S. Talk is cheap but for now, there are 23 locations in New York, Maine, Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, California, and North Carolina.

One of their selling points for a seamless expansion is that they've kept things simple including a compact menu of bagels, spreads, and a pound of smoked salmon. There's a minimum purchase of three bagels, along with a mandatory tub of cream cheese or butter, for $12, and they only offer five flavors: plain, salt, poppy, sesame, and everything.

Bagels are sold whole only, no sandwiches and also not sliced — leading to their nickname "rip and dip," in which customers rip the bagels and dip them into spreads. Their texture is softer and lighter than the classic New York dense bagel, making them easier to "rip."

They're also known for their collaborations on over-the-top schmear flavors — beyond their regular original cream cheese, scallion cream cheese, and vegan cream cheese — which they rotate in with frequency. Recent specialty schmears include Honey Chipotle Cream Cheese, Salted Maple Banana Bread Schmear, Cheez-It Schmear, and a Lemon Pepper Schmear just announced with WingStop that summons the wing chain's Lemon Pepper sauce.

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