It’s time to throw another shrimp on the barbie. On January 16, Community Beer Company will become the newest Dallas craft brewery.
The brainchild of Kevin Carr and brewmaster Jamie Fulton, Community is located in the Design District, just off of Stemmons Freeway, in a 14,000-square-foot space that they plan to expand this spring.
Carr decided to create Community after more than a decade of home brewing by night and running a tech company by day.
“I look at [the number of breweries] in a positive way,” says founder Kevin Carr. “There’s really something to be said about local beer and its freshness.”
“At the time, there weren’t any breweries in Dallas,” Carr says. “I started doing the research two years ago, but it takes time.”
In fact, local craft breweries have exploded on the scene in the past year. Franconia and Rahr & Sons were once the only breweries around — and they were in McKinney and Fort Worth, respectively. When Community opens, it’ll make an even 10 in the Dallas area.
“I look at [the number of breweries] in a positive way,” Carr says. “We don’t think it’s too crowded, but that there’s a demand as people move away from the bigger beers. There’s really something to be said about local beer and its freshness.”
Carr believes that Community can distinguish itself with a focus on quality, and that starts with brewmaster Jamie Fulton. If the name sounds familiar, you might have spent time at Fulton’s old Fort Worth place, the Covey Restaurant and Brewery.
“Jamie’s understanding of how these machines work is on a very technical level,” Carr says. “He won awards for his beers at the Covey, and he knows what he’s doing.”
Throw in an assistant brewmaster with a degree in microbiology, four vessels (which Carr says is the most of any local brewery) and an onsite lab for yeast development, and Carr is confident in his beers.
“The yeast propagator boosts the process in the beers,” Carr says. “There are really only four ingredients in beer, and people sometimes take for granted how yeast affects the flavor. It’s important to have the highest quality and no flaws.”
Community is making a strong opening statement with a three-day pre-launch tour of Dallas’ beer scene. It starts with an unveiling of the Public Ale at Meddlesome Moth on January 16 from 5-7 pm. An English-style ale that aims to put you in a pub-visiting mood, Public Ale checks in at 5.5 percent ABV and an IBU of 38.
“I’d say the Moth are good friends and big supporters of the beer scene,” Carr says. “It seemed like a good start since we spent a lot of our time there.”
On January 17, Carr and Fulton unveil the Community Pale Ale at Common Table from 5-7 pm before tapping Community Lager at Craft & Growler the next day. The pale ale is a hoppy, American-style brew that grabs four different hops from three different countries; the lager is an old-school, Vienna-style brew with a copper color.
The next beer for Community is the Wit, which was inspired by Belgium breweries. It is set for a spring release.
If there’s any doubt that people are ready for Community to tap their kegs, consider that the grand opening tour on Saturday, January 19, has already sold out, tickets are going quickly for the Sunday tour, and they expect to be in about 40 Dallas locations in the near future.
“People are drinking better,” Carr says. “With watered down beers going down, it makes sense to go to the craft beers.”
Assistant brewmaster Aric Hulsey, brewmaster Jamie Fulton and owner Kevin Carr at Community Beer Company.
