On Cowtown's taproom takeover in Roanoke

The tapwall at CBC Taproom in Roanoke (Photos © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D).

Late last year, news began to circulate regarding the division of Soul Fire Brewing Co. into two separate entities. Indications at the time suggested the original Roanoke location would be moving to a new site (still pending?), with the Cleburne satellite continuing on independently. Shortly thereafter, the ownership group behind The 206, the food hall Soul Fire called home since debuting in 2019, renamed the Roanoke space at 206 N. Oak St. to The 206 Brewery & Bar.

The 206 Brewery operated under that moniker for a number of months, serving primarily guest beers, though one or two house beers made an appearance on its tapwall as well. Though, as it turns out, one of the breweries supplying guest beers was apparently preparing to take over the space.

With that, Cowtown Brewing Co. of Fort Worth has been managing the taproom at The 206 since early May. And it's a full tap takeover beer-wise, with Cowtown recipes pouring from 14 of the facility's 20 available taps. Guest ciders and wine are also offered, and a full bar remains stocked for those preferring cocktails.

As for whether Cowtown intends to make use of the brewing hardware left behind by Soul Fire, according to the beertender, brewers are currently training at Cowtown's homebase in Fort Worth, with plans to potentially resume brewing operations in Roanoke later this year.

Cowtown Brewing Co. - Roanoke, also known as the CBC Tap Room, serves patrons Tuesday-Sunday, with operating hours beginning at 11 a.m.

North Texas continues its winning ways at 2026 U.S. Open Beer Championship

Image credit: U.S. Open Beer Championship.

Following up back-to-back record-setting runs in 2024 and 2025, North Texas showed up once again at the 2026 U.S. Open Beer Championship, with area breweries winning 19 awards at this year's event.

For the 2026 edition of the competition, submissions were judged against guidelines covering more than 180 categories and subcategories. From those entries, 11 North Texas breweries emerged among the winners, bringing home 8 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals.

All but one recognized brewery represents a repeat winner at the U.S. Open, with Flix Brewhouse - Frisco/Little Elm being the lone honoree to appear for the first time.

A complete list of winning beers from North Texas is provided below. Click here for a full competition summary.

Armor Brewing Co., Allen

• Gold for Sentinel in the Kellerbier or Zwickelbier category.

Bankhead Brewpub, Rowlett

• Gold for Low Beams in the American Premium Lager category.

False Idol Brewing, North Richland Hills

• Silver for Tyrant Reign in the Barrel-Aged Strong Stout/Porter Extreme category.
• Bronze for 2 Live & Die in LA in the New Zealand IPA category.
• Bronze for Snacks of the Titans in the Barrel-Aged Strong Stout/Porter Specialty category.

Flix Brewhouse, Frisco/Little Elm

• Gold for Cumbersome Blonde in the Field Beer category.

Flix Brewhouse, Mansfield

• Gold for Over the Moon in the Fruit Wheat Beer category.

Maple Branch Craft Brewery, Fort Worth

• Gold for Raspberry Fields in the American-Style Fruit Beer category.
• Bronze for Romanov's Revenge in the Stout category.

Oak Highlands Brewery, Dallas

• Gold for Charity in the German Altbier category.
• Bronze for BBA Vanilla Porter with Tart Cherries in the Wood/Barrel-Aged Fruit Beer category.

Odd Muse Brewing Co., Farmers Branch

• Silver for 500 Pesos in the Mexican-Style Light Lager category.
• Silver for La Lucha in the Mexican-Style Dark Lager category.
• Bronze for Playground Battle in the Other Kettle Sour category.

Peticolas Brewing Co., Dallas

• Silver for Royal Scandal in the English Pale Ale category.
• Bronze for Velvet Hammer in the Imperial Red Ale category.

Three Wide Brewing Co., Fort Worth

• Gold for Harlequin Dancer in the English Pale Ale category.
• Silver for High Groove in the Near Gluten Free/Gluten Reduced category.

Turning Point Beer, Bedford

• Gold for Edwin in the Foeder- and Cask-Aged Beers category. 

Cheers and congratulations to all!

Past meets present at Ancient Future Beer Dinner, July 15

Image courtesy of Priory.

Priory Beer Dinners & Collab Brews has announced plans for its next beer dinner, with the group set to team up this time around with Celestial Beerworks of Dallas.

As always, the Priory team collaborated with the brewery beforehand to create a recipe using a unique culinary ingredient not typically seen in modern-day beer. In this case, the ancient grain fonio adds to the foundation for a hazy IPA, meaning there is an old school meets new school kind of coupling at the core of this partnership. 

Fonio is a type of heritage millet grain grown in West Africa and has been cultivated for over 5,000 years, making it Africa’s oldest cultivated cereal crop. It has a small grain structure similar to quinoa or couscous, but much smaller.

What’s truly unique about this grain is that it needs very little water to grow and can be harvested multiple times per year. This makes fonio very versatile and sustainable, especially in arid climates. Fonio is more well known in culinary circles, having only been used in the beer world in the last few years, primarily thanks to the efforts head brewer Garrett Oliver, from Brooklyn Brewery of New York.

According to a press release, fonio was added directly into the mash, which was hopped with Rakau hops from New Zealand to create a fonio hazy IPA. The hops will predominantly lend a fruity character with notes of apricot, peach and mango to the beer, while fonio will add a passionfruit-like flavor once fully fermented. These flavors combined will create a fruit-forward aroma bursting with notes of tropical fruit, and a punchy bite with notes on stone fruit on the tongue.

As for the beer's name, 'Ancient Future' relays back to the ancient roots of fonio while looking forward to its sustainability in a world where natural resources are becoming increasingly more valuable.

For the Ancient Future Beer Dinner, coming up on July 15th at Celestial Beerworks - The Satellite, Chef Ben Walter of Priory has designed a four-course menu for the evening, including fonio directly into some of the dishes themselves. Tickets for the event are $85pp and may be purchased at https://www.priorybeer.com/events/ancient-future-celestial-beer-dinner.

Simpsons show-runner bringing mystery dinner to Vector Brewing

Image credit: Bill Oakley.

Have a cow, man, or maybe not. After all, the menu for this seven-course mystery dinner must remain a secret.

But what can be shared is who’s behind it: Vector Brewing of Dallas and Bill Oakley, former show runner of “The Simpsons.” Yes, those Simpsons. He isn’t creating cartoon pop culture anymore. Instead, Bill has decided he wants to be a food celebrity. So far, so good. His many food-related projects include the creation and curation of an American Culinary Curiosity Dinner, which he’s bringing to Dallas via Vector Brewing.

“Bill reached out to us on our website. I couldn’t believe it,” says Veronica Bradley, co-owner of Vector Brewing. “In fact, I didn’t believe it. I had actually just watched a Simpsons documentary with him in it, so I thought friends were pranking me.”

According to a press release, the dinner will include seven courses of popular city-specific meals from around the United States. There will be an amuse bouche, two appetizers, a soup, a palate cleanser, an entree, and a dessert. During the dinner, Bill will give a presentation about the foods, share stories, play videos, and entertain. It’s a full night of curated food and comedy—truly dinner and a show. Vector has also created a seven-drink pairing to go along with the dinner (if stomachs can handle it).

“We’re having a lot of fun planning this dinner,” says Bradley. “We’re known for doing weird and wacky foods and events, so this feels very on brand.”

Bill Oakley Presents: An American Culinary Curiosity Dinner at Vector Brewing will take place twice, once on Sunday, July 19th, and then again on Monday, July 20th. Tickets for the event are $135pp, including tax and gratuity, and are available at vectorbrewing.com/tickets.