BrainDead to close in Deep Ellum

Image © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D.

After more than six and a half years in business, BrainDead Brewing of Dallas has announced it will end its run in Deep Ellum and close at the end of business on Sunday, November 28.

Debuting in February 2015, BrainDead brought together the talents of Jeff Fryman (The Common Table), Sam Wynne (Flying Saucer, Rodeo Goat) and Andrew Huerter (Deep Ellum Brewing Co.). It was the first brewpub to operate in the Deep Ellum entertainment district since The Copper Tank closed across the street in 2001.

Speaking of which, BrainDead epitomized what the brewpub model is all about. The beer and food were both good, which meant your best option didn't involve drinking here and eating there (i.e., somewhere else) like it was at some brewpubs in North Texas during the late 1990s.

On the beer, Gritz (a cream ale) was among BrainDead's inaugural beer offerings - and I may have actually been the first to order a pint, but it was just the first of a wide range of recipes to be poured at a place where upwards of 25 different house beers were on tap daily.

Craft beer and food done right, this is what I'll remember about BrainDead. Well, that and Festicle, the small-scale sampling soiree the brewpub put on with the folks behind Big Texas Beer Fest. A beer geek's beer festival if there ever was one in North Texas, this event was an annual celebration of barrel-aged, wild and sour beers.

A post sharing the news on Facebook reads: "We are thankful for everyone that supported us through almost 7 years of brewpubbing in Deep Ellum, the best neighborhood there ever was."

If you ask me, those words are simply a case of best recognizing best.