Rios Brewing Co. taps first house beers in Grand Prairie

Patio elevation, Club Sandwich w/ House Salad, Norwegian Citrus IPA,
Wild Berries Sour, American Light Lager (Photos: © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D).

Rios Brewing Co. has fully made the transition to a local independent brewpub, now that the spot's first house beers have been tapped at 1015 Ikea Pl. in Grand Prairie.

Originally set up as a franchise taproom for Voodoo Brewing Co., the location was the first North Texas landing spot for the Pennsylvania-based beer maker. It opened in May 2023 and was managed as such for two years before owner Roland Rios decided to end the partnership and re-brand in order to establish the first-ever brewing operation in Grand Prairie.

Changes made included the creation of new signage and a new logo, along with the installation of brewing equipment which tucks into a corner off to one side of the bar. From there, small-batch beers flow from three five-barrel fermentation tanks, rotating into the brewpub's daily lineup every few weeks.

Among those first to emerge are Rios' Light American Lager, a Wild Berries Sour, and a Norwegian Citrus IPA. These and future "Rios" recipes (Mexican Lager, Honey Wheat and more) will supplement a large selection of guest brews from local, regional and national producers (including a handful of macros) on a 44-handle tapwall. And just in case you're wondering, at least for now, a few Voodoo beers are indeed still part of the mix.

As for other changes, the food menu has been revamped as well. Elevated pub fare is still the order of the day, with a range of appetizers, salads, sammies, burgers and pizzas on the offer. There are also food flights, with various options on the table for how customers choose to enjoy hot dogs or tacos.

Rios Brewing Co. serves patrons seven days a week, with daily hours beginning at 11 a.m.

Cooley Bay Winery adds brewing ops in Van Alstyne

Photos: © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D.

It's now cool to order a craft beer at Cooley Bay Winery, as the company has begun brewing and serving its own brand of beer on-site at 545 Collin Mckinney Pkwy in Van Alstyne.

In fact, the terms brewery, cidery and meadery will all apply to the venture going forward, fulfilling the vision owners William and Jennifer Windlow had in mind when they purchased Cooley Bay in December 2024. And with specialty sips of all types available, Cooley Bay will be the only known business in North Texas producing beer, cider, mead and wine in one place on a regular basis.

On making beer, Cooley Bay's new phase is the culmination of a years-long journey towards doing the thing William knew he wanted to do. He went from his first homebrewing attempts around 2008, to starting a homebrew club in Texoma in 2010, to recruiting investors to open a brewery in 2018, to getting derailed by COVID, to forming a new group and being a signature away from buying Franconia Brewing Co. of McKinney in 2022.

When that deal fell through, Windlow shifted his focus to explore partnerships with the idea of adding beer production to an existing business model. Those efforts eventually led to a discussion with the original owners of Cooley Bay. Turns out they were ready to move on, so the timing was right for the Windlows to take over the business earlier this year.

From there, small-batch brewing operations launched in June leading up to Cooley Bay's house beer debut on Thursday. For the inaugural pours, a traditional and enjoyable style lineup with a blonde, ESB, Irish red, and stout was chosen purposefully, as Windlow wants to keep things simple while gauging the taste preferences of the local community.

Along those lines, other classics in the queue include a rye beer, a saison, an English brown, a Scottish light and a Belgian patersbier. Then, seasonals like an Oktoberfest should be expected as well.

Indeed, standards may be the norm, but Windlow assures that fun stuff will also pop up from time to time (and more often if the demand is there). That said, no matter the recipe, every beer at Cooley Bay will be brewed with all natural ingredients - no syrups, no extracts, no artificial flavorings. If something calls for a citrus element, for example, what's added to the mix will come from the actual fruit.

As for what Cooley Bay offers beyond their quartet of craft beverages, a small bites food menu has charcuterie and snack boards, flatbread pizzas, sliders, crab cakes, and a dessert of the week. One snack board, incidentally, is the new Beer Board featuring house-made beer bread and beer cheese. It was created, of course, to celebrate the release of Cooley Bay beers.

Cooley Bay Winery (& Brewery) serves patrons Thursday through Sunday, with hours beginning at 2 p.m. each day.

North Texas achieves new heights once again at the 2025 U.S. Open Beer Championship

Image credit: U.S. Open Beer Championship.

The 2025 U.S. Open Beer Championship is in the books, with North Texas breweries showing out once again with 23 medals awarded. This sets yet another new record for the region at the U.S. Open, besting last year's total of 21.

As for a competition details, the 17th annual edition of the U.S. Open drew over 8000 submissions from across America. Entries were then judged against guidelines covering more than 170 categories and subcategories. A total of 9 North Texas breweries were recognized for their beers, with the medal count breaking down as follows: 5 gold, 5 silver, 13 bronze.

Of particular note, Turning Point Beer of Bedford marked its first ever appearance on the U.S. Open winners list with four medals, while Union Bear Brewing Co. of Denton/Plano set a local record for the number of individual awards won in a single year at the competition with seven.

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 Blood Orange Gose in the Fruit Gose category.
• Gold for Front Toward Enemy in the Imperial Stout Specialty category.
• Bronze for Smoke Session in the Smoke Beer category.

Celestial Beerworks, Dallas

• Bronze for Corporate Estate in the Session IPA category.
• Bronze for It's All Happening in the English Barleywine category.

False Idol Brewing, North Richland Hills

• Silver for Groovy in the Field Beer category.

Maple Branch Craft Brewery, Fort Worth

• Bronze for Levitator in the Strong Bock category.

Oak Highlands Brewery, Dallas

• Bronze for Golden Dharma in the International-Style Pilsener category.

Odd Muse Brewing Co., Farmers Branch

• Bronze for Silver Spaceship in the Hazy/Juicy Strong Pale Ale category.

Three Wide Brewing Co., Fort Worth

• Silver for Whitechapel in the English Pale Ale category.
• Bronze for Tienne in the Belgian-Style Strong Specialty Ale category.
• Bronze for Tropic Groove in the Coconut Beer category.

Turning Point Beer, Bedford

• Gold for City Lager in the Australian, Latin American or Tropical-Style Light Lager category.
• Silver for Blackout Brunch in the Barrel-Aged Breakfast Stout category.
• Silver for Life in the Foeder & Cask-Aged Beer category.
• Bronze for Sportz Fruit Punch in the American-Style Fruit Beer category.

Union Bear Brewing Co., Denton/Plano

• Gold for Bock in the Traditional German-Style Bock category.
• Gold for Saison with Sage & Honey in the Specialty Honey Beer category.
• Silver for Schwarzbier in the German-Style Schwarzbier category.
• Bronze for Dry Irish Stout in the Classic Irish Dry Stout category.
• Bronze for Kölsch in the German Kölsch category.
• Bronze for Amber Ale in the Near Gluten-Free/Gluten Reduced Beer category.
• Bronze for UB Light in the Near Gluten-Free/Gluten Reduced Beer category.

Cheers and congratulations to all!

Manhattan Project exploring expansion to Mesquite

Rendering of a proposed site layout for Manhattan Project's expansion to Mesquite (Simple Development Partners).

Manhattan Project Beer Co. of Dallas is exploring options for an expansion east, this based on information presented to a meeting of the Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Mesquite on June 23.

Currently, Manhattan Project operates in a 15,000 square foot facility established in West Dallas in late 2019. Production is maxed out at that locale, so the company's primary goal is to expand capacity with the proposed project.

Plans outlined by Dallas-based firm Simple Development Partners call for construction of a 90,000 square foot building on a vacant seven-acre site located just southwest of the intersection of U.S. 80 and I-635 in Mesquite. Two tenants would then occupy the structure, with Manhattan Project taking 45,000 square feet of the space and having an option to grow further in the future.

Discussions are still in the early stages, but a production ramp-up would likely be the priority, with retail and/or restaurant amenities potentially not added until later. Either way, should things move forward, the developer estimates it will take up to two years for the completion of construction and improvements.

For now, the main hurdle is a question of zoning, as the land use designation would need to be changed from "Commercial" to "Light Industrial". This matter will be taken up in a city council meeting scheduled for July 21.

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Update: On July 21, by a 5-2 vote the Mesquite City Council approved an ordinance to change the land use designation as noted, while also changing the zoning for the site to "Planned Development - Commercial" with a conditional use permit granted for a brewery.