My 2023 Big Texas tasting card

Image credits: Tupps Brewery, Ghost Eye Brewing Co., Funky Picnic Brewery & Café, Windmills,
Equal Parts Brewing, Peticolas Brewing Co., Vector Brewing, Manhattan Project Beer Co., Brewvolution.

According to my records, my last visit to the area's longest running beer festival was in 2019. Surely the plague was partially to blame, though I'm sure life probably has been getting in the way as well. In any case, it was fun to be back at it once again with other beer denizens at this weekend's Big Texas Beer Fest (BTBF).

Taking place in the familiar confines of the Fair Park Automobile Building in Dallas, the 2023 event featured 97 beverage makers serving up a variety of more than 400 craft beers, ciders and seltzers. Over 50 of the breweries in attendance hailed from North Texas, representing roughly half of the brands that serve our local industry.

Among those set up and sampling, Jester King Brewery of Austin attracted some of the largest crowds around its booth, but Delirium Brewery of Belgium established quite a presence as well. The latter brought along a large inflatable version of the pink elephant that adorns its logo, and at some point, brewery reps doled out a plethora of pink elephant hats to attendees.

Also drawing interest was a gun mount exhibit from the Battleship Texas, an attraction brought in by Altstadt Brewery of Fredericksburg and the Battleship Texas Foundation Group. The vessel itself, which fought in both World War I and World War II, is currently dry docked in Galveston while it undergoes restoration.

Getting back to festival beverages, while there were a fair number of lagers, stouts and sour beers, IPAs naturally ruled the day. By my count, there were easily more than 100 IPAs available on the festival floor. I tried exactly one, IPA Series 1 from Ghost Eye Brewing Co. of Dickinson. The beer led with a mix of citrus and tropical fruit flavors, finishing with a welcome pithy bitterness.

And while we're on the subject, if you've ever had doubts about IPA's dominance as craft beer's most popular style, let me tell you about the BTBF booth occupied by Shiner.  The little brewery known for its lagers had a trio of IPAs in the offing when I surveyed their selection, and nothing else. All ales and not a drop of that ubiquitous dark lager? Talk about stepping outside the "bocks."

As for other festival favorites, I direct you to the summaries below. It should be noted that I mostly stuck to beers of lower strength, though I did enjoy a dose of Enriched Plutonium - a rum barrel-aged version of Plutonium 239 from Manhattan Project Beer Co. of Dallas. 

Oh, and as always...selections are new to the market, or at least new to me.

Cheers!

Rice is nice

I kicked things off with a pour of Kaizen, a Japanese rice lager from Equal Parts Brewing of Houston. Let's just say this was a light, refreshing and easily crushable quaff.


Keeping your wits about you

I recommend keeping six wits about you, to be exact...as in keeping on hand a sixer of Day Pass from Tupps Brewery of McKinney. The company's newest offering is a stylistic Belgian witbier, and just the kind of beer I could drink all day.


Amber waves

Once upon a time, nearly every brewery made an amber beer of some sort. Right now, there are two ambers of note in North Texas. One is Sonidero, a smooth and malty amber lager from Windmills of The Colony. That beer won a gold medal at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival. Another is Amberversary, a nicely-balanced amber ale with a hint of hop happiness from Vector Brewing of Dallas. Wait, what year is it again?

Woodruff is the way

Got Berliner weisse? Get German woodruff (it's a plant). That is, if you like beer descriptors like sweet and sour, floral and funky. Berliners weren't on my radar going into BTBF, but Eclectus from Peticolas Brewing Co. of Dallas, with a shot of woodruff syrup, ended up being one of the more enjoyable pours of the day.

More smoked beers please, 'twould appease

Smoked beers are one of my favorite styles. Couple that with a beer name referencing the guttural growl of one's favorite musician, along with a recipe using malt smoked on the grounds of the historic Kreische brewery site in La Grange, and well, you've got my attention. Coming from Funky Picnic Brewery & Café of Fort Worth, A Haw-Haw-Haw-Haw in Billy Gibbons' Voice is a smoked helles with pecans. And yeah, it's fine, if you've got the time...

A first look at what's to come at Windmills in The Colony

Windmills in The Colony is the second brewpub designed and built by Total Environment Hospitality (all images © Brian Brown/Beer in Big D).

The long-awaited debut of Windmills, a brewpub concept first established in Bangalore, India, by Total Environment Hospitality, is set to take place later this month in the Grandscape development of The Colony.

It was August 2019 when plans for Windmills were revealed in this space. According to CEO Ajay Nagarajan, an early 2020 opening was pushed back due to delays associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, but now Windmills is putting the final touches on a refined brewpub showplace unlike any other in North Texas.

Windmills offers multi-level seating inside and out, with patio options overlooking a manmade waterway.

Along with a fully-appointed brewery, attractions within Windmills' two-story, 14,000 square foot facility include spacious dining areas, two full bars, a performance stage, multi-level seating inside and out, and an expansive selection of carefully-curated books. As a whole, the combination makes Windmills a restaurant, brewery, library and live music venue all rolled into one.

On the culinary side, an elevated menu overseen by Adam Harkless, Windmills' executive chef, goes well beyond everyday pub grub. Starters, stuffed breads, kebabs, entrées and desserts are inspired by Texas traditions and East Indian influences (think spices like curry, cardamom, cumin and cinnamon).

Select samples provided at a socially-distanced preview event are described with images below. Not pictured, Texas Twinkies (smoked, honey glazed and bacon-wrapped jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese, gouda and pulled pork) are forecast to be a particular favorite among patrons.

Left: Cheese Curds Pakora - fried white cheddar cheese curds, mint-yogurt dipping sauce.
Middle left: Prime Filet Dorado - bacon-wrapped prime filet, black-eyed pea succotash, mole poblano sauce, roasted broccolini.
Middle right: Carrot Halwa Cake - carrot halwa and orange upside-down cake, citrus salad, orange chips, French vanilla ice cream.
Right: Sour Cherry Kulfi - pistachio/saffron kulfi, ruby chocolate, chick pea noodles, saffron-pistachio sauce, sour cherry compote, sweet basil seeds.

In the brewhouse, Windmills has equipped Cal Ryan, director of brewing operations, with a 15-barrel, three-vessel system paired with an array of seven fermenters and 14 serving tanks. From the latter, no fewer than 14 house-brewed beers will be served on a daily basis.

Among them, customers will discover a mix of new and old world styles, with recipes originating from America, Belgium, Germany and beyond. Ryan says the opportunity to brew a diverse range of styles is one of the things that attracted him to Windmills, since he was most recently a brewer in San Diego, California, where it's all about the almighty IPA.

Highlights from a tasting of initial offerings were a Coffee Porter, made with beans sourced from Addison Coffee Roasters, and a Tropical Saison, infused with mango, passionfruit and pineapple (a beer which pairs wonderfully with elements of the food menu). Also notable, a hefeweizen is the best seller at Windmills' original location in India, so naturally it slots into the local lineup as well (see image caption below for the complete opening day slate).

Opening day beer styles: Blonde, Pilsner, Saison, Tropical Saison, Vienna Lager, Amber, Hefeweizen, Pale Ale, IPA, Hazy IPA, DIPA,
Blackberry Sour, Coffee Porter, Imperial Stout. Flights and full pours will be available on site, with crowlers and growlers to take home.

Altogether, Windmills is an ambitious and unique venture. With its sophisticated dining element, the promise of world class jazz and the availability of intellectual reading pursuits, the new spot presents as a multi-faceted venue where visitors can indulge in the finer things in life while enjoying, of course, a finely-crafted beer.

As for when you can experience the eclectic atmosphere yourself, Nagarajan expects Windmills to go live during the last week of January. The brewpub will begin with a soft launch, followed by an official grand opening to be held at a later date.

Windmills Craftworks targeting early 2020 debut in The Colony

Front/east elevation (All images courtesy of Windmills Craftworks).

Construction is currently well underway on Windmills Craftworks, a brewpub concept coming soon to the Grandscape development in The Colony.

First established in Bangalore, India, the original location of Windmills Craftworks debuted in late 2012. Conceived as a combination microbrewery, jazz theater and restaurant, the Bangalore brewpub also features an extensive collection of books should patrons wish to indulge in a little light reading while enjoying a beer.

Interior (left) and exterior (right) seating areas.

A similar vibe is expected to infuse the North Texas locale, with the site's attractions set to reside within a multi-level structure consisting of over 16,000 square feet (a number which includes more than 3500 square feet of outdoor patio space). Final renderings attached herein reveal various aspects of the venue's design, with images showing front and back elevations, as well as portions of the interior and exterior public areas.

Rear elevation overlooking Grandscape's man-made lake to the west.

As for who will oversee beer production, Callaway Ryan has been hired as Director of Brewing Operations. Ryan's resume includes stints as a brewer at Surly Brewing Co. of Minnesota and Stone Brewing Co. of California, but he got his start in Texas by way of an apprenticeship at Live Oak Brewing Co. in Austin.

More recently, Ryan spent a year in India getting familiar with the culture and practices at Windmills Craftworks. Now that he's returned to the Lone Star State, he'll employ a 15-barrel brewhouse at the brewpub in The Colony, with plans to maintain a portfolio of 14 different house beers.

On the topic of timelines, equipment for the project has been acquired, according to the company's CEO, Ajay Nagarajan. Installation awaits further progress on the overall build out, a task Nagarajan hopes to have fully completed in time for an opening in early 2020.

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Windmills Craftworks is located at 5755 Grandscape Blvd. in The Colony, where it shares a parking lot with Lava Cantina.