Lakewood reaches Level 2 of limited IPA series

Image courtesy of Lakewood Brewing Co.

Advancing to the next level of its yearlong IPA series inspired by the almighty hop and retro gaming, Lakewood Brewing Co. of Garland has released the sequel to Level 1: Jungle Run Tropical IPA.

Level 2: Temple Hop Hazy IPA (7.5% ABV) raises the stake of the brewery's Small Batch Series by bringing together a mix of Amarillo, Citra and Azacca Cryo hops. The resulting beer is said to be a big, juicy and crushable creation.

“I’m stupid excited about this series," says Wim Bens, founder and president of Lakewood. “We challenge ourselves with making 'Seriously Fun Beer' every day, and this series really delivers. For this series we celebrate all things hop.”

Look for Level 2: Temple Hop Hazy IPA in six-packs of 12-ounce cans at select retailers. The beer is also available to-go at the Lakewood Taproom Drive-Thru.

Local brewers join All Together collaboration to help hospitality professionals

Image courtesy of Other Half Brewing Co./Stout Collective.

The spirit of community within the craft beer family is apparent again, as breweries around the world are taking part in an open-ended beer collaboration designed to support members of the hospitality industry.

Organized by Other Half Brewing Co. of Brooklyn, New York, All Together is an initiative that seeks to raise awareness and provide relief to workers struggling in the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the program, Other Half is offering participants the tools they need to brew, brand and promote the collaboration beer, All Together IPA. The beer's base recipe has been created by Other Half, while resources for label design, label printing, and an online presence for the project are being provided by Stout Collective, Blue Label Packaging Co., and Craftpeak respectively.

Local brewers are free to add their own twist to the beer, with the only stipulation being that a portion of the proceeds go to hospitality professionals in the brewer's local community. Up to now, over 550 breweries from 39 countries have joined the cause, including the following North Texas companies:

Turning Point Beer, Bedford

• Beneficiary - North Texas Food Bank.

Celestial Beerworks, Dallas

• Beneficiary - Everybody Eats/8020 Concepts.

False Idol Brewing, North Richland Hills

• Beneficiary - United States Bartenders' Guild, Dallas-Fort Worth.

Panther Island Brewing, Fort Worth

• Beneficiary - United Way Creative Industry Relief Fund.

Turning Point's take on All Together IPA is on sale now, and can be purchased online for curbside pickup. Beers from Celestial, False Idol and Panther Island are currently in the works, so be sure to follow each brewery on social media for updates on availability.

Lakewood releases new Barrelworks blend, Rest in Peaches

Image courtesy of Lakewood Brewing Co.

Emerging from a sour beer wonderland set up in a small, nondescript South Garland warehouse, Lakewood Brewing Co. has released Rest in Peaches, the latest beer in the brewery's Barrelworks series.

"The cave," as founder Wim Bens calls it, is a room filled with an amazing aroma of sweet alcohol and wood. The walls are insulated up to a foot thick and are very cave-like indeed, with the air kept cool year-round at a constant temperature 64 degrees.

Barrels from all types of spirits, even absinthe, line the walls on racks in Lakewood's "sour room."

“Some of our barrels are three, four, and five years old," says Bens. "The beauty of our sour program is we have been building it slowly, and now we have a library of beers to blend.”

Sights from Lakewood's "sour room."

As for Rest in Peaches, Lakewood blended a variety of barrels and vintages of beers. The two base brews were an amber lager with peaches, aged four years in bourbon barrels, and a wheat wine aged three years in wine barrels.

Those were blended with more peaches and apricots prior to being packaged in 375ml champagne bottles. The bottles were then corked and capped and left to rest some more. After months and months of conditioning and refermentation, the result is a pleasantly tart beer with deep complexity.

“We don’t release many beers from our Barrelworks program,” says Bens. “This is a labor of love and time. The beer tells us when it’s done. So, that could be six months or five years.”

Rest in Peaches is currently only available to-go at the Lakewood Taproom Drive-Thru.

Vector stays the course, opens with curbside service

Keyframe: Sabro, a  DDH hazy IPA, was one of five beers on tap
during Vector's opening weekend (© Brian Brown/Beer in Big D).

The newest North Texas brewing operation is a prime example of how things don't always go according to plan. Sure, every business overcomes obstacles, but who could have predicted the need to navigate a government shutdown followed by the nearly complete lockdown of the entire U.S. economy.

Such is the story of Vector Brewing, a Dallas-based project started by Craig and Veronica Bradley in early 2018. From the shutdown, which stalled small business loans in early 2019, to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic altering its opening date, Vector Brewing's path to pouring beer for Lake Highlands locals has been anything but straight and narrow.

Nevertheless, the Bradleys have chosen to "trust the journey" from the beginning, seeing setbacks as mere stepping stones on the road to making Vector Brewing a reality. So, naturally, they decided to push through the pandemic and open the only way possible in the current environment - that is, on a limited basis with curbside service to-go.

Along those lines, Vector Brewing debuted a pared-down menu to perspective patrons Friday evening. And, judging from early returns, Lake Highlands residents were ready. By Sunday night, the brewpub had run through 700 pounds of pizza dough, while filling nearly 1500 crowlers. In other words, Vector's beer and scratch pizzas were a hit.

"Opening amidst a pandemic certainly wasn’t the way we expected or wanted to open our doors," says Bradley, "but it was still amazing to see the amount of fans, friends, and family from all over who came out in support. We definitely didn’t expect that amount of love and generosity from so many, and we can’t thank everyone enough. It exceeded every expectation and then some."

Of course, this is just the start for Vector Brewing. Once things settle down in the world, an expanded menu will be in the offing, and there's still the matter of getting a chance to experience the ambiance of the brewpub's indoor and outdoor space (encompassing ~8000 total square feet, with 2300 square feet set aside for the patio).

Beer will flow continuously, though, with new recipes from head brewer and blender Tommy Gutierrez rolling out on the regular. His first run of fermentations included an American light lager, a German pilsner, a West Coast-style pale ale and two IPAs. As for what's in the queue, stouts, sour beers and more are also in the works. Of particular interest, Duotone, a smoothie fruit sour popular among fans (and myself) during preview tastings, is set to return as well.

"We're brewing a hoppy lager this week, followed by a DDH DIPA," reveals Bradley. "Vernal, our maibock is chugging away in the tank, and our imperial stout is getting close to finishing up, where a good portion will go into bourbon barrels and the rest will go on tap."

Beyond that, Bradley says, there's "more to come soon."

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For more on Vector Brewing, visit www.vectorbrewing.com, or follow the brewpub on social media (Facebook, Instagram).