Conveniently located in the design district of downtown Dallas, just across I35 from the AAC is Texas Ale Project. It’s easy to find with the huge sign a top the warehouse style building, however parking is not the easiest to find so you might have to walk a bit depending on how busy they are.
If they have the garage door open, you’ll walk into one of my favorite brewery environments. The huge tanks they use to brew are right next to the open seating area (I’m sure you’re learning this is a personal favorite of mine), but this part of the brewery is not air conditioned. Next to that is a smaller, air conditioned taproom. It has a rustic feel to it with wood boards covering the walls, but it also feels modern in a way. The to go fridge and merchandise sit inside along with a menu above and very friendly bartenders. The bathrooms are in the un-air conditioned part of the taproom and are some of the nicest I’ve seen at a brewery. They also have an outdoor seating area with picnic tables under trees. You’ll find out if you chat up the bartender that they have an upstairs patio/event space that they rent out. But they also hold events up there, such as a New Year’s Eve party and the patio has a beautiful view of Reunion tower where the fireworks shoot off. Overall it’s one of the better aesthetics of any brewery we’ve visited.
Up first is the Dank Cerveza, a modern Mexican lager with a 5.5% ABV. Mexican lagers are brewed with corn which gives it a smooth and slightly more sweet flavor. We really enjoyed this brew, it is very light, clean, and you can tell it is slightly more sweet than regular lagers. A very good, crushable beer.
The second beer I’ll highlight is Somethin’ Shady, a 5.5% ABV porter. Porters are a medium bodied beer, usually a little bit sweeter because of the chocolate, caramel, and/or coffee notes derived from the malts used during the brewing process. While not one of the best porters I’ve tried, this one is very tasty and drinkable with the chocolate and coffee notes they added.
Last up is the Caucasian, a white Russian imperial stout with a 9.0% ABV. It definitely has some heftyness to it, but this was my favorite brew of the day. It was brewed with Madagascar bourbon vanilla beans, cold brew coffee, and American Oak. They describe it as it will play tricks on your palette but the end result in quite decadent, and this is very accurate. The taste profile they get by mixing those flavors together is quite crazy, but if you enjoy stouts with a little bit of a bite, you’ll enjoy this brew.
Don’t let the name fool you as Texas Ale Project is anything but an ale brewery. They make a little bit of everything and every brew we sampled was tasty. The only downside is they have no food options, but food trucks do come by during the busier times. Because of the lack of parking and food not being available, and some of the brews being just average, Texas Ale is getting 6 🍺. I always end my reviews by saying drink local to support local businesses, but Texas Ale Project is also veteran owned. So you can support local and vets at the same time by stopping by and grabbing a brew!
