Bold, vibrant, and distinctly Texan, Dallas has been in flux over the past half-decade, morphing from a city with rich southern history to a more modern, tech-focused Metroplex. And yes, Metroplex is a word that Dallasites—also a real word—use to describe the Dallas and Fort Worth metropolitan areas. But “The Big D” has way more to offer than a home to the Dallas Cowboys, including some of the best craft breweries in the Lone Star State.
As the city has transformed, so has the craft beer scene. Surprisingly, North Texas really only made its mark on craft beer in 2004 with the launch of Rahr & Sons Brewing Company in Fort Worth. Since then, the number of breweries has slowly increased, with seventeen opening in 2019 alone.
Everything’s bigger in Texas, right? Today, Dallas is home to over sixty breweries specializing in everything from decadent dessert stouts to coveted hazy IPAs. Regardless of the style, one thing is for sure: Texas craft beer is here to stay, y’all.
Hop Culture’s 9 Best Breweries in Dallas
Celestial Beerworks
2530 Butler St., Dallas, TX | (972) 707-0523
Refraining from puns here is hard, but the cosmic juice that Celestial Beerworks has been pumping out since 2018 is no joke.
Former art teacher Molly Reynolds and her husband Matt opened the brewery in Dallas’ Medical District three years ago. Since then, the duo has slowly carved out a name for themselves with their attention to composition across their beers and taproom.
Art, science, space, and beer harmoniously collide for a brewery popping off celestial fireworks of hoppy and hazy stars. Such as Double Stars, the ultra-smooth double NEIPA that made our 5 Best Beers We Had This Week back in October 2020. Hopped with Idaho 7 and Vic Secret, this creamy, hazy IPA impressed us with its dank tropical fruitiness and balanced drinkability.
Celestial Beerworks also ranks on Untappd as the third highest-rated brewery in all of Texas, with a 4.12 average from over 168,413 ratings!
Any beer you can grab from this utterly unique brewery will be heavenly.
False Idol Brewing
7924 Maplewood Ave, North Richland Hills, TX 76180 | (817) 479-7256
First releasing beers in 2019 but opening a brick-and-mortar during the pandemic in 2020, False Idol has faced many challenges. But the brewery, started by Dominique Van Ausdall, persevered, carving out a niche in Dallas craft beer.
False Idol has two core favorites—Viva Los Vaqueros Mexican lager and Fenris Park hefeweizen. Both are great.
But don’t sleep on their rotating hitters, either. For instance, we named Perpetual Contortion to our list of “The Best Beers We Drank in 2023.”
A collaboration with 903 Brewers and Vector Brewing, Perpetual Contortion drank so smoothly for a 14% ABV beer. Aged for fifteen months in Iron Root whiskey barrels, this English barleywine expressed lovely notes of Panetone, the classic Italian sweet bread served around the holidays studded with dried fruit. I also picked up notes of sweet cherry and sticky toffee pudding.
Everything harmoniously melded together into a confounding sip that we wanted to explore more and more each time we set down the glass.
Everyone remembers their gateway American IPA or hazy, right? The beer that got them into the style, lighting up parts of their brain previously lonely and dark. Perpetual Contortion might have been our gateway barleywine. Let’s just say we’ve gone out of our way to drink several more barleywines this year.
We’re keeping our eye on what this reasonably new brewery does next.
Turning Point Beer
1307 Brown Trail, Bedford, TX | (817) 705-8817
Between the incredible hazy beers coming out of breweries across New England and the West Coast, we bet you wouldn’t put your money on a Dallas brewery becoming one of the most hyped IPA producers in the country.
Snugly situated near a church in a Bedford strip mall, Turning Point Beer focuses mainly on NEIPAs. And their rotating collection has been off the chain, with standouts like A Nu Start, a DDH Triple NEIPA with Azacca, Idaho 7, and El Dorado or $Texas, a flagship NEIPA with HBC-431, Hallertau Blanc, and El Dorado hops.
If you’re anywhere near Dallas, Turning Point has to be at the top of your must-stop list.
903 Brewers
1718 Elm St., Sherman, TX | (903) 487-2298
On the other end of the spectrum from Turning Point, 903 Brewers has become synonymous with stouts in Dallas.
Although technically located in Sherman (about sixty-five miles outside of the city), the brewery has cultivated quite a reputation. Their Down With The Pastryarchy is an uber-popular series of cream ales and stouts riffing off popular decadent desserts like cinnamon rolls, cookies n’ cream, and tiramisu.
Started in 2013 by husband-and-wife team Jeremy and Natalie Roberts, 903 Brewers has racked up accolades over the years. In 2015, it earned a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival for its Sasquatch imperial chocolate milk stout and a bronze for its Scotch Ale, Kilt Switch. Focusing on perfection, high-quality beers, and community, 903 Brewers has made a big splash in the Big D.
Outfit Brewing
7135 John W. Carpenter Fwy, Dallas, TX | (416) 990-8240
A true hidden gem located right off I-35, Outfit Brewing can be easy to miss. While Outfit’s industrial space may look a little roughshod on the outside, on the inside, the brewery is fermenting some of the best beers in Dallas.
From the funky Milky McStoutface milk stout to the selection of hazy IPAs like Gene (a DDH NEIPA with lactose, Citra, and Mosaic), Outfit’s owners (and brothers) Jordan and Mike Frazer have been killing it since they opened in 2018.
Vector Brewing
9850 Walnut Hill Ln, Suite 405, Dallas, TX | (469) 676-0797
Located in the Lake Highlands neighborhood of Dallas, Vector Brewing had the unfortunate luck of opening in 2020 at the height of the global pandemic.
Although the trajectory of this Dallas newbie has been a tad untraditional, the brewery has quickly cultivated a cult following for sourcing local ingredients in its beers. Instead of focusing on one style, the brewery dabbles across the board.
Try Moonsmoke, a near-forgotten style of beer called Lictenhainer that is a cross between a gose and a rauchbier, or Endo, a 6.9% ABV hazy banger with Citra, Idaho 7, and Belma.
Regardless of the style, each of the beers perfectly complements the pies from the brewery’s scratch pizza kitchen.
Peticolas Brewing Company
1301 Pace St, Dallas, TX | (214) 234-7600
Here is Peticolas Brewing Company’s motto: “Honest, friendly, down-to-earth brewers delivering world-class passion in a glass.”
But we’ll tell you what this humble brewery motto doesn’t say: They’ve earned a s**t ton of awards, including a bronze at the 2023 World Beer Cup for Turtle Kriek and a whole host of 2022 U.S. Beer Open bronzes for several styles, including Scottish ale, imperial red ale, Ukrainian golden ale, and experimental beer. And that just scratches the surface.
Did you know you could find so many award-winning beers in a major Dallas brewery?
Well, now you know.
Manhattan Project Beer Co.
2215 Sulphur St, Dallas, TX | (469) 678-8870
Started with one special beer, an American-brown-ale-turned-Belgian-dark brewed for the co-founders’ wedding, Manhattan Project Beer Co. has since evolved into a brewery making many award-winning beers.
At Manhattan Project, you’ll find an old-world brewery making new-world beers with much love.
Smittox Brewing
930 E Clarendon Dr, Dallas, TX 75203
Although you can’t visit Smittox just yet, keep an eye on this one. One of our freelancer writers Ruvani de Silva reported on this brewery earlier in the year, writing, Kuumba ‘Smitty’ Smith is currently renovating his site adjacent to Dallas’ hip Bishop Arts District. After drinking a Sierra Nevada Porter, Smith began homebrewing in 2013, winning awards and recognition. Earning the Martin House Brewing Riverside Shootout home brew competition in 2018 gave Smith the push to plan his own brewery.
Smittox slowly took shape, starting with limited releases and collaborations, including local Dallas breweries like Tupps and False Idol, as well as industry leaders Jester King and Pittsburgh’s Trace Brewing.
The recipient of the Texas Craft Brewers Guild’s second Brewery In Planning Grant in 2022, Smith plans to open Smittox’s doors later in the year after a successful crowdfunding campaign.
“Our space is small yet intimate,” he says, “Our brewery will reflect the love we have for music, specifically hip hop.”
