Southlake Texas - is it a craft beer void?

You're pretty much SOL as far as bars/restaurants around there. The Southlake Central Market isn't bad as far as selection though, and you're a short drive away from Hall's. Closest place with a decent selection is World of Beer in Arlington. Lazy Bones Pub in Grapevine is supposed to have a good selection and you could check out Uncle Buck's brewpub (haven't been in years).

 

Lazy Bones Pub
120 E. Worth Street
Grapevine, Texas, 76051

 

Replace "Southlake Texas" with "Texas," and repeat.

 

I usually take opportunity in craft beer voids to venture into a nice hole in the wall Irish pub and opt for a delicious import I often overlook in craft beer pubs.

 

Thanks for the support, all I was trying to say is just that. Texas has some great local breweries, which unfortunatly have to jump through legislative hoops in order to be able to provide its products to its consumers. Other world class craft brewers have no said hoops, until they try to come into Texas. Hence the craft beer void. I'm sorry the thread ran in a different direction after that though.

Cheers,
Nate

 

To me, using the word void was borderline insulting to all the effort poured into changing the craft climate in Texas. If you walked up to me in 2008, and told me that in three years, we'd have breweries like Deschutes, Boulevard, or Jester King in Texas, I'd have said you were nuts. It's easy to see how much the distribution and legislation has improved over the past three years, look at bars that have opened like Meddlesome Moth, Common Table, and Hay Merchant, and finally, compare our laws to states with more archaic rules like Utah or Mississippi.

Sure it's not like DC, Jersey, or Colorado, we may not get Bell's, Russian River, or whatever else. All things considered, it's hardly a "void" and we don't have it that bad.

 

I wouldn't say TX as a whole is a craft beer void, just most towns far outside of major cities. Many states have their own distribution issues. We get many out of state beers that many other states don't get such as Boulevard, Deschutes, New Belgium, and many more. We just started getting Alaskan, and soon to get Ballast Point. We get a bounty of imports. I can't think of any "world class" brewers that hit all states. There is West Coast, the Northwest, Southwest, South, North, East Coast, Southeast, and New England. Most breweries seem to hit one of a combination of these regions, and only the states within whose laws comply.

I never thought I would see myself defending our distribution, but it could certainly be worse just as much as it could be better..What the OP is seeing is a town without good bottle shops or craft pubs, which sucks, but you can't blame the state.

 

As a beer trader, I am pretty familiar with who gets what. Nobody gets it all. A normal craft brewery can only handle so much product. As the craft scene grows, I am sure we will see more breweries expanding, opening up second and third locations to meet demand. I look forward to walking into a local SPECS beer aisle in a few more years.

 

But like I said earlier, the Southlake CM isn't that bad and Hall's is minutes away. Go over there and say hi to Fern, it's well worth your time.
I've found bottles of Abyss sitting at that CM after everyone else was sold out, and that's mostly due to how it's your typical upper-crust suburb where most residents care more about chains over independent goods/businesses (ie: macro beer). And they don't see craft beer as an artisan product, but the perception is different for wine.

And totally agree with you on nobody gets it all. I travel very frequently and it's so interesting to see variations from state to state - especially when you are in an area close to multiple state lines.

 

Wow, way to stick up for the awesome TX beer scene advocates.

 

You're back pedaling.

 

Well then, looks like it isn't a void after all.

 

Nate totally trolled my gf and I with a bottle of Rose de Gambrinus. Asshole. The nerve of that guy.

If you have a Central Market in your area as air stated, then you are worlds ahead of Podunk Ass, Tx.

 

Did you type this from your BBXXIII throne? Nate trolled me last night with an 09 Red Poppy

 

That does it. Nate < John.

I stopped using the BBXXIII throne. I extra'd one case so now the arm rests are uneven. Really bothers my back. I tried using a BA Old Raspy for lumbar support, but it just didn't feel right.

 

I think everyone needs to take a deep breath and thank the beer gods that we aren't in Utah (though Squatters continues to impress me).

 

Actually Utah's doing quite well. Squatters, Epic, Uinta, and others are all doing some amazing things, and coming out with new beers VERY regularly.

North Dakota even recently got its first brewery, so no state is without one at this point. When it comes to breweries per capita, Texas ranks 47th (up from 48th a couple years ago) so while we're making moves in the right direction, there is still much work to be done.

Cheers,
Chad

 

Could be worse even, could live in a dry county, there are plenty of those around still, in several different states too.