Big Texas Beer Fest

Last weekend, by brother and I went to Dallas for the Big Texas Beer Festival at the State Fairgrounds. We arrived a couple of hours early, remembering the chaos that occurred last year.

The organizers had made an addition, barriers that created three lanes for people, but all three lanes were open at the entry vestibule.

As more and more people arrived, the first words out of anyone's mouths were, "Is this the VIP line?" Someone told us that no, this was the General Admission line and pointed to the middle door of the Automotive Building.  So, lemminglike, two dozen people traipsed down to the middle door and found someone who said the VIP entrance was at the door on the other side of the barriers.  So the pack of VIPs walked back the other way, only to be told by a very angry organizer that get back in the chutes, leave us alone because we're having a meeting.

As our pack of lemmings waddled back to the chutes, I said out loud, "They make these things called signs. . ."

Eventually all was explained and soon we were inside.

The fest had some nice changes: Live music was outside, six food trucks, and a great selection of beer!  I'd made a point to hit all the Dallas area breweries, and was impressed with all of them. Once while waiting in the long line for Deep Ellum beers, I noticed that the organizers did indeed have signs!

Too bad they didn't put them up.

Unfortunately, by the time the riff raff (GA, as the organizers affectionately referred to them) got in, the lines got ridiculously huge, and the noise of so many people talking in a barn was deafening!  The organizers should have hung baffles along the ceiling.

Over all, we had a very good time, and are looking forward to next year.

Last Friday in Dallas

I was picking up my brother at his house en route to Dallas. I ran into a couple of sprinkles on the way, and my old windshield wipers managed to spread the dust and pollen on the windshield into a thin layer right in front of my eyes. So I had to stop and get new wiper blades.

When I got to my brother's house, I had him put them on. No matter how hard I tried , I couldn't figure out how to put them on! He just snapped them on while I looked on in puzzlement.

We got to the Metroplex and watch with no amusement as all the time that had clicked off on the drive up began to click back on, pushing our 1:15 pm arrival time back to 1:45. When we got to Uncle Buck's Brewery and Steakhouse, we met Satan's friend, who complained about our arrival time: "I coulda slept another hour!"

The bar at Uncle Buck's is upstairs and was nicely appointed. The restaurant was dark, but there was plenty of light at the bar. Between Satan's friend and I, we sampled pretty much oneall the brewery had to offer. The saison tasted of butterscotch and I could only get one sip down. I ordered a pint of the IPA, and it was good. Until it warmed up and I could taste the butterscotch. So much for that pint.

I tried to get my brother to try some of the Belgian beers, but I noticed he had the same expression on his face that I had when he put on my wiper blades.

We drove to Plano to stock up at Kegs and Barrels. You can either be proud of me or ashamed of me for only spending $45, including ice.  But I didn't bring a large enough ice chest!

For the record, I am Facebook friends with Stephen, who works there. But I didn't announce my presence to the world, much less to him, though I did check-in to the store on FourSquare. So I guess I did announce my presence to the world, just not to Stephen. I'm just way to shy for shit like that.

We iced the purchases down, and decided we would head down to The Common Table, recommended by Paul Hightower, co-author of Beer Across Texas and owner of Texas Beer Blog. He keeps me up to date on new Texas breweries.

The crowd at The Common Table was young and affluent. Apparently they all live in the area, because many of them walked there.

The three of us had a few beers on the patio and chatted. The weather was glorious--perfect for drinking and eating. There was just enough wind to keep the flies away. We sampled some of the food, and it was very good. The tap list was long, but the bottle beer menu was even longer. I almost had a (512) Pecan Porter, but Gary's friend reminded me that I could get that in Austin and San Antonio. I should be drinking things I never had before. She was right, of course. How could I get my "Legendary" badge on Untappd if I don't try new things?

As we sat there enjoying the evening, we kept seeing foursome after foursome walk in and go inside. I didn't think the building was that big! It was like a clown car being loaded.

It was a beautiful evening, but the long drive and the quantity of beer were combining to make me sleepy. We returned to the hotel. And rather quickly. I don't go to Dallas often enough to know my way around (thank goodness for GPS). While I knew both the restaurant and the hotel were downtown, I didn't know just how close they were.