Westlake Brewing Company | Dallas, TX
Beer Trip: Westlake Brewing Company in Dallas, Texas
Westlake Brewing Company is one of the closest breweries to downtown Dallas, only a short 15-minute walk from a recent hotel stay on a work trip. With a fun atmosphere and good beer, we’re glad we stopped in.
The Brewery
Westlake is hard to miss from the road, with a large fire engine red fermentation tank located in the patio space. Unfortunately it was a bit cold during our visit, but the outdoor area seemed quite bit with plenty of picnic table seating.
The inside is equally as spacious and features two levels of tables, an open wood joist ceiling, and a large bar at the back looking into the brewery itself through glass windows. The face of the building partially opens up to the street via two large garage doors with bar-style seating facing outside. This would be the perfect spot to heckle your friends as they arrive!
The Beer
Walking up to the draft board, we were rather impressed with the wide variety of selections. They had 14 beers on tap including IPAs, blondes, a porter, a sour, and even a Japanese style ale. With so many choices, it was a bit cumbersome to know what to get - so we opted for a flight.
Their brewer really pushed the flavor profile with their use of caramel, honey, sea salt, and a wide variety of fruits in their beer - which we enjoyed! Arguably their top beer is the Peter’s Porter, which has the perfect amount of toffee incorporated along with a nice roast. This one actually won a gold medal at the 2021 Great American Beer Fest! To be expected, the Pineapple Sour was the favorite of our trip - we’re a big fan of pineapple beers. A lot of sours tend to be simply sour, but this one was subtle and well-combined with the fruit. The last beer that stood out was the Y’All Star IPA - offering fantastic malts and not overly hoppy, this was one of the better IPAs we’ve had in a while.
Food, Merch, & More
In addition to serving beer, Westlake has a good-sized food menu featuring flat breads and several appetizers like nachos, wings, and soft pretzels. We didn’t order one ourselves, but the pretzels looked massive in size. It just so happened to be a Tuesday on our visit, coinciding with music BINGO night (apparently they host quite a few events). While we didn’t take home a prize, it did seem to bring in quite a few locals.
The merchandise section sits off to one side of the bar and appears to be small at first glance due to the spacing, but it actually includes a nice selection of t-shirts, tanks, hats, metal signs, and even a laptop case. Their online selection is also incredibly robust. Lucky for us, they also had stickers and a full range of to-go beer!
The Dallas area has tons of breweries, but if you’re downtown Westlake seems like the place to be. With tons of beer styles and a fun atmosphere, we hope to be back!
Cheers!
