Dallas–Fort Worth, TXBrewery

Michael Peticolas left law practice to found this Dallas brewery in 2011, and it earned a reputation on well-made classics rather than gimmicks. The Dallas Observer named it the city's local brewery of the year for 2023, and the lineup has broadened to lighter options like a hefeweizen, Berliner weisse, and honey-tinged golden ale alongside its flagship Velvet Hammer imperial red.

Fritz Rahr opened this warehouse brewery in 2004, when Fort Worth was still a Miller-Coors town with little appetite for stouts and porters. Two decades, a collapsed roof, a recession, and a pandemic later, Rahr & Sons is the elder statesman of DFW craft beer, with Rahr's sons now in the business and weekend tastings built around its year-round and seasonal releases.

Martin House built a reputation on near-weekly new releases, but its collaboration with a local pickle brand became the brewery's signature: a 5.5 percent ABV Sour Pickle Beer sold in cans wrapped like a pickle jar that sold out statewide and joined the permanent lineup, later followed by a spicy variation. A Fort Worth original for drinkers who want something stranger than a standard IPA.

Founders Matt and Molly Reynolds built this Medical District taproom around New England-style hazy IPAs with otherworldly names like Electromagnetism, and it was a 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards brewery nominee. The hop-forward lineup is the draw for drinkers chasing the latest haze release.

Belgian-born owner Wim Bens opened Lakewood in Garland in 2012 as part of the first wave of North Texas craft breweries, known for Vienna-style lagers and Belgian-style IPAs. Its Temptress Imperial Milk Stout, a smooth 9.1 percent ABV chocolate stout, became one of the most recognized craft stouts in Texas and remains the brewery's calling card.