Who is the Texas Ale Project?
Started in 2014, Texas Ale Project touts itself as a family & veteran-owned brewery with a penchant for experimentation. Best known for the Fire Ant Funeral amber ale (a beer named after a fiery incident from head brewer Brent Thompson’s childhood), Texas Ale Project welcomes visitors to sample a mix of year-round staples and seasonal releases on-site at their brewery & beer garden near downtown Dallas.
The Texas Ale Project’s small indoor tasting room, aptly named the TAP Room, seats no more than a twenty people. The industrial yet modern setup immediately focuses your attention to the centrally-located bar that features a dozen taps descending from the ceiling.
Beyond the TAP room lies a wide open view of the heart of the brewery through floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Visitors are encouraged to venture out to the production floor towards a roped-off drinking area that features standing tables and a ping pong table.
The outdoor beer garden hosts a number of outdoor events year-round (though many have been postponed this year due to COVID-19). We apparently visited a day too late to experience TAP’s Beer Garden Bingo, but the event calendar was still stacked with upcoming food pop-ups and a dog adoption event.
All in all, the vibe at Texas Ale Project is friendly & welcoming with an apparent focus on community-building.
Where is Texas Ale Project?
Texas Ale Project is situated inside a modern warehouse in Dallas’ Design District. The Design District, a strip of interior design studios and furniture showrooms near downtown Dallas, has seen a number of restaurants & hotels pop up in the past decade.
If you have ever flown commercially across the U.S., chances are you have had a layover in one of the two major airports in the area: DFW International Airport (home of American Airlines’s headquarters) or DAL Love Field (the home base of Southwest Airlines.
Texas Ale Project’s brewery location is within a 15-20 minute drive from either airport. Alternatively, the local Dallas Area Rapid Transit light rail system (DART for short) will drop you off a mile away from the brewery for $3 per person.
What’s so special about Texas Ale Project’s 50 FT Jackrabbit?
Texas Ale Project’s 50 FT Jackrabbit is great because it doesn’t try too hard to be something it’s not. In a world riddled with over-hopped IPAs and exotic smoothie beers, it’s refreshing to find a straightforward IPA that you can reach for and know exactly what to expect.
This IPA weighs in at a respectable but not overpowering 7% ABV and 70 IBU. Dry-hopped with American-grown hops, this all combines to make an incredibly crushable & very well-balanced IPA that pairs well with a wide range of foods.
I often struggle with trying to satisfy different palettes whenever I plan on grabbing beer from my travels. Not everyone shares my fondness for doppelbocks and barrel-aged stouts, but finding crowd-pleaser beers like this is an easy slam dunk.
How does Texas Ale Project’s 50 FT Jackrabbit taste?
This is a lighter IPA that pours with a yellow gold color and a decent head of foam.
Dip your nose in your glass and you will get subtle tropical notes (mango was my initial thought) along with the expected citrus & pine indicative of the IPA style. That hint of sweetness stays with this beer every time you bring this up to your lips.
The taste is smooth with a clean, dry finish. You still get the quintessential hoppy flavor, but it is balanced out by just the right amount of malty base.
Too many IPAs these days absolutely wreck your palate when sipped alongside food, but the 50 FT Jackrabbit welcomes being paired with just about any dish you can throw at it.
Final Thoughts
Truth be told, 50 FT Jackrabbit isn’t even my favorite beer at Texas Ale Project.
Their white stout, dubbed The Caucasian, is an absolute treat. Their new Fistful of Dollars, an experimental spicy stout branded under TAP’s R&D Series, is an exciting Mexican chocolate-inspired beer that I couldn’t get enough of.
That’s not a knock on the 50 FT Jackrabbit, though. This is an IPA for the people. Enjoy it with your favorite burger or while inhaling slices of pizza. The 50 FT Jackrabbit doesn’t judge. It is balanced, tasty, and great for any occasion.
Cheers!
