The DBWC Team Captain, Tony Drewry

As the Dallas craft beer scene continues to flourish, we’re very excited to see the Dallas Beer Week Committee grow. As mentioned in Draft Magazine’s latest issue, the DFW area will welcome eight new breweries this year, paperwork permitting. As you may have noticed, many existing bars and restaurants are beginning to realize that a craft beer program is becoming less of an extraneous option, and more of a necessity. Due to community education and an increase in local options, palates are changing, and more are converted to craft beer every day.

This is great news for the Dallas beer community, and for Texas. As our scene expands through social media channels and blogs, the local scenes begin to overlap and morph into a much larger Texas beer community. As a craft beer state, we are far behind states such as California, Oregon, Washington and South Carolina, due to our antiquated beer laws, but as of this year, we are finally starting to close the gap.

Due to this recent growth, we are now witnessing the beginning of a tectonic shift of sorts.  The successful lawsuit filed by Jester King and Authentic Beverages last year made waves that reverberated throughout the nation, and changed Texas laws that dated back to Prohibition. Organizations such as Open The Taps and the Texas Craft Brewers Guild continue this fight, and the support from beer consumers is nothing short of astounding. New breweries in Texas are opening every month, if not every week.  Craft beer bars are opening in every neighborhood, and legislators are realizing where their voters stand.

Few know more about this struggle than Tony Drewry, one of the most outspoken craft beer evangelists in the state. A former sales rep from Fort Worth’s Rahr & Sons, Tony forged his own career in independent craft beer consulting, adjusting beer lists in restaurants and bars across the state to help their business thrive by supporting local breweries. Tony also plays banjo and sings with Fish Fry Bingo, which has played in just about every beer festival in Texas this last year. He rides a bicycle with cartoonish tires.

Tony walks and talks craft beer every day, and that’s why we are so exited that Tony has agreed to serve as the Captain of the Dallas Beer Week Committee. He also has a luxurious beard, which sets him apart from other heroes in Texas history.

If you’d like to join the DBWC, and help promote DFW as one of the fastest-growing beer communities in the US, you can sign up here. If not, just join us in the countdown to November, and enjoy the events!