Dallas breweries are all-in on the World Cup. Not only are they great places to watch the games; they’re also brewing up special beers to commemorate the occasion.
We bought 10 World Cup beers from local breweries to taste-test in the D offices. That’s not even all of the available beers! Oak Cliff Brewing offers in-person global flights and a global passport, and Community Brewing repackaged its Texas Lager with a soccer-themed name. But the following 10 beers are available in four-packs, six-packs, and crowlers from their home bases, and several of them are distributed at Central Market and local beer stores.
The Taste Test Entrants (Alphabetical by Brewery):
Overall, the standard was extremely high. At least one taster enjoyed every single beer, and we failed in our mission to crown an overall champion. In fact, we couldn’t even narrow it down to a top three.
Here are our tasting notes. Winners listed at the bottom.
Mexican lagers: On Rotation, Peticolas, Vector
I couldn’t tell the difference between TKO and El Tri, but one coworker cast a tiebreaking vote in favor of TKO. Both are super light, easygoing, with a little sweetness, perfect for the Texas outdoors. Blue Agave has one big difference: it’s blue. But it also has a little more body and substance to it. If you want TKO or El Tri outside, you’ll favor Blue Agave in the air conditioning.
Other light beers
Celestial’s Golden Pitch has the finest, sharpest carbonation and the cleanest flavor out of this group. It’s pure beer-flavored beer. Peticolas’ Ultras, brewed specifically for Team Japan supporters, is not Japanese-style at all. In fact, compared to Golden Pitch, it has more of the funk that I associate with some American light beers…