The Meddlesome Moth

I'm in Dallas, Texas right now for work and had one day off to do what I wanted. Of course, I unsurprisingly looked for an awesome beer bar to go hang at for a couple hours. Luckily there is a bar named The Meddlesome Moth about a mile and a half from the hotel which was an easy enough walk. I'd read really good things about it on BeerAdvocate and boy did it live up to its reputation.

The first beer I ordered was the (512) Pecan Porter. The brewery is actually named (512) Brewing Co. which is the area code for Austin where it's located. I don't know why, but I think it's funny that there are parenthesis in the name.

I started with this one because I'd heard of it before and also because I'm a sucker for a good porter. Turned out to be a great decision as this was delicious. Roasty, almost nutty nose. First sip started with the super clean roast flavors and a little sweetness then finished with some pecan nuttiness. Continued that way throughout the glass with the roast never becoming too strong or bitter. Just a really good porter. I really like when the roast flavors are almost sweet instead of bitter.

While I was planning on sticking with all Texas breweries, I couldn't resist a glass of Oskar Blues Old Chub which was on cask and aged with vanilla beans. Seriously, how could you resist that?

Poured really well for being on cask, good carbonation. The first whiff of the beer was really impressive. I got tons of sweet, really pleasant vanilla and it just made me want to dive in. Super thick body. Started with tons of vanilla followed by some caramel from the base scotch ale and then finished with even more vanilla. Somehow it avoided being too cloying even though it felt like the vanilla sweetness should have been too much. This Old Chub shows how much a beer can be changed just by adding a little something to it. Makes me wish bars were a little more adventurous with their casks in Philly although this may have been the brewery's doing, dunno.

After that, I got a glass of Real Ale Empire, a barrel aged IPA from a brewery in Blanco, wherever the heck that is. Apparently Empire is so new that it's not even on BeerAdvocate yet. Funny.

I got very smooth citrus notes with the bitter edges being blunted by the barrel character. Tasted grassy and citrusy with a tiny bit of oak in the back. As I drank more, I got some perfumey notes as well. Pretty good although it was hard to stand up to the previous awesome beer. Also notice in the picture the food I ordered which was delicious. It was some sort of pear and pulled chicken dish and the chicken was really good.

Last, I went with a can instead of a draft, Southern Star Buried Hatchet, an imperial stout.

Nice thick mouthfeel. Very clean roast nose. Quite inviting for a stout. Started out with roastiness which was followed by chocolate and coffee notes. Nice clean lingering roast flavors. Really impressive stout and I get why people like it so much.

So that was my visit to the Meddlesome Moth in Dallas. Good food, great beer, and great ambiance. The regulars all seemed nice too as I spent like two hours talking to one of them. While I don't have anywhere to compare it to, the Moth was a great place to go and should be on everyone's list when they visit Dallas. There may be other bars, but I'd definitely come back here.

On a random note, I saw this while walking back to my hotel after so I took a picture.

Fire twirling!