Always a great time every year. The beer pours are generous and the food trucks are good. Easy to get to if you take the Dart Train so you don't have to pay for parking. Been coming for years and never had a bad experience. read more

Big Texas Beer Fest - Festivals Near Me - Dallas, Texas

2019 Yelp 120 Challenge - #42 What a great way to spend a birthday! This year I spent my birthday sampling all the local Dallas beers and meeting new people. I was happy to see Deep Ellum brewery, Community Brewery, Whiterock Brewery, Tupps, and a few others. It was nice to meet the brew masters and learn a little history about each. This is a great events that reminds me of the GABF in Denver. If you haven't been then, I highly suggest you check it out. I never got the chance to try any of the food at the food truck because it was so cold outside and I didn't want to freeze while waiting for my food. I love that they offered free arcade games, however; I had a hard time beating them. They also offered different Uber codes for discounted rides for safe travels to and from the festival. read more

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Love this event! Always more top-tier and hard-to-find beers than you can imagine, and tons of fun in a safe and energetic environment. If you're at all a beer nerd, do yourself a favor and go for the VIP tickets so you get early access to all the good stuff. Live music, unique food trucks, games, and hundreds of beers - what else could you ask for in a weekend adventure!? read more

Close to 100 breweries represented with over 400 beers! Five hours is not enough time to try everything I wanted. I'm thinking about volunteering next year as several of the breweries stations were manned by people who knew nothing about the beer. Inside the building was too warm until doors were opened. 10 food trucks and bands outside with plenty of tables with seating. No dogs or children allowed. We took the TRE and the green line Dart. read more

Big Texas Beer Fest - Several people thought my headgear was an artichoke; at a beer festival; really... - Festivals Near Me - Dallas, Texas

HOLY HELL, YESSS YESSSSS YESSSS!! I'm definitely a fan and will be back every year if I can. Let's see, literally 3,482 different types of craft beer to choose from, everything set up inside in a clean/open space, and food trucks/live music outside...what's not to love? The general admission gets you 12 tastings (2oz each), but you can buy additional cards (12 tastings) for $2...so don't sweat it! Also, keep in mind the beers are mostly high ABV and you will be feeling prettttty solid after the first few tastings. Make sure you assign a DD or take uber/lyft/cab whatever you want...just don't drink and drive! There were tons of food truck options, and lots of tables/seating area which was nice, especially with the gorgeous weather we had. Get there early as there was a pretty long line just to get into the venue...totally worth it though! read more

How to Make the Most Out of Big Texas Beer Fest: 1. Understand that there is some truth to the phrase, "everything is bigger in Texas Not only are there 500+ beers, but there are hundreds of attendees, meaning long entrance line (which only pertains to general admission). When we came at 2 on the dot, the general admission line was ridiculous. It looped and wrapped around Fair Park, but it looked worse than it actually was. The line moved quickly, and we only had to wait for 15 minutes even though we were all the way at the end. 2. Have a game plan With hundreds of attendees, 500+ beers to sample, 12 free samples and 4 hours to try all the beer you body can take, it is crucial to have a game plan. The beer list comes out a few days before the event, so I highly recommend reviewing the list and prioritizing the beers you want to try. My bf and I made a list of beers we must try, and it was extremely helpful, especially since most of the highly rated, rare beers run out fast! 3. Make a pretzel necklace Being the noob that I am, I didn't realize that pretzel necklaces are DIY. I had the impression that they could be bought at the event. However, I learned that it's a tradition for people to make pretzel necklaces for beer festivals. I'm definitely doing this next year as it is a clever, hassle-free way to carry around a snack. 4. Go VIP Why? -You get in an hour earlier = you get to try all the rare beers before it runs out. -Shorter entrance line. -Free sample cup lanyard = a worry-free, hands-free, hassle-free way of carrying your cup -Free souvenir beer glass -Free bag to carry your stuff 5. 12 Samples is More Than It Seems My boyfriend and I bought two more sample cards only to leave with so many empty, unmarked stamps. At the end of the event, we were on a mission to try as many as beers possible just so we can use up all our stamps -- and we failed. 4 hours went by so fast! So don't be too ambitious like us, and wait until you run out of samples to buy more. Other Things to Keep in Mind: 1. They have free water jugs for you to drink and/or rinse your sample cup 2. The main event is indoors, but the food trucks and live music is outside 3. In Texas, it is illegal to serve "unlimited" samples of alcohol, so your ticket purchase only comes with 12 free samples, but you can purchase 12 more for $2 -- not bad at all. Overall, with a great selection of beers and breweries, including a fun crowd, food trucks and live music, it's really hard not to have a good time here! read more

Big Texas Beer Fest - Thanks for the generous pour! - Festivals Near Me - Dallas, Texas

It's a cool idea but it was super crowded and smelly. Puddles of beer in the aisles, backed up bathroom lines. Stuffy and hot. It made it hard to enjoy the tastings. The beer makers were all awesome and it was cool to try so many different breweries. Picked up some great caramels from Dallas Caramel company. The best space at the Fest was the live music stage outside. The port-a-potty line went really fast which was good. The food truck lines were very long which wasn't good. This was my first one, but if they do it again next year, I'll definitely go for the VIP tix and get in and out before the chaos read more

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I will also give this a 5-star review. It was simply amazing. BTBF got so many breweries to come together and offer free samples. I got to taste so many beers and learn so much about them. The food trucks were also really good. I also appreciated the free water and coconut water to help me keep from having a hangover the next day. It was also great that they partnered with Uber, Lyft, and others to provide discounted drivers to keep everyone safe. That's the kind of responsible thinking I really like to see. The only thing I would like is more. BTBF sold out really quickly and none of my friends could get tickets. It would be great if BTBF could rent out multiple buildings and have even more. Even if they coudn't get more breweries, it would be nice to have more food boothes. I'm sure they would sell the tickets to fill up the other buildings. read more

More beer than one can drink! Two of my favorites - Bell's Oberon (first timer) - Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale (two years running) read more

Big Texas Beer Fest - Festivals Near Me - Dallas, Texas

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This will be my second time at the BTBF, I've been going with a large group of beer nerds that have been going for years, and the census this year was (2018) it was the least exciting beer fest so far. Don't get me wrong we had an amazing time we stayed the full 6pm-11pm and got super wasted. There just was a couple a good brewery's that we're missing this year that usually have great one off's or special releases every year, like Jester King and Goose Island. And the ones that were present had a lot of core stuff and not a lot of special releases. Still I believe it was a success and definitely be going again next year. Probably pass on the VIP next year doesn't seem worth it. Especially if you go on Friday the crowed is smaller and you get to taste everything before they tap out. read more

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The beer fest, now in its second year, seems to be getting better and better. Last year was a good start, but this year they had more beer, more specialty beers, more food trucks and WAY MORE visitors. The organization was pretty good, even though the line to get in was dauntingly long (out to the train station outside Fair Park) it moved very fast. Maybe they could open more entrances in future. Inside they were well organized and the beer lines moved pretty quickly. And even at 3, two hours after the VIP entry, there were still a lot of the specialty beers left. The vendors all were very friendly and generous in their pours, so with your 12 pours you could get quite a bit of beer and if you were still craving more, you could buy 12 more pours for just $2. Very reasonable. The biggest problem again was the food. Even though they had almost triple the food trucks there than last year, there were also a lot more people to be fed, so the lines and waits for the food were pretty long ( more than 30 min). So, next year even more food trucks please. But altogether this was a very well managed event and considering the popularity I could imagine expanding it even more. It's only the second year, so I'm sure the next one will be even better. read more

Great event! I go every year and work as a pourer. So happy to see my yelp family representing!!!! This is a great way for beer lovers to try many different beers at one time and for a low cost. If you live craft beer, and especially Texas craft beer, this is your event!! read more

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Fantastic event, which you should bookmark for next year! The 2014 "Texas Big Beer Fest" was held out at Fair Park this year. It was huge event, booths were many, and as far as several football fields, IMO. I arrived a little late and having a VIP ticket, I was directed to the front of the line. I felt bad for those other folks in line, which was long, very long! One of the nice things about having the event there was that the light rail car came right by the front gate. Very smart for those that might sample a beer or two! As you enter, you're handed a small bag to carry your day's treasures and a sampling glass. After that your choices are to hit the booths, go out back for the live music and food trucks. Within minutes of entering the building you will hear what's known as the "roar" or that's what we heard. It is too funny! On one end of the building the roar starts up and flows all the way down the building to the other end. It's like "the wave" at a football or soccer game. When the "roar" gets to you, you lift your sampler glass and cheer with everyone else. Too fun! You need to come join us next year, really! If you decide to go out back, you my friend are in for a treat! The live music was fantastic, and you're surrounded by some great food trucks! The food trucks made a great big circle the music stage down at one end. In the middle were rows of long tables, ideal after tasting some of the tasty samples inside. Now to tell you a little about some of the tasty samplings of fine craft beers sampled, it really boggles the mind just how many craft beers there were. So many were really good, that was just too fun! Some of the my favorites that were a little different but tasty were a southern pecan, a cream brulee, and one not to forget was a jalapeño flavored craft beer, just so tasty! Now that beer was pointed out to me that it would be great with nachos! Oh hell, I was standing next to a genius! Now if you're thinking about coming to Dallas to visit, why not come around this time of the year and sneak this event into your adventures! If you are thinking about next year's event lets go over some notes that might just help! Tips for this event: 1. Pace yourself. 2. The escape route - plan how you're going to get your @$$ home! 3. Hydrated pre event - lots of water! 4. Pretzels necklace - it's a must! (Ladies may prefer a bag of pretzels.) 5. Get the VIP ticket way ahead of time! 6. Go with friends to enjoy with - this amplifies the fun factor! 7. Get a full day pass on the light rail - it goes right up to the front gate at Fair Park! - refer back to number 2! (Currently an all-day pass is only 5 bucks!) 8. Try the wonderful food trucks out back! 9. Bring your fun great attitude and meet folks! 10. Study the beer list ahead of time. 11. Ask others as you meet them, their highlights and favorite beers! 12. Try new beers! 13. Get an extra stamp card early! 14. When a roar comes by lift you drink, toast to everyone and roar back with everyone else! 15. Check out the live music out back near the food trucks! 16. If you're really serious, they will have a small amount of water to rinse your little drinking mug. 17. After a few tastings you really won't care about rinsing out your little mug. (Said in proper British accent!) Ha! 18. Taste the good stuff early - refer back to number 5! 19. Pick up a lanyard for your tiny little mug. It's great when you need both hands to do something else. 20. Find out when the hell the next great event like this one will be. 21. Stop by the Yelp booth! Yea, you say, what does this have to do with "The Texas Beer Fest", but it does! There some pretty damn cool Yelpers out there. Yelpers are interested in foodie things and are now giving it back in reviews for you to enjoy or help you figure out if you want to join in! My, oh my, that was fun! Let's do that again! See you next year at the "Big Texas Beer Fest!" read more

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Full disclosure: I volunteered this event before partaking in the festival activities with the rest of the normies. Outside of the long lines to get in (but still around the same wait as it takes to get into the Great American Beer Fest in Denver), this beer fest was perfectly run and executed. The pure variety of the available beers was staggering and awe inspiring. And from the lines outside, you would think that it would be a good half hour just to taste one beer. However, this was not the case. The longest line I waited in was for Deep Ellum Brewing Company and it took maybe 4 minutes tops. And it's only going to get bigger and better organized from here on out. I was honored to be a guest at the first craft beer fest in Dallas. This is the start of something big. read more

Finally got to go before it was sold out..I've failed the last 2 yrs.. it was fun and I will be going again next year.. the reason this isn't a 5 star is the lack of order..the long line seemed to form really weird..no one directing traffic, no workers helping get everyone where they should be.. it was tideous affair just to go in..next yr I will just go VIP to avoid this inconvenience. .. definitely saw lots of ppl skip line..the beer selection was great..the food trucks outside were awesome.. the weather was bad but I can't fault the beer fest for that ! Lol read more

Big Texas Beer Fest - Peat, Jason and I at the beerfest - Festivals Near Me - Dallas, Texas

1st annual TX BEER FEST!!! Yayy!!!! I volunteered for this event so this review will come from a different perspective. Overall, the beer selection was pretty good. They had it split into four sections, music, Texas, american, & international. Most of the international brews were brought in by Silver Eagle & MillerCoors, mainly because they're the distributors. They had almost every TX brewery make an appearance. They also had the key players from other states, at least 20% have either won or been nominated for one of there beers from GABF. I never saw a line in the bathrooms which for women is a plus. They had food, but due to the NASCAR race and other factors the trucks that were suppose to show dropped out at the last minute. Most of the beers were bottled, few were ran on a draft system. Which considering the resources, that was pretty awesome. There were no incidents, just a bunch of happy people who enjoyed beer. All I can say is that it's just going to get better and better every year. So attend next year and get on this early because craftbeer is here to stay. read more

Just attended the Big Texas Beer Fest this weekend and wanted to review this event and provide tips for people who will attend in future. First, I highly recommend getting the VIP pass and arriving early. The VIP gets early entry but there is still a sizable line that forms an hour before the event. Secondly, hit up the food truck once general admission starts. The lines get long and many trucks run out of food later in the event. You'll also find live music and some limited seating available. Third, the light rail is cheap ($5/day pass) and a great way to travel to and from the event. Overall, the event is well ran and organized. Everyone receives a plastic tasting cup and a stamp card good for 12 samples; VIP also gets a good bag. Many vendors also give out koozies, bottle openers, or even t-shirts. Additional stamp cards can be purchased as needed. Basically you walk around to the various booths, have a sample or two, and move to the next one. There is a good mix of local, regional, and national vendors present. Most stations have a bucket and water jug to clean out your cup between tastings. read more

For a first time festival, this couldn't have been much better. Chad and Nellie rocked NTX with this inaugural event. People were genuinely excited to try the hundreds of beers that were floating about the room. Music was blasting at one end of the building. Food was coming from the on-premise concession stand. The atmosphere really surprised me. I saw no anger or douchery. People were just happily sipping all kinds of beer, cider, etc. Our crew had a great time and was fortunate enough to try several brand new brews. VIP entry was crowded. I got in line at 12:10 and entered around 12:35. After that, it was all smooth sailing. The ongoings inside definitely assisted in the recovery from the unexpected wait for VIPs. I think this will become a yearly staple of the TX craft beer scene. The city of Dallas needed this recovery after last year's festival fell through. BTBF came through in full, saved the day, and has set the bar high! read more

This was a great event. I had a blast and there's no reason that I won't be back next year. Plenty of beer, a decent showing of breweries, food trucks, free water, and an all around good time. There were a number of problems, but most were not the fault of event organizers. Food trucks canceled at the last minute causing strain on the trucks that did show. The wait for food was an hour or more. The general admission line and VIP line were not separated very well causing the lines to merge and making VIP entrance a fairly long wait. About halfway through the festival, beer lines got to the point where they all ran together and many booths had a 10+ minute wait. All in all, this was a first year event. If those kinds of issues are what we have to deal with on a debut year, then the bar has been set pretty damn high. With a successful year under its belt, I'm sure it will attract more breweries and sponsors, it will receive better attention from Fair Park management, and the kinks that were there this year can be better handled through experience. After party at Deep Ellum Brewing was also a great time with more beer flowing and a great crowd and atmosphere. I absolutely cannot wait for the next one. read more

Big TX Beer Fest is an amazing event for Dallas and the area. Tons and tons of amazing beer to sample, food trucks and outdoor music. I've gone the first two years, and plan to go again and again! Tips - Make Pretzel necklaces, don't wait in the lines for food trucks when you could be drinking mo beer! They are social and get attention in an already super friendly environment. Eat food - pretzel neckalces get boring, hit the food trucks after a few hours. Station one person in line for food, while another goes on beer runs. Get there early - If you can afford it, get VIP. Well worth it from what my friend said. Bring cash - "What, how am I going to get drunk with this tiny shot glass of beer?" said all BigTXBF noobs. Extra cards are $2... Plan your tour - If you are actually into beer, you will have trouble sampling everything you want in the few hours you have. Make sure to keep moving, or you'll get stuck in one area and completely miss another [like I did this year :(] read more

A new beer fest in North Texas? Hell yeah! Opened doors at 1 pm on Saturday, Dart rail right in front, fast moving lines, a hell of alot of great breweries and beer being represented, large room with air conditioner blowing, large bathrooms, water areas and food......also add to the fact that most of the beer lasted the entire course with bands, beard contest and Open The Taps asking to help improve Texas beer laws......one hell of a successful beer event! Had a great time and it was put together very well! Had a great time!!! I would liked to have seen more set ups for things like home brewing and other educational and fun stuff but other then that, I think they did an outstanding job! I would prefer glass taster glasses instead of plastic but thats just a small thing. read more

I went 2 years in a row, stopped for 3 years, went back this year as VIP. YAAASSS! So glad I went this year and VIP is definitely the only way to go. Yes, it's inside a building which I don't mind (Texas weather can be unpredictable in Spring, the last time I went it was cold and raining). I found the beer selection to be excellent and my pretzel necklace was on fleek (I think that's what the kids say). Free Play Richardson was there, I picked up some bangin' Brockhouse jerky and discovered 10 new-to-me beers and breweries. Love it, can't wait until next year. read more

Big Texas Beer Fest is the bro-ey of beer festivals that I've been to.. and I've been to at least 3-4 in the past two years. Mr J had decided that we were going to have an uber busy weekend and BTBF ended up being our Saturday event. We got fair park around 3 PM and ended up drinking beer samples until 5 PM. Around 4:45 PM we were hunting for a good candidate to pass along our beer sample cards to because why would we waste such nectar? The one qualm I have with BTBF is that it can be super crowded. So can other beer festivals but being really squished inside of the automobile building wasn't ideal. I feel like at outdoor festivals, the crowding isn't nearly as big of an issue since you can maneuver around a lot easier. If you haven't been to at least a few of the beer festivals in Texas, you definitely should because you'll get all things local as well as all things domestic in case you've been craving some booze from the west coast (cough cough California and Portland because hipsters). read more

Had a great time discovering new and old favorites with fellow beer lovers! Cant wait till next years festival. The food trucks were great and my only suggestion would be to have the whole festival as an outdoors event! read more

I had a blast - they have a huge selection of craft beers (as the name may suggest...) and a variety of food trucks. I thought it was fun that there were also games set up at some booths (got a kick out of watching arm wrestling) and cornhole was available too. My advice for getting in: just arrive a little late. The line was insane when we arrived (around 2PM when the doors opened), but moved pretty quickly. We probably wouldn't have had a line if we just arrived 30 minutes late. read more

This was our first year going and I can promise we will be back! The line to get in was long and it was disappointing to see people walking right up to the ID readers and getting right inline ahead of you when you had been waiting patiently for 45 minutes. On the bright side we met some really fun people while in line! Tons of craft beers!!! I was really impressed with the variety of beers that were showcased. 12- 2oz. beer samples doesn't sound like much but you can buy extra cards for $2 and there was no way I could fill up that second card! Lines were not long at all for a tasting but next year we will be sure to bring our own pretzel necklaces and grab some VIP passes. Several of the limited brews we wanted to try were all gone by the time we made it in. As others mentioned you could not go wrong by adding more tables outside and more food trucks. read more

This event was great, as usual. Delicious beers and ciders. Great food. I was happy to see Yelp there, I absolutely LOVE the circle lip balms they were passing out. read more

Great Beer and a Great Festival. An amazing day and the chance to sample some of the finest beers in Texas and around the globe. Negatives (-) The abosulte longest line I have ever waited in to gain entery. Four or Five people to scan drivers licenses? Ten food trucks? Not enough bath rooms for an event where everyone is drinking beer? This for a crowd of over 5,000? The organizers for this event must be cheap or challenged intellectually. read more

Disorganized is the many thing form the lines to the help I stay with the untapped fest seems to be better leader ship.the beer was good as beer all ways is. Lack of brewery stuff form stickers to the one spot in corner where u could buy a shirt was really sad. I doubt I will go to this one again I would rather just hit up local bars to try new beer. read more