Dallas brewery Texas Ale Project will close Aug. 8, 2026, after a dozen years making beers.
Texas Ale Project opened in the Dallas Design District in 2014 — a big year for craft beer, following 2013 legislation that legalized taproom sales in Texas. Because of these changes, the mid-2010s brought about better-than-ever opportunities for small breweries to survive in Texas, and Dallas-Fort Worth saw a boom in new craft businesses.
In 2019, history was made again when a law allowed producers to sell beer to-go in Texas. At some breweries, consumers lined up to show their support. TAP made a half a day’s sales within 30 minutes, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The number of brewpub and microbrewery openings peaked in 2017 and 2018 and have declined since then, according to the Brewers Association. Its data shows craft beer production in the United States was down 3.8% in 2025.
TAP didn’t give a reason for its closure in a farewell note on Instagram. But it joins a list of other craft breweries that have closed in Dallas-Fort Worth in the last year or so, including Panther Island Brewing, Revolver and Rahr.
From the start, TAP was “a hotbed for fun events,” wrote The News’ then-craft beer reporter Tiney Ricciardi. Visitors to its large Design District warehouse could participate in a water-balloon fight, watch a car show or listen to an outdoor concert.
In the early 2020s, the brewery created several beers named after Pantera, the metal band that got its start in Dallas-Fort Worth.
The brewery is a project of husband-wife team Kat and Brent Thompson and Kat’s dad, David Stevens. It served beers with amusing names like Fire Ant Funeral, an amber ale, and 50 Ft Jackrabbit, an IPA. The team has also brewed a Cotton Candy Pilsner for the State Fair of Texas.
It also makes a double IPA called 100 Million Angels Singing. More like “100 million angels crying,” wrote one wistful Instagrammer when the news of TAP’s closure was announced.
According to Instagram, the facility on North Riverfront Boulevard in Dallas will serve as a private event space, operated by a different entity, once the brewery closes.
“The memories we’ve created together will last far beyond our final pour,” the owners wrote online. “We look back in awe of the support we had and with sincere appreciation for everyone who helped make Texas Ale Project what it became.”
Texas Ale Project is at 1001 N. Riverfront Blvd., Dallas. Closed Mondays. TAP is expected to be open through the end of the day Saturday, Aug. 8, during which the company will sell pints of beer, growlers, canned beer and brewery merchandise.
