Denton brewpub spotlights local home brewers with new monthly beer series

When Barley and Board opened in 2015, the Denton restaurant hoped to make house-brewed beer a cornerstone of the business. Owners installed a small, 20-gallon brewing system and planned to release several beers every month.

But for almost two years, the system sat unused as the business waited on its federal permit from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

"In the beginning, we were all very new to brewing side of things and had never set up a brewery before," says Chad Kelley, executive chef at Barley and Board. "We were good with the state [licenses] and someone came to us, a local brewer, and they asked how we got our federal TTB so quick. We all looked around the table like, what?"

Barley and Board's little brew house ceased production in January 2016, when owners applied for the proper permit.

The waiting period inspired Kelley, who had learned to brew beer when the restaurant opened, to rethink his approach. Barley and Board had been making beers that would run out quickly, as locals' thirst for locally-made suds took off.

Now, the system is back up and running (notably with the proper licenses). While Kelley and cook Austin Ford are experimenting with different recipes, Barley and Board is leaning on the Denton's home brewing community to fill the taps through a new collaborative series called the Home Brewers League.

Home brewers are "the essence of craft beer," Kelley says.

Each month, the restaurant will showcase a new beer conceived of and made by a local home brewer. The first is a black India pale ale, or black IPA, from home brewer Cole Haley. Drinkers can try at a launch party on June 8 at 7 p.m.

Haley, who has been brewing beer for nearly two decades, says the recipe was inspired Stone Brewing's Sublimely Self-Righteous black IPA, which uses a malt called Weyermann Carafa III.

"You get blackness of night, but none of the roast character you'd find in a porter or a stout," Haley says of using the malt. "The color is like an 'I gotcha.' Most people will expect [the beer] to be roasty, but it won't at all."

Instead, he says it takes like a traditional IPA — granted one that is 8 percent alcohol-by-volume with bold malt and hop profiles.

Next, Barley and Board is working with home brewer Brian "Toast" Tiensvold to release a French saison in July.

The restaurant is currently seeking out collaborators to be a part of the Home Brewer's League, but if this sounds up your alley, grabbing a pint in Denton and getting to know the staff probably wouldn't hurt.

Thirsty for more news? Visit GuideLive.com/craft-beer.