From Computer Code to Beer Cans
Written By: Grant Klembara · Photography By: Doug Klembara
As a kid, Joel remembers peeking at the movies playing at Astro Drive-In Movie Theater as his family drove by. He grew up right around there, near Polar Bear Ice Cream and Austin’s BBQ. These are a few things that have since disappeared since he was riding his bike around Oak Cliff as a kid.
But there are some things that haven't changed at all. When he drives by Kidd Springs Park with his mother, she tells him about every tree she climbed in the park as a kid–many of which are still standing. So is the house his grandfather built.
Joel Denton's family has lived in Oak Cliff for three generations. His grandmother was born in the La Reunion area, which as you may know, has its own fascinating history. His mother and father were in the first and second graduating classes of Kimball High School. And his grandfather, nearly 70 years ago, founded a church right down the street that served the Oak Cliff community for many years.
Joel’s father and his uncles followed in their father’s footsteps and became pastors. “I became a brewer,” he said with a grin.
Some of his family eventually moved to the panhandle, and he took off to college at Texas A&M. Oak Cliff continued to change in his absence – this was the early 90s – but he would always come back home for a visit. Family get-togethers and holidays were always spent in Oak Cliff. After college he moved back and met and married his wife Mia who grew up only a mile away from his childhood home.
“It wasn’t good at all...but it didn’t kill me.”
Contrary to many of the other men in his family, he entered into a career in technology. He became a developer and for 25 years, he built systems for companies across the United States. Right before he started the brewery, he was working remotely as the VP of Product Engineering for a major healthcare company in New York City.
“You know, you build something, pouring your life and energy into it, it's a piece of code, ones and zeros, and someone goes off and uses it. And you're confident that there's value in it, but you don't see who's using it and you don't see what kind of impact it has,” he said, reflecting on his development work.
Around 2007, one of his friends from work gave him a gift that–little did he know at the time–would change his life. It was a home brew kit, complete with some liquid malt and hops, a little packet of yeast, a few glass bottles and a five gallon pot. He brewed his first batch out of his garage.
“It wasn’t good at all,” he said, laughing. “But it didn’t kill me.”
Just like that, he was completely captivated. As he moved further and further into the homebrew world, he realized that his analytical engineering mind fit well in the scientific process of brewing. Most of all he loved that he was actually creating something physical.
“Beer is tangible, something you can share with people, and sit down and watch them enjoy it and have fun. I never experienced that with software development,” he said.
“Beer is tangible, something you can share with people...”
Joel continued to brew and even began entering competitions around the metroplex, and enjoyed a lot of success. Around the same time, Dallas-Fort Worth was experiencing a craft brewing explosion. New breweries were popping up everywhere–that is, except in Oak Cliff and South Dallas.
“During that time, you had to cross the river if you wanted to visit a brewery–you had to go pretty far north,” he said.
So when Joel told his family that he and some of the family members were thinking about starting a brewery, there was naturally some concern. You have to remember, nearly every other man in the family had entered into ministry. He assured them that everything was going to be OK.
“A big part of the brewery is just building and cultivating relationships, which is the very same thing my grandparents were doing back in the fifties,” he said. “If I can build a place where people can come together and meet and have a good time, then yeah, that’s fulfilling to me.”
As Joel set out to put Oak Cliff on the beer map, he needed to find a place to do it. Obviously, it needed to be in Oak Cliff, and ideally near neighborhoods–this was going to be a community gathering place. But finding commercial space in a neighborhood is not exactly easy. Luckily, he found Tyler Station.
“It's like it's right in the middle of a number of historic neighborhoods, and it’s right off the DART line,” he said. “It was the first location I called on, and it's worked out nicely.”
At first, he was rightfully concerned with some of the troubling history of Tyler Station and its impact on the immediate neighborhoods surrounding it. The incineration of some hazardous waste and its pollution in the creek behind the station left a bad mark on the building. This was what partially led Tyler Station to be vacant for so many years. But then Monte Anderson took notice and decided to reclaim it as a positive place for the neighborhood.
“Monte is the guy that came in here and reinvented this place,” he said.
Oak Cliff Brewing Co. opened its doors in 2018 and has been the favorite gathering place for neighbors ever since. They just celebrated their fourth anniversary, and are now canning their signature beers.
They’ve also partnered with Oak Cliff Cultural Center for monthly lotería nights and host art markets and yoga sessions. Drop by and you will always find them pouring their signature beers, Oak Cliff Hefeweizen, Lager, Black Lager and Lee Hazy Oswald Hazy IPA. They also have a Paleta Weisse series, a sour wheat ale that they rotate with different seasonal fruits. You will also find a food truck in the biergarten, which sits directly next to the building, as well as pop-up tacos in the taproom every Friday.
They recently hosted the 2nd Annual Oaktoberfest in partnership with Options Real Estate and Go Oak Cliff. They even brewed a special Festbier for the occasion.
One thing Joel probably never imagined as a kid was owning and operating his own brewery at the old Dixie Wax Paper plant – he remembers driving past that too. But his love for Oak Cliff has deep roots, so it shouldn’t be too surprising. “There was really never any question about what it would be called,” he says, “or what the name would be: It was Oak Cliff from the beginning.”
