Summer of 2023 is the tentative opening date for Happy Hippie Brewing Company’s taproom and production facility in Richardson. Happy Hippie owner Michael Frederick told What Now Dallas that they plan to sign a lease in the next week, and construction is set to begin after the first of the year.
The new spot at 500 Lockwood Dr. is located in the Lockwood District, which is part of the city’s entertainment destination, Richardson Core District. The space is about 11,000-square-feet. “A little more than half of that is going to be production space, and then the other half is going to be a taproom. We do have covered outdoor seating that faces to the north, which means it’s shaded all day,” Frederick said.
Happy Hippie started brewing and selling beer in 2020. Some of the highest rated and most popular Happy Hippie brews include a Belgian tripel called Captain Tripels and the Maker’s Mark barrel-aged version of that brew, which is called Captain Tripels Meets His Maker.
Other popular Happy Hippie brews include the Lemon Drop Pale Ale, which features a slight citrus taste, the mango-basil blonde dubbed Marmalade Sky, and the Party at the Moon Tower IPA. “It’s not overly hoppy. We say it’s an IPA for people that don’t like IPAs,” Frederick said.
“We plan on having 18 taps. We don’t know how many we will initially use when we open. A couple of those are going to be nitro, so we’ll just have to see what kind of mix we put in and open up with.” Plans are to also offer a frozen seltzer with a flavored, seltzer base.
Happy Hippie doesn’t have plans to serve food, but the new location will have space for food trucks. Happy Hippie guests can also order food from area restaurants to have it delivered.
Depending on construction and equipment, they hope to open in June of 2023 at the earliest. “We’ve been fighting the roller coaster of COVID,” he said, “and we’re just happy to get a location with a taproom, so we can go direct to the consumer.”
