Brews Clues from All Over the State of Tennessee

During visits to three different towns here in the great state of Tennessee recently, I was able to add four more beers to my list over the past couple of weeks and also met a nice fellow with an interesting beer-related business.

Chattanooga - While visiting relatives back home in my old stomping grounds the weekend before last, I stopped by the magnificent Greenlife Grocery to peruse their splendid beer aisle and bought two interesting single-bottle pints to sample when I got back home the following week. The first was Greene King Export IPA from England. Fairly disappointing to be honest with a harsher bitterness than most IPAs that I have enjoyed in the past and not near the hoppy aroma I look for in IPAs. The story of the origin of this IPA that was printed on their bottle also seems to differ from what I understood of the history of IPAs. It is my understanding that extra hops were added in IPAs in the 1700s to keep Britian's ale drinkable until it got to the far reachs of the Empire - such as India. But according to the Greene King bottle their "Export IPA" was designed specifically for British citizens at home desiring the IPA taste that was sent abroad...maybe that's the problem...this stuff reallly should be sent to India...and left there...and the real IPAs left at home. Per their website they do have a regular IPA and several other brews that might be worth a try including Old Speckled Hen which I have seen before, but never tried.

The second beer I bought at Greenlife was Kelpie Seaweed Ale - you guessed it - the name just suckered me right in. "Infused with seaweed" - well, of course, I had to try it! Brewed on the coast of Scotland (hey, that's where the seaweed is) by Heather Ale Brewing, this strange little concoction was actually pretty good. I can't say I got a real whiff of the sea from it's aroma as the bottle claimed, but it had a pleasant taste and gentle finish that was quite satisfying.

Nashville - While waiting on a movie to start at the historic Belcourt Theatre on West End Avenue last Friday night, my wife, Ashlee, and our friend, Carolyn, stopped in Bosco's Brewery and Restaurant for dinner and a few beers. I clung stubbornly to my true love for the first couple of pints there, their Bombay IPA, but then decided to give their featured Cask Conditioned Olde FoolAle a try during dinner. I went back to the IPA to finish off the meal. Plain and simple: I didn't care for it too much. Seemed almost flat to me with little body and less finish than I was expecting. It's very popular among the Bosco faithful, but I can't say I am one of them. While standing at the bar waiting for our table, two seats opened up actually at the bar and I ushered Ashlee and Carolyn into them. A guy in the chair next to Ashlee offered me his seat explaining that he was getting ready to go. I thanked him and upon reading his T-shirt - "Nashville Brews Cruise" - I told him I liked his shirt. He thanked me and we struck up a conversation about it. His name is John Cummins and he is the proprietor of "Nashville Brews Cruise." His service allows groups of beer loving visitors in Nashville to be escorted to 3 of the 4 breweries in Nashville (on a rotating schedule) and sample their wares and then be delivered back to their hotel or wherever they were picked up with no fear of DUIs, no worries with directions, no problems trying to find parking (ALWAYS a problem at Bosco's on West End) and a chance to try most of what Music City is brewing in a short amount of time. John was having a couple of pints after a long day of driving a 17-member rugby team from Philadelphia around (in a 15-passenger van) who he said "were already drunk when I picked them up at Hooter's." This man deserved a quiet pint or two after that ordeal! John and I continued talking until our table was ready for dinner discussing beer, craft brewing, regional beer (including our love of Asheville and it's beer scene - guess where John got his idea for a Nashville Brews Cruise?). It certainly was a pleasure meeting him and I will certainly be spreading the word about his service. Starting with a link right here:

http://www.brewscruise.com/nashville/

Murfreesboro: FOUND: A real beer store within a half-hour's drive of Lebanon! Hoo-ray!! Total Beverages on Thompson Lane is a spacious new store with an incredible beer selection (now if they will only get kegs and growlers like my favorite beer store - Riverside Beverages in Chattanooga). My wife and I were in Murfreesboro to get our Honda Accord serviced at the dealer last Saturday and we were scheduled to have a Wine Group Meet-up later in the evening and since Ashlee has given up wine for Lent she opted to find a beer she could take instead and still stick with the theme (chocolate). She had seen this store before but never stopped there and I didn't know it existed....glad I do now (thanks, hon!). After looking over our vast amount of options she went with an excellent choice: The Black Mocha Chocolate Stout from Highlands Brewing (from where else...Asheville).I had this wonderful medal-winning stout before (pre-blog) and knew she would like it. She did despite not having much of a history drinking stouts. Good chocolate aroma with a gentle smokey taste and pleasing aftertaste. I, of course, couldn't leave the store without snapping up a new (to me) IPA six-pack and my choice was Avery India Pale Ale from Avery Brewing in Boulder, Colorado. Excellent bottled IPA. Good aroma, nice finish, completely satisfying. It's a great feeling all day to know you have a beer in the fridge that you look forward to drinking that evening.