I-rish I Had More Beer

Saturday, March 14, 2009

My wife, Ashlee, our friends, Nate and Carolyn, and I attended the 6th Annual Fiele Franklin Irish festival this past weekend and it turned into a wonderful opportunity to try out a bevy of new (to me) beers - none of which happened to be from Ireland. The festival was free during the day with the option to partake in a beer-tasting at over 20 different stations around Franklin's historic downtown afte 6 P.M. Nate, who is also a beer affecienado (and has actually probably tried more different kinds than I have), and I looked over the list of samples to be offered and while not every stop was of interest since they were fairly common beer labels there were at least a dozen or so that we were unfamiliar with and had an interest in trying. But what's a guy (and another guy and two gals) to do until 6 PM during a rainy Irish festival - why head to the local Irish pub, of course! It's called McCreary's and we chose it because we were hungry, it was an Irish festival and the weather just wasn't that great to hang around outdoors. We put our name on the waiting list and I grabbed a Guinness - in a plastic cup (ho-hum) - and waited a half-hour to get into the tiny establishment....it was so worth the wait! Great atmosphere, excellent food and A BOTTLED BEER LIST THAT WAS AMAZING for such a small place with very fair prices as well. Here's what I had while we were there for what turned out to be close to three hours....

Naked Lion Copper Flask - an interesting Cervasa-style lager (hey, I didn't know it was a lager or I probably wouldn't have ordered it in an Irish place) that is brewed in Memphis. I admit it was a strange choice after having a Guinness to start the day, but I actually enjoyed it's unique flavor and love that it's a Tennessee brewery. I hope to see more from these guys in the near future.

Young Double Chocolate Stout - as Dave Attell would say, "yum and dum, dum!" This English product was delicious from start to finish with a great body and ultra-smooth finish. Easily moves into my Top Ten of all time. I highly recommend this to my long-time friend (and probably the most consistent reader of this blog - thanks, bud), Craig, who loves stouts. You will probably have to go to a liquor store to find it, however, because it's alcohol content was well above the state-restricted 5%.

Fiddler's Elbow Pale Ale - another top notch Limey concoction of lovely taste and texture. Great artwork on the label as well. All the the Wychwood Brewery selections have kind of a Tolkein-esque theme in name and artwork. My friend, Nate, had their Hobgoblin Brown Ale as one of his selections and enjoyed it as well.

St. Pete's Organic Ale - well, I knew it would happen eventually and now it did. I ordered a beer I thought I had never had before and yet when the barkeep brought the uniquely-shaped bottle to the table along with a fresh glass (did I mention I love this pub?) I instantly knew I had made an error. Luckily, it was a delicious error that I enjoyed to the last drop. This Scottish product is a beautifully-crafted beer that I highly recommend...again and again.

As if that wasn't enough, it was now time to leave McCreary's for the actual designated Fiele Franklin Beer Tasting...and here's the long list along with a quick review of each one:

- Manis Otter Pale Ale - Blackstone Brewery - Nashville - thumbs up - the only local brew I tried (Yazoo was there but had nothing I hadn't had already) and the only draught beer I had. Everything else was poured from a bottle.
- St. Bernardus Watou Tripel - Belgium - oh yeah, those monks know what they are doing!
- Great Divide Wild Raspberry - Colorado - interesting
- Great Divide Denver Pale Ale - Colorado - bravo!
- Lost Coast Alley Cat Amber Ale - California - good stuff
- Lost Coast Downtown Brown Ale - CA - yes, please
- Belhaven Scottish Ale - Scotland - pretty good but they advertised an IPA they didn't have - boo!!!
- Wells Brewing Banana Bread Beer - England - incredible aroma, so-so taste
- Wells Brewing Bambardier Ale - England - top shelf
- Boulevard Irish Ale - Kansas City - well done
- Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat - KC - cute, but not my thing
- Star Hill Brewery Dark Star Porter - Virginia - more, more, more
- Star Hill Northern Lights - VA - my favorite of the show , an IPA, of course
- Magic Hat Seasonal High IPA - Vermont - much better than the Magic Cat IPA in my opinion

ADDENDUM: Sticking with the Irish (but not really Irish) beer theme. I also had a pint of Big River's new Irish Red Lager Friday night during dinner. Fairly bland and uninteresting as is most of Big River's fare except their Stout and Red Ale which are decent.