Sweetwater, Sweeter Beer

My wife and I took a quick trip to Atlanta this past weekend and were able to take a quick visit and tour of Sweetwater Brewing Company. This is easily one of my favorite regional brewers and I clearly think their IPA is one of the best bottled India Pale Ales I have ever had. When I found out recently that Sweetwater doesn't pasteurize their bottled beer, I think I figured out why I like their bottled IPAs so much. The hoppy aroma and flavor isn't blasted away for the sake of longer shelf-life. Pasteurization may not make a big difference in taste of other ales, stouts, lagers and pilsners, but I truly think it hurts hop-heavy IPAs because while all beer is clearly better on draught, it is extremely evident when you compare bottled IPAs to tap-poured ones.


Sweetwater Brewing sits on a dead-end road in an industrial park in the shadow of I-85 near downtown Atlanta and you better be looking for it if you want to find it. No big fancy signs or touristy glitter. This is a working brewery that just happens to have a huge tasting room with a spacious bar that allows folks in for a few hours three days a week. For $12 we got a souvenir glass and 5 tasting tickets. The pours while not full glasses were generous and easy to get thanks to several tap stations despite the surprisingly big crowd that was there. I started with their new seasonal pilsner, Road Trip, and thought it was quite good for what it was. If I have got to drink pilsner, let it be fresh from the brewery. I next opted for the Georgia Brown, a solid brown ale that makes Newcastle pale in comparison. I went for the Blue next which is my wife's favorite. This was my first time having it on draught and it was delightful. I burned my last two tickets and one of wife's on my beloved IPA and the pure draught taste and aroma just blows me away every time.


The quick tour was bit ho-hum with a glorified bartender leading it. He seemed to have rather limited knowledge on the brewery and the brewing process. For example, my wife asked him why the Blue states that it is a "malted beverage" on their bottles and a not a "beer." He had no answer as to why and also admitted he never noticed the label saying that. (how about more beer and less pot, dude?). By the way, a malted beverage is technically a beer, but when flavoring is added to the original beer (for example, blueberries) then legally it can be described as a malt beverage. Despite our Jeff Spicoli tour guide, the Sweetwater operation looks slick and impressive. Our tour guide did reveal the important information I mentioned earlier about Sweetwater not pasteurizing their beer as they aim for quality not quantity. The biggest monetary drawback to non-pasteurized beer for a brewery is of course shelf-life and by that accord Sweetwater is only available in Georgia and it's surrounding states. It's that dedication to real beer taste and quality that makes this microbrew industry such a great thing.

ADDENDUM: Thanks to my friend, Rex, in Atlanta for sharing one of his Full Sail Pale Ales while we were there. A great bottled beer out of Hood River, Oregon.

Something Old and Something New for Nashville Brew

SOMETHING NEW

I was recently able to check out the new Cool Springs Brewery over in Williamson County in the Cool Springs Mall perimeter a bit southwest of Nashville. These guys had really impressed me recently at the Franklin Beer Fest (see previous blog) and I was anxious to see their new digs. My best friend (and previous blog guest), Craig, and his wife, Alison, and their boys, Ryan and Colin, were coming back through town from spring break and gave me a call to meet them for dinner. Albeit a litte out of the way, Craig and I as beer lovers both wanted to give it a try.

The place was easy to find and was really jumping for a Wednesday night. After a brief wait, we were able to get a table. I immediately ordered a pint of their hilariously-named Pecker Wrecker IPA. Yum-a-dum-dum!! Smooth and hoppy to the last drop. Craig had their oatmeal stout and was impressed with it (photo above). I had a sample of the stout at the beer festival, but Craig's opinion is probably more true since stouts are his beer of choice usually.

We ordered New York style pizza for dinner which was enjoyed by all. The pesto and shrimp combo that Alison and I shared was unusual and tasty. My second beer was their Franklin's First. Per the name it has the distinction of being the first microbrew commercially produced in Williamson County whose seat is the city of Franklin. While I am not the biggest fan of the German kolsch-style beer, this stuff isn't bad at all and went down smooth and light.

Unlike some microbreweries, their craft at CSB is actually produced on site. The tanks are visible as you walk in the establishment. They are a bit limited (for now) on production --I wanted to try their Scotch ale (another great name, the Kilt Lifter) but it won't be ready until next week -- but they are off to a great start and I wish them all the success possible. I will definitely be back whenever the opportunity arises. Here's a link for more info:

http://www.coolspringsbrewery.com/


SOMETHING OLD

The other night before a concert at The Ryman, the wife and I and our friend, Nate, met at The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in downtown Nashville to knock back a few brews. Amazingly, I have never been to The Flying Saucer despite their long-time reputation for having dozens of beer on tap and even more to choose from in bottles. I can't really say why I have not other than lack of purpose on my part. That...is going to have to change. What a great place! We sat out on the open-air patio (the only real bummer is that smoking is allowed inside) and poured over their expansive beer menu. They were running a Sunday special on some of my favorite regional microbrews (Sweetwater, Terrapin, Highland and Yazoo) and par the course I went ahead and picked one from Terrapin right off the bat that they were out of (this seems to happen to me all the time....CARRY MORE HOPPY BEER, PEOPLE!!! IT'S VERY POPULAR!!). So much for the good deal since I had already tried everything else they carried from these particular brands. I settled for the Victory Hop Devil in a bottle for my alternate choice. It was nice and hoppy, but not as extreme as the name might imply, Victory's Hop Wallop remains my favorite from these Pennsylvania brewers. Next I went a little weird and tried Lost Coast Brewing's Tangerine. Not bad for a fruit-infused wheat beer, but now that I have it on my growing list of beers I have tried, I don't see me getting it again. I finished with something I had tried a sample of at a recent beer festival, Rogue's Hazlenut Brown Nectar - this nut brown ale is extremely good and made a great finale for my first, but definitely not last, visit to this regional chain. Here's a link for more info including their 14 locations:
http://www.beerknurd.com/

The Mac Daddy of Original Great Beer Menus

Growing up in the Chattanooga area I have seen it go from one of the most depressing, dirty downtowns anywhere into one of the most vibrant revitalized urban centers around (and I travel a lot and have had a lot to compare it to). The craft beer culture has also been a big part of Chattanooga's rebirth and from previous blogs you can see that I list it as one of my favorite places to drink a beer (Market Street Grille, Deluxe Grill) , discover new beer from around the country and the world (Southern Brewers Fest, Riverside Beverages, Green Life Grocery) and now that even produces great beer (Terminal Brewhouse, Moccasin Bend Brewing). But I would be remiss not to give a shout out to one of the most original and best places in downtown Chattanooga to lead the way if providing great beer selections at reasonable prices with good food to go along with it. The place is called Taco Mac, and it's a regional chain started in Atlanta over 30 years ago. The one in Chattanooga has been open at least 20 years and it's definitely the first place I remember seeing a "real" separate beer menu and where draught beer was taken seriously by the establishment.

My wife and I stopped by for dinner there this past weekend while in town visiting family and we quickly remembered what a great place it is, and that it had been way too long since our last visit. We ordered fajitas and they were excellent. We sat and watched on a huge clear TV screen our favorite college basketball team, Duke, dismantle West Virginia on the their way to the national championship game, and I had two delicious beers. The first was a bottle of Shipyard IPA from Maine. Great hoppy taste and finish. The second was a draught of 400 Lb. Monkey IPA from Left Hand Brewing out in Colorado. A supremely good single-batch seasonal brew that I hope these guys put in their regular rotation because it's a damn good beer.

Thanks again Taco Mac for basically busting my "real beer" cherry so long ago and for continuing to pride yourselves in good beer and good food while copycats spring up all around you.