BONNA-BREW

I had a few new beers at the Broo'ers Festival Tent at Bonnaroo 2010 this year that including a couple of new (to me) brewers as well. I actually didn't spend a whole lot of time in the tent since I have had most of what was being offered, but I did spend a lot of money in there because their prices were a little bloated - between $7 and $8 for a 16 oz. plastic cup of beer or $3 for a tiny "taste" of it. Ridiculous! Not a great way to drum up business, folks, when there is cheaper Bud and Miller just outside. But no one said snobbery was cheap!

First I had the new Sch*Wheat (great name) from my good friends down at Sweetwater Brewing in Atlanta. Wheat beers aren't my favorite, but this one was well made and they are extremely good as the temperatures rise outside, and it was absolutely boiling at Bonnaroo this year.

The first new (to me) brewery I checked out was Thomas Creek Brewing out of upstate South Carolina. The first of only two of their products that they had available was their Stillwater Vanilla Cream Ale. This was a great light summer beer and the vanilla was a pleasant finisher (photo below among the mass of humanity that is Bonnaroo). Much smoother than straight wheat beers. They also had a nice Irish Red they called the River Falls Red Ale. Not only was it good, but I got it for free with full 16 oz. pour from a pitcher that was starting to warm a bit. Still cold enough for me, however! Thanks, guys! I look forward to trying more of their products as they hopefully start distributing in Middle Tennessee. Their website only shows East Tennessee locations right now.

The other brewery I did not recognize was Nola Brewing out of New Orleans, LA. I started with their Brown Ale which was top notch. Nice nutty start and finish. Next I had their Belgium-style summer seasonal ale called the Hurricane Saison. This was another pleasant beer for summer weather, but I still give the winning nod to the Stillwater Vanilla Cream as the best that I tried. According to their website Nola is a small operation with only 3 yearly products and the one seasonal as of now. Their distribution map shows they only going as far north as Montgomery, Alabama, but it sounds like they are testing Tennessee waters with their visit to Bonnaroo.

ADDENDUM: A follow0up report on the canned beer from Oskar Blues Brewing that I took to Bonnaroo found both the Gubna Imperial IPA and the Gordon Ale to be outstanding beers. They especially helped ease the time to get into Bonnaroo this year which was a total cluster&#$@ of seven hours! Thank goodness for good beer on hand!