16th Annual Southern Brewers Festival - Chattanooga, TN

My wife and I and some friends attended the 16th Annual Southern Brewers Festival in Chattanooga this past weekend and had a great time. We stayed right near the festival on our friends' (Tiff and Brenda) boat. There was great music by Big Head Todd & the Monsters. And, of course, there was a lot of great beer.

We opted this year for the "Party on the Pier" (photo above) VIP passes that promised us unlimited food, beer as well as beer-garden-style seating at the festival, private restrooms and close access to the music stage. It was a good deal overall. My only hesitation was that the "unlimited beer" was being provided by Gordon Biersch Brewing, the sponsor of the "Party on the Pier." My past dealings with Gordon-Biersch beer have not been too great. What little I have had of their offerings (a lame airport bar, Big River Restaurant brands, Sin City Brewing in Vegas) has been ho-hum at best. But, I figured if their beer selection wasn't great, I still had plenty of microbrewers to choose from at the festival.

We still only got one sample token with our ticket and I spent it quickly on a mug of Sierra Nevada Tumbler Brown Ale. Delicious. The folks at Sierra-Nevada hardly ever disappoint and even though they aren't a "Southern" brewer, I was glad they were there. After that great start, we ambled on to the pier to see what the unlimited beer and food consisted of. The food was impressive with a good spread of eats including grilled brats, Kobe burgers, salad, cookies, etc. As far the beer went, I first thought they only had two offerings which were listed on a tap station near the food - Gordon Biersch Rodenbier and Gordon Biersch Czech-style Pilsner - definitely nothing to get excited about, but I had not had either from G-B, so I give them a try. The pilsner was actually decent, but I didn't car of the Rodenbier at all. Can't find out much about it. It translates "Clear Beer" in German. Beats me. It wasn't clear but it was quite bitter. I asked for another pilsner at a different tap station. I figured I would have one more "freebie" and then go buy some tokens and have some good beer. The lady behind the tap said she didn't have the pilsner. She had a lager and a stout.

"Stout, please!" I replied joyfully.

It seems each of the four tap stations had different beer, but no signs saying what they had except at the first one I went to. The stout was quite decent. The other stations I visited had a CPA (California Pale Ale) and a Roasted Pale Ale. Both were very good. Needless to say, I spent most of my afternoon and evening partaking in the decent, bottomless beers provided by Gordon Biersch.

I was given a token by a friend of ours who isn't a big beer drinker...then why did you come to a BEER festival?? Oh, well, I don't care. More for me! I sampled the Starr Hill Festie with that token. Another excellent brew from the guys from Charlottesville, VA. It's an Oktoberfest-style lager that was smooth going down and finished nicely.

I guess I did miss the opportunity to try a few new beers at the festival (there were only a few I didn't recognize), but bottomless beer at no extra cost is hard to pass up. Another great beer festival in Tennessee. You gotta love it.

The ABCs of A.B.C.

My wife and I went to Atlanta for a concert over the weekend and were able to stop by the Atlanta Brewing Company (ABC) on Saturday afternoon and check out their small tasting room and brewery. ABC touts itself as the "oldest" microbrewery in Atlanta, but this location is actually newer than their competition up the road, Sweetwater Brewing, which I also toured recently (see previous blog). They can claim the "oldest in Atlanta" moniker because they are a rebirth of Red Brick Brewing, an original Atlanta microbrewer that shut down for a while and has now been given rebirth under ABC production.

Their modest operation is also producing rather modest brews as well without much variety in terms of original recipes. I tried their Red Brick Brown Ale, their Red Brick Blonde, their Red Brick Octoberfest (not much variety or originality in beer names either) and their Red Brick Pale Ale. Their only original name (and best beer by the way) is their Laughing Skull Amber Ale which I have also had in the past in a bottle. It's a good American ale with nice body and finish. I didn't have a problem with any of their beers in terms of taste. They just don't happen to be as memorable or bold as some of Sweetwater's concoctions.

B -Double E- Double R- A-N-T...Beer Rant!!

So my wife and I are in nearby Murfreesboro the other night to pick our car up from the service shop at the Honda dealership there, and we decide to have dinner while in town. I suggest Old Chicago Pasta and Pizza, a new chain-style restaurant that's been getting good reviews from some of my co-workers. I also hear they have "over 100 beers on tap." This, of course, intrigues me greatly and as we pull into the parking lot their large sign out front proudly claims "110 Brews." Now I am really intrigued!

Well, that didn't last long.

They only have about 20 beers on tap and most of those are very common and most mass-produced swill. Even the microbrews they do have on tap and in bottles are run of the mill. I search and search the beer menu for something new. I finally settle on a Brazilian black ale called Xingu. It's in a bottle even though our ditzy waitress asked if I want a glass, a pint or a 22 oz. big gulp. Did I mention it was in a bottle like it says on the menu? Anyway, I am kind of over waitresses who don't have a clue about the beer they are serving - that's a fairly common occurrence. I am even over places claiming they have a "great variety" of beer selection and then finding out they basically have 10 different kinds of Budweiser and four different kinds of Miller. Or, if they do have something interesting on the menu, they are out of it when I order it. That's not what this rant is all about. This rant is about the bone-head who came up with their beer menu. Here's a few of the "WTF?" excerpts from it:

1. The "micro of the month" was Michelob Ultra? Dude, really??

2. The "new brews" were two common Leinenkugel's products. By the way, they are the 7th oldest brewery in America.

3. The "local flavor" was the Boulder Single Track - a decent copper ale that is produced in...Colorado....yeah, not so local.

4. Their "No. 2 World Specialty Bottle" was Sweetwater Blue...you know....from the country of ATLANTA!!

Good grief! What a joke! I hit up their website with my thoughts on their stupid menu and have yet to hear back from them. I will update this blog if I do.

The Xingu was a mass-produced soapy bore. The pizza was OK. I am not a big fan of deep-dish Chicago-style pizza anyway. Let's just say I won't be back...unless I get some freebies for my rant on their moronic menu.

PLEASE BRING A YARD HOUSE TO MIDDLE TENNESSEE!! Great food and one hundred beers actually on tap with great variety. Man, I miss Vegas!

EPILOGUE: 8/8/10 - Got a great response from them. Here it is verbatim:

Dear Mr. Fulfer,

Thanks for taking the time to make us aware of our opportunities with our beer menu. We will take a look at those beers and get them correctly identified with the correct terminology or replace them with beers that fit. I will make this a subject at a General Managers meeting on August 17th to ensure we have beers correctly identified and make beer lovers proud. I would love to send you a GC as a token of my appreciation. I just need your address. Thanks!!

Harold Wallace

Old Chicago (OCI Enterprises, Inc.)

VP of Operations

I was sent a $25 gift certificate a few days later. Thanks OCI! Now get to work on fixing that menu!!