OBX Beer

On a recent trip to the beautiful Outer Banks (OBX) of North Carolina, I found a nice little trio of small brewpubs to visit.



The Weeping Radish isn't technically on the Outer Banks (it used to be we learned later), but it's close enough in Javisburg, NC, and was right on the way from our drive down from the airport in Norfolk, VA.  It's a German-based brewery with a half-dozen taps of beer made on the premises.  I tried their sampler and wasn't overly impressed to be honest.  Not their fault really, I am not the biggest fan of German-style beer (despite my heritage)...too much malt and not enough hops for my taste.  My favorite was their Black Raddish, a nice, smooth dark lager. I should mention that their food was very good including their amazing fresh-made sausage sampler platter.



The Full Moon Brewery and Cafe in Manteo, NC, was actually a surprise find.  We just happen to be staying two nights in Manteo and stumbled upon this place located near the lovely town harbor.  It was an easy walk from our B&B.  They are a fairly new establishment and their own beer was limited in variety and was OK in taste at best.  Their menu also featured some other regional beers and I had a good  pint of Endo IPA from Cottonwood/Carolina Brewing in Mooresville, NC.  Like the Weeping Radish, Full Moon's food was the best thing they had going, and my enchilada stuffed with local shrimp and crab was outstanding.

The largest, most well-known microbrewery in the OBX is The Outer Banks Brewing Station.  We stopped in here briefly for a beer sampler and were pleased with the results.  Nice hoppiness in their pale ale.  This was the best beer in the area that we found and we will definitely come back here.  We didn't eat here, but the food looked good and smelled great.





The coolest thing about The Outer Banks Brewing Station is that it is the first and only (so far) brewpub in the U.S. that is completely wind-powered.  Note the windmill behind the building.  Its location near famous Jockey's Ridge in Kitty Hawk made the choice to harness the ample wind power a smart and obvious one.



I also had a pint of Sky Blue Golden Ale at a pub up in Corolla, NC. It's brewed by Carolina Brewing as well and was good going down after a hot day on the beach and dunes of The Outer Banks.

Beer in "The Middle"

Some beer encounters in "The Middle of America" from two recent road trips to and through Indiana, some of Illinois and a little of western Ohio,  for the Indy 500 in May and then for a couple of concerts in Cincinnati and Chicago the following weekend:

Three great words on a sign in downtown Nashville, Indiana



Big Woods Brewing is a relatively new microbrewery located in Nashville...no, not that one...Nashville, Indiana, a very cool little town in the regionally popular Brown County. It's about an hour south of Indianapolis.  Their beer was pretty good and their food was excellent.  The brewpub is a very nice place with a hunting lodge type of feel to it.  Favorite beer I tried was the Busted Knuckle Red Ale.





The generous tasting sampler from Lafayette Brewing Company in Lafayette, Indiana, near Purdue University.  Wonderful beer and their food was excellent as well. 

A craft beer veteran that opened their doors way back in 1993.



I had this pint can of  hoppy beauty in downtown Chicago at Stanley's Kitchen & Tap.   Half Acre Brewing is a Chicago-based brewery that I will have to check out next time I am in The Windy City.  I also had a pint of Little Sumpin' Sumpin' Ale from Lagunitas, CA, at The Pubic House bar in downtown Chicago. It was excellent.



A couple Goose Island Brewing (Chicago-area-based) craft taps at Stanley's in Chicago plus their own "house" beer, SKT.  I had the Green Line which is an American pale ale.  It was pretty good.

Other stops in "the middle" included a re-visit to New Albanian Brewing just across the river from Louisville in New Albany, IN, where I had their Henna Black IPA.    Also stopped at Powerhouse Brewing in Columbus, Indiana, but wasn't real impressed with their beer.  Their Two Daves IPA was yucky sweet in taste.  Oaken Barrel Brewing in Greenwood, Indiana, on the outskirts of Indianapolis was much better.  I enjoyed their Razz-Wheat and their Super Fly IPA. We took a six-pack of the Razz-Wheat with us to the Indy 500.

One of our favorite stops was 3 Floyds Brewing just before the Illinois state line in Munster, Indiana.  All of their products are superb with specials nods going to the Artic Panzer Wolf IPA, the Dreadnought IPA and the Alpha King Pale Ale.  One of their guest taps was none other than from California's Pizza Port Brewing which my wife has visited and is acquainted with a gal pal who works with them.  I had a pint of their A.B.L.E. (Above Life's Expectations) American Imperial Double Stout which was tremendous..  3 Floyd's beer was so good that we brought a good amount of it home and invited over some folks for another beer tasting.  This one had an Indiana theme since we also brought some of the Oaken Barrel product back as well.

During a food tour in downtown Cincinnati, I also had a half pint of cask-conditioned Alba Scots Ale from Williams Bros. Brewing in Scotland at a cool pub called Nicholson's.

EXTRAS:

In a recent variety six-pack from the Mt. Juliet Beer Company near home I had a few new-to-me's including:  Sarnac Summer Ale (NY), Black Hawk Stout (NY), Truckstop Honey Brown Ale (Back Forty Brewing, Birmingham, AL), wild Blueberry Wheat Ale (Sea Dog Brewing,  Maine)

Attended my first beer tasting hosted by WOW Wingery in Mt. Juliet featuring several beers from Schlafly Brewing out of St. Louis. This is third tasting that has been done out on the patio at WOW and hopefully there will be many more to come because it was great.