On our way to see the new IMAX film,
Tomorrowland, I stopped at Hop Stop over in East Nashville with Ashlee. I have been here several times, but this was her first visit. I had the
Wet Hot American Wheat from Finch's (Chicago), then
Damascene Apricot Sour Ale from Tin Man Brewing (Evansville, IN) and a sip of Ashlee's
Pear Harvest Smokey Treat from Calfkiller Brewing (Sparta, TN)
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By the way, the food at The Hop Stop is as outstanding as their beer selections.
This is their Chicago Dog |
Speaking of finally taking someone somewhere, after several trips on her own with work, I finally got to go to
Kansas City with Ashlee, That makes it down to only four states I haven't visited with Kansas now crossed off. Of course, there's a lot of beer in KC as well!!
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| Lunch was at a gas station/BBQ joint called Joe's where I had the "burnt-ends" daily special along with red beans and rice and a Pop-Up IPA from KC's own Boulevard Brewing. Hey, I wasn't on the clock! |
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| After work, we stopped by Boulevard Brewing for a couple of flights - I had the Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale, the 80-acre Hoppy Wheat, the Tasting Room Red IPA, the Heavy Lifting IPA and sips of Ashlee's Pale Ale and KC Pils(ner). All were tasty. |
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| Next stop was McCoy's Public House where I had pony half-pints of their Hogpound Brown and Newcom's IPA, plus a sip of Ashlee's Raspberry Wheat and a final pony of their Oatmeal Stout. All were very solid. |
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| The next day we headed east to Columbia, Missouri and had dinner at the Flat Branch Pub and Brewing in Columbia. The generous flight of six of their own beers included the Sorachi Ace Pale Ale, the Katy Trail Pale Ale, Ed's IPA, the Green Chili Beer (my fav of the trip),the Oil Change Oatmeal Stout and their Vanilla Bean Ale. Food was good too. Great place and a very cool little college town. |
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| We closed the evening after a great concert by Butch Walker nearby, up on The Roof of the Doubletree Hotel where we were staying and I had the Double Rye IPA from the local Broadway Brewery on a beautiful Missouri full-moon night. |
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Ashlee surprised me with an awesome ice-cream cake from Baskin-Robbins.
The design was fabulous and made me thirsty, so I cut the sweetness with a Crabbie's Ginger Beer. |
Back in Nashville the introducing each other to new stuff continued as I took Ashlee to
Butchertown Hall for dinner and a Sounds baseball game in their new stadium. I had the
Golden Ale from my favorite local brewery,
Cool Springs. Then I had the wonderfully-hoppy
Soul Style American IPA from Green Flash Brewing (San Diego, CA).
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| I had a variety six-pack at home from the always-great Mt. Juliet Beer Company. This group included the Bearded Lady witbier from Good People Brewing (Birmingham, AL), the Suzy B blonde ale from Southern Prohibition Brewing (Hattiesburg, MS), the Shiner (TX) Prickly Pear fruit beer, the Rambler pale ale from Green Man Brewery (Asheville, NC), the Introvert IPA from Left Hand Brewing (Longmont, CO) and finally the Melonhead fruit (watermelon) beer from Shipyard Brewing (Portland, ME). I liked it, but Ashlee loved it, and has proclaimed it her "beer of Summer 2015." We bought a case of it to prove it... |
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| Cool cat - cold beer - good times. |
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| Goes great with fish on the patio!! |
We made it back to
Bonnaroo this year for a one-day VIP visit, but the only new beer I had there was a
Jibe Session IPA from Green Flash (San Diego).
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| That same week we attended a Rolling Stones concert at LP Field/Nissan Stadium in Nashville. We did some tailgating beforehand and I brought along some Truck Stop Honey Brown Ale from Back Forty Beer Company (Gadsden, AL) and the Hop Dang Diggity American IPA from Jekyll Brewing (Alpharetta, GA). Both were excellent, as were Mick and the boys despite their ages. |
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| It's only beer and rock-and-roll, but I like it... |
