From All-Stars to Alan Parsons and All the Beers in Between

It was a proud day to see the NHL All-Star Game come to Nashville.  I feel fortunate to have been a part of it.  And, yes, there was beer to celebrate!

Gonna need a lot more beer or a Preds banner to actually put my lips on the Stanley Cup!  Way to many lips and hands been on that thing and it spent the off-season with the damn Blackhawks!!

Yazoo Brewing concocted a special brew just for the celebratory weekend called the Winter Park American Wheat.  It was darn tasty!!

1/30/16 - Ashlee and I enjoyed our Winter Park Wheats from Yazoo Brewing at Tavern 96 along with Predators Coach Peter Laviolette before the NHL Skills Competition

Much later that night I had  an amazing Japa Milk Chai Stout from Mantra Artisan Ales over in Franklin, TN, at a great new East Nashville restaurant called The Butcher and the Bee.

1/31/16 -  Much later the next day I had another celebratory local brew called the All Star Ale from Jackalope, who happens to be next door to Party Fowl where we were having brunch.

I had a Winter White Ale pub can from Bell's Brewery (MI) at the Bridgestone Arena before the 2016 NHL All-Star Game

2/4/16 - I had two half pints at Homegrown Taproom on the way to a Preds game tonght.  I had the Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, a strong bitter ale from Crazy Mountain Brewing (Colorado).  I finished with the Bluff City Pale from Nashville's own Tennessee Brew Works.

  I also had a Porter at Czann's Brewing downtown and walked from there to the Preds game.  Thanks again to owner and brewer, Ken Rebman, for allowing me and my friends to park there sometimes for free on game nights.  Well, we consider it free parking, because buying a pint or two of Ken's awesome brews beforehand is worth every penny!  

2/7 - I got my UNTAPPD Super Bowl Badge today and Peyton Manning got his second Super Bowl ring!! Congrats!! (and for the record I had a Coffee Milk Stout from one of my TOP FIVE faves, Stone Brewing (CA).

2/9 - It's FAT TUESDAY and I went to a Preds game tonight with my long-time pal (and fan of good beer) Craig, and beforehand we stopped for some pre-game half-pint libations and dinner at my favorite (and closest to home) beer bar. the Homegrown Tap Room.  I had the Artic Shill Scottish ale from Mantra Artisan Ales in Franklin, TN, and a Smitten Golden Rye Ale from Bell's Brewery (MI).   And for dinner it was jambalaya and a cup of gumbo, of course!

At the game I had a canned Neon Brown ale from Wiseacre Brewing over in Memphis. 

2/10 -2/12/16:  The other reason Craig was in town is so that we go start a road trip down south to catch one of our favorite artists, Alan Parsons, in concert in Jacksonville.  And it wouldn't be a road trip for me without seeking out some good beer!

2/10/16 - Our first stop below Atlanta was at the 15th Street Pizza and Pub in McDonough, Georgia.  They have a tremendous beer list and the pizza was top-notch.  I had a pint of the dark and delicious Deep, Deep, Deep, Deep (4D) Undercover IPA from Jailhouse Brewing in nearby Hampton, GA.  This will now be a regular stop for me on any road-trip south if possible.  

It was a bit too cold to sit outside, but I greatly admired the keg-fountain they have at 15th Street Pizza and Pub.

Once we hit Jacksonville and checked in to our hotel, it was a short walk through Treaty Oak Park on our way to Aardwolf Brewing for a few brews before the show began.

Here's Craig in a rare action shot at a brewpub.  I bet this game gets harder with the more samples you have....
While at Aardwolf Brewing I had a sampler seen here with the following:  Hop Oddity IPA, the Twice Invoked saison, the Insert (Hop Pun) Here IPA (my fav of the bunch) and the Styrofoam Pony stout.  Craig kindly gave me a sip of his kinda great Gingerbread Stout: Pilot Batch also.  Great place, great beer!!

The man, the legend! What a great night of classic rock (that doesn't sound classic)....so make that "timeless rock"!

Jacksonville at night is pretty sweet when the February temps allow you to walk back to your hotel across the river after a great show.

2/11/16 - On our way north to St. Simon's Island for a night we saw this bad-ass stealth warship.  Very cool!

Another stop heading north was Little Talbot Island.  We were blessed with great weather again today.

talk about running aground!!  Another cool stop on the way to St. Simon's.  And then the Navy Police questioned us...hmm.

We spent the night at The Village Inn AND PUB in St. Simon's...wonder what drew us here?

St. Simon's Lighthouse.  She's a beaut, Clark!

Panoramic view up on the St. Simon's Lighthouse.

and...back to the beer.  After our lighthouse climb, it seemed time for a brew and we found a decent selection at Palm Coast, a trendy little coffee bar with a half-dozen beer taps as well.  I had the Hoppy Medium double IPA from Foothills Brewing (NC) and a Southern Roots brown ale from Red Brick Brewing (Atlanta).

We had dinner at a touristy-looking seafood joint called Iguana's but it turns out they have a pretty darn good beer list and some top-notch seafood!  I had a Southern Skipper White IPA  from Pontoon Brewing (Atlanta) with my dinner of blackened grouper and their award-winning lightly-battered fried gulf shrimp...of which I ordered a half-dozen more because they were just so good.

The PUB at The Village Inn and Pub wasn't all that great if you are a craft beer lover.  They had a few taps to choose from, but nothing very adventurous.  I had an always-reliable Guinness Draught and a Samuel Adams Cold Snap witbier to close out the night.

We headed back on Friday to be with the wives for Valentine's weekend with our only fun stop being in Atlanta for lunch (and a few half-pints) at the amazing Wrecking Bar Brewpub.  The food was great, the old house which it is located in is quite amazing and their beer is outstanding.  This place easily rockets to #1 as my favorite beer in the Atlanta craft brewing arena.  With lunch I had Prichard's Rum Barrel Aged Pumpkin Dubbel, the Cacao Tipping Chocolate Milk Stout and Willie's Revenge Red Rye IPA.  All were outstanding.  I am coming back to Atlanta in April and I plan to visit here again!!

The brewpub's in the basement of this amazing old mansion in downtown Atlanta.

OK, we had one more quick, fun stop in Atlanta at this work of kinetic art that is a huge 22K-pound boulder called Rockspinner that, yes, you can actually spin:  

The more you know...