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!

CAN you believe it's time for Bonnaroo again!

It's approaching the second week in June and that's means only one thing: Bonnaroo Time!! The annual 4-day Middle Tennessee Music and Arts Festival (of which my wife and I will be attending for our third straight year) starts June 10th and this weekend I stocked up on some beer for our campsite and since glass is not allowed. I decided on some Oskar Blues products out of Colorado. These guys are the leaders in producing great craft beer and distributing it only in cans. I have had a few of their products including Dale's Pale Ale (one of my favorites - in a can or not), Old Chub Scotch Ale, Ten Fidy Stout and Momma's Little Yellow Pils(ner) (bottom six-pack in the picture above and one of my wife's favs).

We stopped by Mid-Town Beverages in downtown Nashville which has an awesome selection but unfortunately while we were there they didn't have any Dale's Pale Ale (some lame story about a distribution problem) so I went for two new (to me) products: the Gubna Imperial IPA which I have been wanting to try for a long time and the Gordon Pale Ale which I had never heard of (I will report after The Roo how these two newbies were in terms of taste). I will also be visiting Bonnaroo's Broo'ers Tent again this year for more microbrew love during the event.

IN OTHER NEWS:

While at Mid-Town the dude who broke the bad news to me about not having Dale's Pale Ale did let me know they had just got in a case of the special Spring 2010 Limited Release of Stone's Imperial Russian Stout (it's the 10th Anniversary of this brew). I have been wanting to try this one for a long, long time probably since I bought a T-shirt touting this beer many pre-blog years ago only because I thought the logo and design were cool. If you will notice in the picture they have changed the logo a bit by giving the gargoyle a goofy-looking Russian hat (I don't like it). My wife and I enjoyed this pint on the patio tonight and it was deliciously smooth. I also purchased a 4-pack of high-gravity beer from Terrapin Brewing down in Athens, GA, known as Rye Squared Imperial Pale Ale. I shared it with my friend, John, who was cooking dinner for us the other night and we both liked it pretty well. It was a hair more bitter than I was expecting but had great hoppy aroma and the 9.5 ABV definitely had a kick.

Speaking of our patio, I have to mention the Mt. Hood hops (photo below) my wife is growing on our patio. She's doing it as decoration mostly, but we have been surprised how quick they have popped up and how vigorous they look in their pots. Maybe some home-brewing is in our future??

BREW-isville, Kentucky

My wife and I and another couple took a holiday weekend trip to Louisville, Kentucky, where we caught a concert, checked out a bit of The Bourbon Trail and had an opportunity to try a few more new beers.

The first two were provided by our traveling companion, Nate, who like me is a beer snob. He had brought a cooler for the ride up so we could sample a couple of beers he had procured on a recent trip to Chicago. Both were from Dark Horse Brewing in south central Michigan. None of their products are currently available in Tennessee. The first was the Perkulator Coffee Dopplebock, a seasonal lager infused with great coffee taste - a perfect choice since it was still in the A.M. when we cracked this baby open (hey, at least we waited until we crossed over into the Eastern time zone). The second was their Fore Smoked Stout which was pretty good as well. Thanks to Nate for bringing these along and sharing them with me.

We stopped for a quick visit to the tiny Corsair Distillery in Bowling Green - these guys are producing some great spirits and just opened a location in Nashville (with great beer on tap as well) - but that's a whole other blog topic. We stopped for lunch in Bowling Green at the Double Dog Chow House which we just happened upon. It's a sports bar with a dog theme obviously and their food was tasty and their beer selection was fairly impressive. I opted for a bottle of Snake Dog IPA from the Flying Dog Brewing folks over in Maryland. A fairly common IPA that I just haven't had a chance to try yet. It's good stuff. Plenty hoppy with a smooth finish.
As we arrived in Louisville and started to "paint the town red" (whatever that means), it occurred to me that the land of bourbon makes some pretty good beer too. Before our concert we stopped at the downtown brewpub location of Louisville's own Bluegrass Brewing Company. I had a draught pint of their experimental Belgian IPA which was excellent. Belgian-style brewing has never been my favorite, but when you combine the hoppiness of an IPA then I am listening!


After the concert (an excellent show by The Swell Season), we did a bit of bar hopping in the downtown area known as 4th Street Live, and I had a bottle of Kentucky Brewing's ( out of nearby Lexington) Bourbon Barrel Ale at the Maker's Mark Lounge. Excellent bourbon flavor to compliment the amber ale. Nate is a straight bourbon fan as are many people, but I just can't say the same. I think it makes a great compliment to many things like amber ale, port wine, simmering meatballs, etc., but I just can't appreciate the taste straight on. Give me smooth, warm Tennessee-style sippin' whiskey any day of the week....or heck, just give me a beer if ya got it.

We went across the street next to the Ri Ra Irish Pub. Here I started with what I thought was my own concoction - half Guinness and half Red Bull Energy Drink - since it was getting late and I was a dragging a bit and needed a pick-me-up. The bartender said he had never heard of it, but poured it anyway and the Guinness sat as pretty as you please atop the Red Bull with a nice separation line. I told him I thought I had saw it on a menu somewhere, but after more thought it was actually Guinness with a shot of espresso (which sounds pretty good actually because while I can drink Red Bull it's not for the taste, but only the kick). I was gonna take credit for this new drink, but after a little Internet research it seems I am not the first to think of it. It even has a name, "The Flying Guinness." I like mine better: "The Irish Alarm Clock."

I got back to normal after that and ordered a Bells IPA that they had on tap. It's from Bells Brewing in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Not near as hoppy as I prefer, but a decent brew overall with nice color and a good finish. Bells Brewing products are not available in Tennessee yet, but seem to have invaded Kentucky fairly well because Nate had an one of their Oberon Ales at lunch in Bowling Green, but unfortunately he was not very happy with it.

Overall it was a pretty successful beer-hunting trip into the Land of Bourbon with good finds and only a few disappointments - the biggest one being that the BBC Brewpub doesn't serve beer until 1 PM on Sundays (goofy KY law) but yet are open for lunch at 11 AM - hmmpfh! well, at least their food was good. I was able to grab another Kentucky Brewing Bourbon Barrel Ale - this time on draught - at The Old Talbott Tavern in Bardstown in the heart of The Bourbon Trail that Sunday afternoon before we headed home.

Rolling 7 the Easy Way in Vegas

I took a quick long-weekend trip to Las Vegas recently to play some poker and in between tournaments (including a 3rd place finish for a tidy $500 profit at the lovely new Aria Poker Room - photo below) I was able to try seven new brews...surprisingly, all to my liking.

The first two I had were a Lagunitas IPA and a Mirror Pond Pale Ale from Deschutes Brewing. I didn't have to go far to get these either since they were on tap at the Munch Bar in Caesars Palace just a few steps from another of my favorite poker rooms on The Strip. This little eatery is new since I was in Vegas last year. They serve upscale fast food and have about ten beers on tap. The Lagunitas IPA was splendidly hoppy albeit expensive...eight bucks and some change, but at least it was a full pint of beer. Lagunitas is a northern California brewery whose only other product I have tried (Hop Stoopid) was also excellent, but that was while I was in Austin, Texas, because they still don't have a Tennessee distributor. Boo!!! The Mirror Pond Pale Ale was a better deal at $6 a pint and is a very solid beer. Deschutes is in Oregon and this particular beer has won a slew of awards. Also not available in Tennessee. Hiss!!!! I went mobile with this beer in a plastic cup as I took a stroll down The Strip and took in the amazing sites such as the beautiful Bellagio Fountains in action (video below - wait for the beer blog tie-in at the end).

Before leaving Sin City I was able to slip down Las Vegas Blvd. to one of my favorite restaurants/bars in the area, Yard House. They are chain eatery/bar and have over 100 beers on tap (a few of which are pictured below) and during this visit I picked the following three while munching on lunch. First was Moose Drool Brown Ale from Big Sky Brewing. Second was Speakeasy Brewing's White Lightning White Ale, and finally Firestone Double Barrel Ale. The name Moose Drool is funny enough, but it also happens to be a damn fine brown ale with good body and a nice finish. Big Sky Brewing is located as the name might apply in Montana and, of course, this wonderful beer is not available in Tennessee. Speakeasy Brewing out of San Francisco creates on of my favorite IPAs - the Double Daddy - which I first had at this very same Yard House - so I thought I would try their white ale they call White Lightning. White ales (witbier) are light wheat beers with a cloudy look and originated in Belgium. They are best served with an orange slice to supplement and enhance the flavor. I was served it without one which was surprising because after I did ask and received a nice fresh orange slice, the taste soared through the roof. It was easy to drain this smooth refreshing brew in quick order. Firestone Walker Brewing is located in California and their Double Barrel Ale (DBA) is their flagship beer. It's an English-style pale ale (and I usually do not like the English style of pale ales or IPAs) but without the bitterness and flat aftertaste. It may help as the name implies that this beer is processed in oak barrels.
My last stop before heading to the airport to a catch an early evening flight was much farther down Las Vegas Blvd. at the fairly new M Resort and Casino, a stand-alone complex far away from its numerous competitors on The Strip. It was busier inside than I expected as I set off looking for what I came to find: The 32-degree Draft Bar. They boast 96 ice-cold beers on tap and surprisingly with a few different choices than the neighboring Yard House. I give them credit for that since it almost seems obvious they have scouted their competition and want to offer something a little different including local brewers (of which Yard House has none because they are a chain). The first draught I tried was the Anchor Liberty Ale, a very nice dry-hopped product from the grand-daddy of West Coast microbrewing, San Francisco's Anchor Brewing. By the way, none of their beer is made with the use of steam despite it's most popular product, Anchor Steam. Liberty Ale has been produced since the mid-70's (and I am just getting around to it!) and it's a great brew. All of the Anchor beers seem to be distributed nationwide (although I have only seen Anchor Steam around here), so I am going to have to search out, find and try some more of their offerings. I finished with a pint of a seasonal brew from another well-known West Coast microbrewery,the Sierra Nevada Celebration. It's a dry-hopped winter ale with a deep red hue and a nice crisp taste from beginning to end. Although I applaud this beer bar for having local brews, I did not try any for two reasons: 1. the first local they had was Sin City Brewing and I have had it before and it's drivel - total tourist-trap beer. 2. the second was a brown ale from Tenaya Creek Brewing in North Las Vegas and while I wanted to try it, I am already planning to visit that particular brewery on my next trip to Vegas in July. We will see you then, my brown lovely!

ADDENDUM:

I started Cinco de Mayo this year the way it usually goes with a couple of bottles of Dos Equis Amber at a Mexican restaurant, but it ended very differently and very pleasingly as my wife and I and our friends Nate (another beer snob) and Ginny dropped by the Mt. Juliet Beer Company store to see what we could find. We opted for a mixed six-pack variety and the owner told us we could even have a couple out front at some tables he had if we discreetly drank it out of plastic cups...and we did just that! Here's the six I bought and the first two are the ones I had in front of the store:

O"Fallon 5 Day IPA - O"Fallon, Missouri - excellent and hoppy for a bottled IPA

Vanilla Java Stout - Atwater Block Brewery - Detroit - excellent coffee flavor and not too heavy

McSorley's Irish Pale Ale - Latrobe, PA - a bit too bitter for my taste

Point Cascade Pale Ale - Stevens Point Brewery - Wisconsin - good and fairly hoppy

O'Fallon Wheach - Missouri - great peach flavored wheat beer

Blackened Voodoo Lager - Dixie Brewing, New Orleans, LA - a decent dark lager. Glad to see these guys still brewing after Hurricane Katrina hit them hard a few years back.

Sweetwater, Sweeter Beer

My wife and I took a quick trip to Atlanta this past weekend and were able to take a quick visit and tour of Sweetwater Brewing Company. This is easily one of my favorite regional brewers and I clearly think their IPA is one of the best bottled India Pale Ales I have ever had. When I found out recently that Sweetwater doesn't pasteurize their bottled beer, I think I figured out why I like their bottled IPAs so much. The hoppy aroma and flavor isn't blasted away for the sake of longer shelf-life. Pasteurization may not make a big difference in taste of other ales, stouts, lagers and pilsners, but I truly think it hurts hop-heavy IPAs because while all beer is clearly better on draught, it is extremely evident when you compare bottled IPAs to tap-poured ones.


Sweetwater Brewing sits on a dead-end road in an industrial park in the shadow of I-85 near downtown Atlanta and you better be looking for it if you want to find it. No big fancy signs or touristy glitter. This is a working brewery that just happens to have a huge tasting room with a spacious bar that allows folks in for a few hours three days a week. For $12 we got a souvenir glass and 5 tasting tickets. The pours while not full glasses were generous and easy to get thanks to several tap stations despite the surprisingly big crowd that was there. I started with their new seasonal pilsner, Road Trip, and thought it was quite good for what it was. If I have got to drink pilsner, let it be fresh from the brewery. I next opted for the Georgia Brown, a solid brown ale that makes Newcastle pale in comparison. I went for the Blue next which is my wife's favorite. This was my first time having it on draught and it was delightful. I burned my last two tickets and one of wife's on my beloved IPA and the pure draught taste and aroma just blows me away every time.


The quick tour was bit ho-hum with a glorified bartender leading it. He seemed to have rather limited knowledge on the brewery and the brewing process. For example, my wife asked him why the Blue states that it is a "malted beverage" on their bottles and a not a "beer." He had no answer as to why and also admitted he never noticed the label saying that. (how about more beer and less pot, dude?). By the way, a malted beverage is technically a beer, but when flavoring is added to the original beer (for example, blueberries) then legally it can be described as a malt beverage. Despite our Jeff Spicoli tour guide, the Sweetwater operation looks slick and impressive. Our tour guide did reveal the important information I mentioned earlier about Sweetwater not pasteurizing their beer as they aim for quality not quantity. The biggest monetary drawback to non-pasteurized beer for a brewery is of course shelf-life and by that accord Sweetwater is only available in Georgia and it's surrounding states. It's that dedication to real beer taste and quality that makes this microbrew industry such a great thing.

ADDENDUM: Thanks to my friend, Rex, in Atlanta for sharing one of his Full Sail Pale Ales while we were there. A great bottled beer out of Hood River, Oregon.

Something Old and Something New for Nashville Brew

SOMETHING NEW

I was recently able to check out the new Cool Springs Brewery over in Williamson County in the Cool Springs Mall perimeter a bit southwest of Nashville. These guys had really impressed me recently at the Franklin Beer Fest (see previous blog) and I was anxious to see their new digs. My best friend (and previous blog guest), Craig, and his wife, Alison, and their boys, Ryan and Colin, were coming back through town from spring break and gave me a call to meet them for dinner. Albeit a litte out of the way, Craig and I as beer lovers both wanted to give it a try.

The place was easy to find and was really jumping for a Wednesday night. After a brief wait, we were able to get a table. I immediately ordered a pint of their hilariously-named Pecker Wrecker IPA. Yum-a-dum-dum!! Smooth and hoppy to the last drop. Craig had their oatmeal stout and was impressed with it (photo above). I had a sample of the stout at the beer festival, but Craig's opinion is probably more true since stouts are his beer of choice usually.

We ordered New York style pizza for dinner which was enjoyed by all. The pesto and shrimp combo that Alison and I shared was unusual and tasty. My second beer was their Franklin's First. Per the name it has the distinction of being the first microbrew commercially produced in Williamson County whose seat is the city of Franklin. While I am not the biggest fan of the German kolsch-style beer, this stuff isn't bad at all and went down smooth and light.

Unlike some microbreweries, their craft at CSB is actually produced on site. The tanks are visible as you walk in the establishment. They are a bit limited (for now) on production --I wanted to try their Scotch ale (another great name, the Kilt Lifter) but it won't be ready until next week -- but they are off to a great start and I wish them all the success possible. I will definitely be back whenever the opportunity arises. Here's a link for more info:

http://www.coolspringsbrewery.com/


SOMETHING OLD

The other night before a concert at The Ryman, the wife and I and our friend, Nate, met at The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium in downtown Nashville to knock back a few brews. Amazingly, I have never been to The Flying Saucer despite their long-time reputation for having dozens of beer on tap and even more to choose from in bottles. I can't really say why I have not other than lack of purpose on my part. That...is going to have to change. What a great place! We sat out on the open-air patio (the only real bummer is that smoking is allowed inside) and poured over their expansive beer menu. They were running a Sunday special on some of my favorite regional microbrews (Sweetwater, Terrapin, Highland and Yazoo) and par the course I went ahead and picked one from Terrapin right off the bat that they were out of (this seems to happen to me all the time....CARRY MORE HOPPY BEER, PEOPLE!!! IT'S VERY POPULAR!!). So much for the good deal since I had already tried everything else they carried from these particular brands. I settled for the Victory Hop Devil in a bottle for my alternate choice. It was nice and hoppy, but not as extreme as the name might imply, Victory's Hop Wallop remains my favorite from these Pennsylvania brewers. Next I went a little weird and tried Lost Coast Brewing's Tangerine. Not bad for a fruit-infused wheat beer, but now that I have it on my growing list of beers I have tried, I don't see me getting it again. I finished with something I had tried a sample of at a recent beer festival, Rogue's Hazlenut Brown Nectar - this nut brown ale is extremely good and made a great finale for my first, but definitely not last, visit to this regional chain. Here's a link for more info including their 14 locations:
http://www.beerknurd.com/

The Mac Daddy of Original Great Beer Menus

Growing up in the Chattanooga area I have seen it go from one of the most depressing, dirty downtowns anywhere into one of the most vibrant revitalized urban centers around (and I travel a lot and have had a lot to compare it to). The craft beer culture has also been a big part of Chattanooga's rebirth and from previous blogs you can see that I list it as one of my favorite places to drink a beer (Market Street Grille, Deluxe Grill) , discover new beer from around the country and the world (Southern Brewers Fest, Riverside Beverages, Green Life Grocery) and now that even produces great beer (Terminal Brewhouse, Moccasin Bend Brewing). But I would be remiss not to give a shout out to one of the most original and best places in downtown Chattanooga to lead the way if providing great beer selections at reasonable prices with good food to go along with it. The place is called Taco Mac, and it's a regional chain started in Atlanta over 30 years ago. The one in Chattanooga has been open at least 20 years and it's definitely the first place I remember seeing a "real" separate beer menu and where draught beer was taken seriously by the establishment.

My wife and I stopped by for dinner there this past weekend while in town visiting family and we quickly remembered what a great place it is, and that it had been way too long since our last visit. We ordered fajitas and they were excellent. We sat and watched on a huge clear TV screen our favorite college basketball team, Duke, dismantle West Virginia on the their way to the national championship game, and I had two delicious beers. The first was a bottle of Shipyard IPA from Maine. Great hoppy taste and finish. The second was a draught of 400 Lb. Monkey IPA from Left Hand Brewing out in Colorado. A supremely good single-batch seasonal brew that I hope these guys put in their regular rotation because it's a damn good beer.

Thanks again Taco Mac for basically busting my "real beer" cherry so long ago and for continuing to pride yourselves in good beer and good food while copycats spring up all around you.