Ireland - Belgium.....and even France = More Over the Big Pond Beer

My wife and I took an anniversary trip to Europe recently and I partook of some great beer along the way in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Belgium and even found a decent one in France.

May 17 - before getting on the big plane in Chicago I had an Anti-Hero IPA with lunch at O'Hare Airport.  Might as well get some hops before entering the land of barley-heavy beer.

Classic beer history.

May 18 - As soon as we touched down on the Emerald Isle again I had a Beamish Irish Stout at The Long Hall, an awesome Victorian pub in Dublin.  Next up was the Rower Red Ale from Bo Bristle Brewing  in Ireland.  This is by far our favorite pub in Dublin now.

May 19 - We took a day-tour up into Northern Ireland and I had a Belfast Ale from Whitewater Brewing in Northern Ireland at The Nook, another great pub near The Giant's Causeway on the northern coast.  I also had my first official pint of Guinness for this trip here also as my honey, Ashlee, and I toasted our 12th wedding anniversary!  Cheers, baby!!

I had a draught of the Bee's Endeavour from Whitewater Brewing at The Crown Liquor Saloon, an exquisitely beautiful pub located in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Back in Dublin for dinner at the Davy Byrnes gastro-pub I had a Kinsale Pale Ale, a nice hoppy American-style IPA brewed in Cork, Ireland, by Blacks of Kinsale.

May 20 - before leaving Ireland we had a wonderful lunch at The Sussex Restaurant where I had a pint bottle of Black Rock Irish Stout made by Dungarvan (Ireland) Brewing.  Look out, Guinness, you've got serious competition here!!   This was a superb beer.  But don't worry about Guinness, they are still moving a good amount of product (photo below).

BEER-CHEIVEMENT!!!  I finally made it to BELGIUM!!

May 20 - My first beer in Belgium wasn't the best, but you couldn't beat the atmosphere. I had the cheap Campus Premium pale lager draught by Browerij Huyghe (it was actually OK) at the Delirium Cafe in downtown Brussels.

We moved next door to the Delirium Taphouse and things got serious.  I started with a draught pint of the excellent Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen (double) IPA Tripel by Brasserie (brewery) d'Achouffe.  Next was the Double Dry-Hopped Hommel pale ale by Perennial Artisan Ales.  It was OK and that's before I knew they were owned by InBev.  I finished up at the taphouse with a Lupulus Fructus (fruit beer) from Brasserie Les 3 Fourquets in Belgium.  On the walk back to the hotel I grabbed a can of Kriek (cherry) lambic from Brasserie Belle-Vus in Belgium at a little convenience store and sipped it until I feel asleep (or passed out).  What a night!

May 21 - BEER TOUR!!  We took a great walking beer tour today in Brussels.  Below are photos of the nine (yes, nine!) offerings we were given.  Several are fairly hard to find anywhere outside Belgium and all were superb.  The greatest thing about Belgium beer (besides the taste) is that each brewery (and beer) has its own distinctive glassware it is served in.  The Belgians are very serious about this!  No plastic cups here!

Besides the three pictured above, we also had the Orval Pale Ale, the Saison from Brassiere St. Feuillien, the Tripel Karmeliet, Westmalle Trappist Tripel and the Guldenberg Strong Pale Ale.

AND NOW ON TO THE FRENCH BEER.....(Insert Joke Here)

Granted, we moved on to Nice in the south of France for a lot of things, but not the beer.  I did manage to find one decent pint in a little store near our hotel that I kicked back on our balcony and enjoyed.  It was a decent amber ale called 3 Monts from the Brassiere Saint Sylvestre in France.  Just for the record I also choked down a can of Schoenberg lager that was pretty gross.

We landed back in Chicago and I had nice draught of Unshadowed Hefeweizen by Ale Asylum (Wisconsin) on a warm afternoon at The Southern restaurant down in Wicker Park during our layover.

Nashville + Florida + South Dakota + Kentucky + Mufreesboro + Chicago = lots or travel and beer

Several small trips over the past couple months led to a host of new beer encounters and a few home-grown brews as well:

NASHVILLE:

3/27/14 - I had the afternoon off today and did a little bar-hopping around Music City which has become one helluva a beer town:

at M.L. Rose Craft Beer and Burgers I had a late lunch that consisted of their delicious Smashy Melt, a huge double-paddy melt.  This was my first time at this establishment which has two locations in Nashville (I checked out the one on Franklin Pike near downtown). Their tap selection was as impressive as their food and I had 16 oz. draughts of the Gangway IPA from Red Hare Brewing down in Marietta, GA, and the Ten Year IPA from Yazoo here in Nashville that was outstanding!  Super hoppy with a nice citrus finish.

Next I moved on to the 12 South Taproom which always has a great beer selection.  I had the Old School IPA from Czann Brewing, a relatively new microbrewery here in Nashville.   Their IPA was solid in taste and body.  They are soon to have their own tasting room and will join the new "Nashville Brewery District" that I mentioned in the last blog entry.  I finished my visit here with a Rivertown Brewing Wit from Ohio with a fresh slice of orange in it.  Pretty good stuff.

great logo!

Then it was on back toward downtown in The Gulch for a quick stop at Hop and Crafts, a new (and one of my personal favorite) beer bars in Nashville.  I only had time (and tolerance since I was driving) for one here so I chose the New Holland Mad Hatter IPA from Michigan.  Good beer!  And I thought they only made tractors??

I ended the afternoon at Pub 5 down by Bridgestone Arena where I was meeting my friend, Danny, for a Nashville Predators game.  Here I had an Upstream, a California-style lager from yet another Nashville-based micro-brewer, Little Harpeth Brewing.  Look out Asheville, NC, we are gunning for you for best beer town in The South.  Lagers are not my favorite beer type but it was nice with a light finish to the day...until I had a Black Forest Black Kolsch from Blackstone Brewing which is located...well, just guess...what the heck, I would sitting for a few hours before I had drive and this kolsch wasn't too bad.

4-0 after 20 minutes.  Now that's one hell of a period of hockey! The Preds went on to cruise to a 6-1 victory over the (worse than us) Buffalo Sabers.  If you are gonna be out of the playoff hunt in late March, you might as well beat up on whoever you can I guess.  Thanks to my friend, Danny, for going with me to this enjoyable, yet fairly meaningless, game and for snapping this pic (since my phone was dead) which I promptly stole from him.

3/28/14:  In IMAX with my friend, Wayne.  Beforehand, I had a Shotgun Wedding Vanilla Brown Ale from Country Boy Brewing in Lexington, KY, plus a Dark Earth Stout from Calfkiller Brewing over in Sparta, TN, at The Village Pub and Beer Garden in East Nashville.  A week later Wayne and I took in Captain America: The Winter Soldier again at the IMAX Theater.

BIRTHDAY BEERS!!

From my friend, Wayne:  Truth IPA (Cincy, OH), Founders Brewing (Michigan) Imperial Stout (10%+  ABV!), Chillwave Double IPA from Great Lakes Brewing in Cleveland, OH

from my wife, Ashlee:  Snow Wit White IPA from Sierra Nevada Brewing (CA)

Ladies against Prohibition (1932)

April 5 - Went to Boscos for a free birthday dinner before a concert.  Had the medal-winning Isle of Skye Scottish Ale and the KPA (Karen's Pale Ale).  Both were solid.

April 11 - back to M.L. Rose and back to Yazoo's 10 Year IPA, then a can of Caldera (Oregon) Lawnmower Lager.  Then over to 12 South Taproom again for Crossroads Cream Ale from The Black Abbey (Nashville) Brewing Company and the delicious 7 Hop IPA from Rogue (Oregon) Brewing.  Dinner at Urban Grub down the street with my friends, Danny and Brenda.  Had the last "taste" of the keg of Taste of Honey Belgian Dubbel from Starr Hill Brewing in Virginia, then the Cuvee La Boite from Brooklyn Brewery.

After dinner we three went over to The Belcourt Theater to catch the Nashville premier of "Finding Vivian Maier" with Skyped Q and A from director, Charlie Siskel (the nephew of the great film critic, Gene Siskel).  It was an excellent documentary and a fascinating story.

April 12 - Flew down to Panama City, Florida to meet the family for a bit of beach time - had a bottle of  the locally-brewed Grayton Beer Company's Pale Ale while waiting on my rental car (small airport problems).

Got a six-pack at "Florida's Largest Beer Cave" in Destin, Florida for the long weekend.

Summer Solstice - can - (Anderson Valley - California)  (photo)
Night Cat Witbier -can - (Two Brothers Brewing - Illinois)
Spring IPA (Abita Brewing - Louisiana)
Head Hunter IPA (Fat Head' Brewing - Ohio)
Hop Nosh IPA (Uinta Brewing - SLC, Utah)
Freckle Belly IPA (Back Forty Beer Co., Alabama)

The beach and weather were pretty close to perfect.

April 14 - Props Brewery - Ft. Walton, FL - lunch with the whole gang minus Mollie (Sam bought my beer and lunch - thanks, dude!) at this new brewpub.  Flying Coffin IPA (pint), half pint of Rye of the Tiger, taste of Ashlee's Brown, Sam's Blonde and Andy's Porter - all were good as was the food

It was off to South Dakota for my birthday weekend to check a few sites of my Bucket List including Mt. Rushmore, Devils Tower and the Badlands.

April 18 - Firehouse Brewing - Rapid City, SD - Chukkar Ale, shared a huge sampler with Ashlee, good food as well.

Burning Skye Scottish Ale - Empyrean Brewing at the Wobbly Bobby (great name) English Pub in Rapid City.  Just a taste of Ashlee's Buffalo Sweat Oatmeal Cream Stout

April 19 - Crow Peak Brewing Company - Spearfish, SD - 11th hour IPA - Had a can in the car on the way to Devils Tower, also had a  sip of Ashlee's Pile O' Dirt Porter.

Stopped at actual the brewery later on for a 5.2 Decade Imperial IPA and a sip of Ashlee's bRYEdal Veil Brown

At dinner in the surprisingly boring town of Deadwood, SD, I had a draught of Red Water Irish Red Ale also from Crow Peak.

April 26:  Back at home I opened another birthday bottle from Ashlee of Blackberry Farm Brewery's Classic Saison in preparation for our upcoming trip to Belgium, next was the Le Freak bomber from Green Flash Brewing and concluded with a Lost and Found Abbey Ale from The Lost Abbey Brewing Company in California

April 29 - While in in Louisville on the Cincinnati Belle before a charity poker tournament during Derby Week I had a canned IPA from West Sixth Brewing from over in Lexington, KY.

May 3 - Finally got to visit nearby Mayday Brewing in nearby Murfreesboro, TN.  Ashlee and I had 4 free samplers (thanks to Groupon) including the Boro Blonde.

May 4 - Another birthday bomber from Ashlee: the Bracia English Strong Ale from Thornbridge Brewery in England and the Joey Pepper Beglian Blonde from Evil Twin Brewing in Denmark.

May 5 - I just had to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with a Dos Equis Special Lager followed by an Amber.

May 10 - We took a quick trip up to Chicago for a concert and stopped back at Piece Brewery and Pizzeria where I had a draught of the Marketing Ploy, a pale ale collaboration with 3 Floyds Brewing just down the road.  It was fantastic!  I followed that up with their Dark-N-Curvy dunkelweizen (dark wheat).

May 11 - Had the Fixed Gear Ale, a kinda hoppy for a red ale by Lakefront Brewing in Milwaukee, WI, with lunch at Spritz Burger in Chicago where I had an awesome poutine burger.

After lunch, my friend Wayne and I stumbled upon the fact that when the Cubs aren't in town, the do insider tours of Wrigley Field that include visits inside the press-box, the locker rooms, the dugouts and even on the field!  

Welcome to the new Nashville Brewery District!!

Nashville has become such a thriving craft beer town now they even have their own "brewery district" which I visited again recently along with a few other new-to-me libations over the past month.

In chronological order:.

March 6 - Had a few pre- and post-game brews before a Nashville Predators home hockey game at The Flying Saucer downtown.

pre-
Matt's Burning Rosids (RIP Matt Courtright) - Stone Brewing (CA) - draught - not bad for a Belgian-style imperial cherrywood-smoked saison
Mosaic Red Rye IPA - Terrapin Brewing (GA) - -draught - excellent!

post -
- Anytime IPA by The Just Beer Project (VT) - draught - pretty weak actually

March 8- With St. Patty's Day fast approaching, I had Full of Balarney Irish Stout (a great Guinness replica) from Terrapin (GA) at Taco Mac in Chattanooga.

March 15 - I had a bottle of Shock Top Raspberry Wheat left over from our New Year's Party that someone brought.  It wasn't bad as I drank it at home while watching Duke beat NC State in the ACC Tournament.

March 16 - I had a Highland Oatmeal Porter (NC) draught at Pomodoro East Restaurant in East Nashville with dinner.

March 17 - I kept it low-key for St. Patty's Day with just a Samuel Adams Merry Maker Gingerbread Stout pint bottle split with Ashlee.  This was a delicious Christmas gift from our friends, Chris and Tarryn.

Saturday, March 23 - I had a bachelor day to myself at home and figured I might as well make the most of it with a full day of activities including some beer, of course:

I had lunch at the new Braiz Brewhouse and Bistro in Mt. Juliet.  This is where my beloved WOW Wingery used to be and while the food here isn't as good, they did have a nice selection of local brews on tap.  I had a 16 oz. draught of the Velvet Hustle Pale Ale from Mayday Brewing from nearby Murfreesboro, TN.  An excellent way to start the day!  I finished lunch with a 16 oz. pour of The Champion Pale Ale from Black Abbey Brewing in Nashville (a relatively new microbrewery that I visited recently - see previous blog post).  It too was pretty darn good.  It's good to at least having something in this retail space in the Providence Shopping Complex since it sat empty for several month's after WOW closed its doors.  Welcome to the neighborhood, Braiz, and keep up the good beer selections!

The next stop was over in Franklin, TN at the Turtle Anarchy Brewing Company.  I have been a fan of these guys for a while now not only for their cool name and logo (love me some turtles), but also their outstanding stout that I have had at a few Nashville locales.  They have a nice tasting room in an industrial park near historic downtown Franklin and I tried the Down With the Coconut Stout which was just about perfect, not overly sweet or overwhelming in any way.   Next I had the Harmony American Stout which is infused with local East Nashville chocolate (Olive and Sinclair) and vanilla beans.  Two of the three brothers that started the microbrewery were serving and were telling us patrons that they are about to go big-time in terms of production with the purchase of an old copper plant on California Avenue in downtown Nashville where they plan to eventually starting canning their flagship brews while still maintaining this quaint tasting room.  Good luck, fellas!!

and now, with no further adieu, on to the new Nashville Brewery District...

My last beer stop of the day was at the Tennessee Brew Works tasting room in downtown Nashville.  It, along with Yazoo and Jackalope Brewing are making up an area now known as the Nashville Brewery District.  This is the only one I hadn't visited yet and it's a dandy.  This is a beautiful facility (there's some money backing this baby) and some pretty good beer.  I only had time for one and that one was Cutaway IPA, an American-style IPA that I thought could have used a few more hops in it but overall not bad.  I will definitely be back to this cool place.

Based on the music theme of the microbrewery and the fact that their facility looks like a lot of money was put into it, I wonder if some musician is a part owner of this new member of the rapidly-growing Nashville craft beer scene?

After a good day of beer-tasting, I met up with my friend Danny and Brenda and their son, Kyle, to see The Grand Budapest Hotel, another quirky comedy from the mind of Wes Anderson.

Even later I caught a set by one of new fav bands on the scene, Terraplane Sun, from California over at The Mercy Lounge.  This quintet opened for Imagine Dragons last year hear in Nashville and I have liked them ever since.  They put on a solid 45-minute set concluding with their debut single, "Get Me Golden."

Triangle Beer

Tuesday, February 25 - I took a solo trip to Raleigh/Durham today to see my beloved  6th-ranked Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team take on the Virginia Tech Hoakies in the first ACC home game at the beautiful and historic Cameron Indoor Stadium (74 years old this year) that I've ever seen live.  My wife was scheduled to go with me, but a last-minute "important" work meeting got scheduled that she felt she couldn't miss...when it wound up being cancelled last-minute, boy, was she hot, and I can't blame her!  Sorry, hon.  I still had a fun time and even found some good beer while I toured around The Triangle.

DURHAM

Wow! Has it really been over 14 years since I've been inside Cameron Indoor Stadium?  

Before the game, I had lunch at Bull City Burger and Brewery where I had a draught pint of their Single Hop IPA: HBC462 (SHIPA # 3) which was OK.  English-style IPAs just aren't hoppy enough for me.  I opted for a hot dog instead of a burger and it was tasty, especially with their home-made spicy mustard.

Tyler's Restaurant and Tap Room has an impressive array of beers to choose from and they do half-pints which as I have said before in this blog I am a big fan of for several common-sense reasons.  I started with the Seeing Double IPA from Foothills Brewing over in nearby Winston-Salem, NC.  This is how an IPA is done!!  Hoppy to the max!  Per the knowledgeable bartender's advice I tried the Jade IPA next which is also made by Foothills Brewing.  This was one of the best beers I have had in a while.  Very unique with the hoppiness of a true American IPA but with a surprising citrus finish and lightness.   It was hard to stop at a half-pint on this delicious brew.  I finished with a "dessert" of Fat Charley's Raspberry Chocolate Stout (my wife would have loved this one) from Double Barley Brewing over in Smithfield, NC.  This imperial double stout was ultra-smooth with a nice finish.  Another great recommendation from the barkeep (to someone else, but I listened in).  Tyler's is definitely my favorite place in Durham to have a cold one.

It was on to the game and my long-awaited returned to the beautiful confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium on the elegant and impressive Duke University campus.  My hotel was only a mile away and the weather was tolerable enough for a walk there and back without any difficulty.

Krzyzewskiville was in full gear outside Cameron Indoor Stadium as students endure the cold, damp winter conditions for precious tickets to tonight's game and the upcoming regular-season ending showdown with those Baby Blue Tar Heels from UNC just eight miles away in Chapel Hill.

My seat behind the goal was perfect not only to take in the game,
but to see the antics of the Duke students (Cameron Crazies) as well.

Did I mention there were antics?

A post-game victory stroll was allowed on Coach K Court.  This was a very special experience for me because I don't remember being allowed to do this after games I have been to in the past and if so I missed out on it until now.

I stole this image from Duke's Facebook Page after the game.  This was the boys' fourth game in 11 days.

Wednesday, February 26 - I had most of a day to kill before my evening flight back to Nashville, so I decided to check out the rest of The Triangle...and, of course, some beer along with it.

CHAPEL HILL

I stopped by Top of the Hill Restaurant and Brewery at lunch time.  I didn't eat because I was still full from a huge, delicious chicken and cheddar biscuit at  the nearby Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen, so I had a couple of their half-pint concoctions instead.  I started with the Big Bertha Brown which was good and moved on to their award-winning Ram's Head IPA which was impressive.  This is a beautiful facility and Chapel Hill is a lovely little town.

OK, we got it...you hate Duke....why not just pull for your own team and move on?  While I enjoyed my Chapel Hill beer and the town itself, the venture into "enemy territory" sure felt like that and I was ready to leave soon after arriving.  But, hey, if we are gonna sling hate I just want all Tar Heel fans to know that I drove around your campus and took a look at The Dean Dome and had a good laugh.  WHAT AN UGLY MONSTROSITY!!! LMAO!!!  It looks like it was pieced together out of spare materials!!  I mean, seriously???  Brick walls, metal roofing and a stupid white mini-dome top??   What a joke!  You should be embarrassed to put a team on the floor in that laugher of a facility.  What a bunch of tools!

RALEIGH

I moved on to Raleigh next to finish the afternoon since I was flying from there later that day anyway.  This was my first time touring around the smallish state capital downtown, but it seems like a nice town.  That's my kinda silly-looking little rental car (a Chevy Sonic which actually drove pretty good) in front of  the huge cool globe at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.  I had to settle for a couple beer stops at two local draft houses.  I wanted to stop by a local brewery called Big Boss Brewing, but their tasting room didn't open until 4 PM.  I had a full pint of Hoptimist IPA from White Street Brewing over in Wake Forest, NC, with my lunch of Carolina BBQ sliders (yum!) at The Sawmill Taproom.  It wasn't bad.   I finished with a Deadeye Jack Porter that was smokey and delicious.  It's made by Lonerider Brewing here in Raleigh. Over near the airport later on I stopped at the Leesville Tap Room for my last pint of the trip.  It was the Peacemaker Pale Ale from Outlaw Brewing in Belgrade, Montana.  Not bad, but not my favorite of the trip.  With Southwest Airlines flying directly here now from Nashville, I definitely don't plan on waiting another 14 years to return to this area of great basketball and beer.

Local Beer and LP

2/18/14:  I had an unexpected bachelor evening in Nashville recently since my wife had to stay in Chattanooga with her mom who was in the hospital (dehydration, nothing serious), but she had to miss a concert we had planned on seeing together tonight, so I decided to go on alone and made an evening out of it with a couple new beer stops along the way:

The Hop Stop in East Nashville - this fairly-new draft house and growler filling station has an impressive 36 taps and also serve half-pints, a concept I love in terms of variety-tasting with lower caloric intake and the avoidance of a DUI.  I had the Basil Ryeman, a farmhouse ale from Tennessee Brew Works here in Nashville which was OK.  The beer was fine, but Belgium-style brewing is still not my favorite.  Next I had Randy's IPA from the Jubilee Brewing Company which is also here in Nashville.  This one was a disappointment to me in terms of IPA boldness and flavor.  I finished on a high note with the Werhner Von Brown Porter from Straight to Ale Brewing in Huntsville, AL, which was excellent.

Fat Bottom Brewing in East Nashville 

I finally made it to Fat Bottom!!  I was really impressed with the beautiful facility they have, and their beer has already become one of my local favorites over the past few years.  They were running a Tuesday-night special where if you ordered a burger, you got a free pint with it.  Serve it up!!  The burger was outstanding and the Java Jane Porter was spot on!  I will definitely be back to this great place for the food, atmosphere and excellent beer.

I finished the evening at classic Nashville venue, The Exit/In, to see one of my favorite singing voices in the business today:  a little ukulele-playing gal by the name of LP, who was opening for another band. Her solid 45-minute set was great, but since it was a school-night I didn't hang around for the opener, Kodaline, who I had never heard of anyway.  It was a fun evening.  I am sorry you missed it, honey.

A couple other local brews I had recently on different occasions included:

The Gerst Amber from Yazoo Brewing:  I am not a huge fan of malty German-style beers, but this one's pretty darn good!  It's a revival of a historic Nashville brewery that went defunct after prohibition and Yazoo has brought it back to life with the permission of the family that owns the recipe along with their still-remaining Gerst Haus German Restaurant here in downtown.  I had my first complimentary one over in East Nashville at a poster show that Yazoo was a sponsor of, and then I ordered another one at the new Barlines watering hole in the new Omni Hotel complex downtown before a concert at the Bridgestone Arena.  Well-done, Yazoo, on preserving good beer and Nashville history at the same time!

I also had a bottle of the Adam Bomb IPA from Blackstone Brewing here in Nashville at dinner the other night at Suzy Wong's House of Yum.  Blackstone just recently started bottling their beer and this one's a keeper!

The ATL, The Super Bowl and some NYC Beer

A road trip, an airline trip and a big TV event recently 

gave me the opportunity to try a few more new-to-me brews:

2/1/14: While in Atlanta for a weekend trip my friend, Rex, who's a beer lover as well, took me and my wife to The Optimist Oyster Bar and Seafood Restaurant.  The food was excellent as was their beer list from which I chose to have the Blind Pirate Double IPA from Atlanta's own Monday Night Brewing and a Grapefruit Harvest IPA from Abita Brewing down in Louisiana.  Both were excellent.

2/1/14:  We got home from Atlanta in time to catch most of The Super Bowl and I decided to crack open the appropriately-named Super IPA (bomber bottle) from Alpine Brewing in California.  This was a Christmas present from  my wife, Ashlee, and it went down very well with the beat down of the Denver Broncos by my childhood favorite team, the Seattle Seahawks.

Off to New York City

My wife and I took a quick trip to New York City for the Valentine's Day/Presidents Day holiday weekend and I was able to grab a nice selection of beers while in The Big Apple.

2/14/14:  Our first meal in NYC was at the famous Katz's Deli where they have their own Katz's Ale made for them by nearby Brooklyn Brewery.  It was delish along with our monster pastrami sandwiches and potato knishes. 

No beer here.  Just funny NYC temporary signage and a lot of snow!!

2/15/14 - While at dinner at Goat Town Restaurant,  I had a can of White Thai Witbier from Westbrook Brewing in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina and a draught of  Liquid Gold Belgian Pale Ale from Captain Lawrence Brewing in Elmsford, NY.  Both were tasty as was the food.

We rented an apartment on the Lower West Side while were there and just down the street they had a small corner market with a pretty impressive beer selection of which you could buy singles from six-packs (love that concept!).  In no particular order over the weekend I had the following all in bottles:

- Peak Organic Brewing's IPA from Portland, Maine
- Captain Lawrence Brewing's IPA.  Another selection from the Elmsford, New York brewer.
- Brooklyn Pennant Ale '55 (English Pale Ale)
- Flower Power IPA from Ithaca (NY) Beer Company

2/16/14:  Around the corner from the apartment was an English-style pub called Croxley's Ale House where I had the Blood Orange Pale Ale from Great South Bay Brewing  in Bay Shore, NY. The place had an OK beer selection and was crazy-crowded, but you can't beat the slogan on their menu (photo above).   Across the street (and much less crowded) is the Sigmund Pretzel Shop where I had Smuttynose Brewing's Winter Ale out of Portsmouth, NH and a taste of my wife's choice, the Michigan-based Founder's Brewing Breakfast Stout which was tasty.