Around the World in 80 Minutes

I celebrated the start of American Craft Brewing Week with my wife, Ashlee, and our friend, Nate, last night at the "Beers Around the World Tasting" at Cabana Restaurant in Nashville over near Vanderbilt. Actually, this event had nothing to do with American Craft Brewing Week as the "Around the World" name implies. It was just a coincidence that they had it at the same time. It was also just pure luck that I learned about the event because it was not advertised anywhere that I know of except on the restaurant's website. Last week, I just so happened to be perusing their website trying to secure a table early next month for a large group and saw the blurb about it. The description was pretty vague (see ad photo). But 30+ beer samples for $12, uhh, OK, sold.

Cabana is a great restaurant that my wife and I have been to before (hence, the reason we thought it would be a good choice for our large gathering next month), but we had never been to any kind of "tasting" there before and with the vagueness of the ad on their website, we really didn't know what to expect. Our questions were quickly answered when we arrived as we were ushered to their large covered patio where the tasting was to take place. They had set up several "stations" around the perimeter of the large space with six or seven bottled beers from all over the globe (photo above taken by Nate). Some were recognizable and a few were new (to me at least).

I, of course, prefer draught beer, but $12 beggars can't be choosers, so you take what you can get. None of the bottled brews that were new to me really blew me away, and they had only one IPA to try (my beloved but fairly common Harpoon from Boston), but with the open covered patio with comfortable seating, the lovely spring evening, good company, generous and virtually unlimited pours, and great food to nibble on from the kitchen - it turned out to be quite a nice evening.

Here's a quick list of the newbies (to me) that I tried:

- Monty Python's Holy Ale - England - not bad, but more of a gimmick than a serious beer I think.

- Kostritzer - Germany - a nice smoky ale that seemed close to a bock in taste, but looks like a porter or stout. These boys have been brewing since 1543.

- King Fisher - India - a decent pilsner (if you like pilsners which I don't too much)

- Wexford Irish Cream - Ireland - probably the biggest disappointment to me of the tasting. Very bitter aftertaste for a cream ale. Give me a Boddington's any day over this stuff. Yuck.

- Moretti - Italy - pilsner - Oh, look, a pilsner, guess what I thought about it??

- Flying Dog Old Scratch - Maryland - an alt combo of ale and lager. Very good beer.

- He'Brew Messiah Bold - New York - too malty for me as far as brown ales go, but a good effort. Great brewery name.

- He'Brew Genesis Ale - New York - a nice crisp ale.

- Rogue Dead Guy Ale - Oregon - I have had this before (pre-blog days). Pretty decent, but it gets a lot more praise from others than I would give it.

- Singha - Thailand - An OK lager, but the Far East just doesn't brew good beer that well in my opinion

- Left Hand JuJu Ginger - Colorado - this wins the uniqueness award of the show - I had ginger beer draught in Australia straight from the small microbrewery (Bluetongue) that we were visiting, and thought it was pretty good (if you like the taste of ginger). This bottled variety was pretty close in taste and body.

- Kasteel Rogue Ale - Belgium - overpowering cherry flavoring made this taste like cough syrup. I can appreciate fruit-infused beer but this stuff was just gross. Once again, the Belgians and I just don't see eye to eye on beer despite their hundreds of years of brewing experience.

- Lion Stout - Sri Lanka - excellent bottled stout. This wins "Best of Show" to me among the beers I hadn't tried. The distributor/server told us it is a consistent award winner and I can see why. NOTE: The only draught they had available for tasting - Magic Hat # 9 - was my favorite beer of the show, but I have had that many, many, many times!

- Brooklyn Brown Ale - NY - excellent brown ale. Been looking forward to trying some Brooklyn products. They are a veteran of the craft brewing industry similar to Stone and Dogfish Head, but are only just now breaking into the southern U.S. markets according to the distributor who was there hawking the brews. Yes, I checked, they have an IPA. The search begins.

- Brooklyn Summer Ale - NY - Great, great light ale, but when the distributor compared it to being "as good as" Magic Hat # 9, I couldn't help but laugh....puuuuhhhleeeeease!

- Chimay Rogue, Chimay Bleue, Chimay Blanche - Belgium - sorry, Belgium, I just don't get it, but many do and love your beers whether made by Trappist monks or not. I just don't get the appeal of a taste like burnt malt which the Rogue and Bleue gave off to me. The Blanche was lighter as the name implies and not as bad, but still not worth drinking to me. Palettes are funny things I guess.

- Greene King Abbot Ale - England - better than that crap they call an IPA at Greene King, but still a bit skunky to my taste buds (just like Bass Ale which I used to like, but now can't stand for some reason).

After the show, we were getting ready to amble over a block or so to Bosco's to celebrate an actual American-only craft brewery when our friend, Nate, waved us over to a nearby parking lot where he was haggling with one of the distributors who had been working at the tasting. The young guy had commented earlier in the evening that he liked the hat Nate was wearing and would like to do some swag trading for it. Nate's hat has a "Fat Tire Urban Assault" logo on it. New Belgium Brewing out of Colorado had recently sponsored a bicycle obstacle course/race in Nashville called the "Urban Assault" and Nate had purchased the hat during the event. Turns out one of the distributor's biggest products is New Belgium and he was so happy to see someone sporting his brand at the tasting that he wanted to give Nate some freebies and told Nate to just keep his hat. The guy was very generous and also hooked up Ashlee and me with T-shirts, hats and I got a very nice mechanic-style button down shirt as well. Way to go, Nate!

After securing our swag in the car, we continued our quick trek to Bosco's where I stuck with tradition and started with their IPA. Delicious as usual. For the sake of this blog and my "journey o' beer" I switched gears on the second pint (thanks, Ashlee, for being the designated driver!) and tried their Germantown Alt. Good body and finish. Quite enjoyable. Alts are becoming a new favorite of mine as well since they bring the best of both worlds by combining ale and lager qualities while maintaining a pure, fresh taste. Well done, Bosco's, as usual.

TERMINAL-ly Chill

After having to show some patience, my wife and I and some friends of ours finally got to visit the new Terminal Brewhouse in downtown Chattanooga near the famous Choo-Choo this past Saturday night. The patience came in to play as we arrived a few minutes after 7 PM local time to find the place completely packed with patrons and an hour-and-a-half wait to get a table for the seven of us. Not wanting to dine at 9 PM-ish, we decided to ditch our plans to have dinner at the Brewhouse and settled for the nearby Broadstreet Grille which has excellent food, but the beer selections are limited (I settled for a couple of Fat Tire pints).

After dinner, we gave The Terminal another look and it had quietened down enough to at least get inside. In fact, as soon as we got inside we headed up and back outside to their second floor roof patio and commandered one of the empty picnic tables scattered about. Our group had shrunk to five, but not our enthusiasm. We had a loud, raucous time as was everyone else out on the patio enjoying the beauitful spring temps and the respite from what seems to have been a month of rainy weather.

I, of course, started with their IPA that they call Goofballs ( don't ask, I have no idea where they got the name, but I like it). Their website brags that if you like to "chew your hops" this is the one for you, but I beg to differ. While it's a decent IPA with a nice aroma and a smooth finish, it's not got enough hoppy punch in my opinion for it to really stand out among a lot of other IPAs out there. Others in our group tried their oatmeal stout (Southsidenstein) and their Belgian White (The White Shadow) and gave them both good reviews. I tried a sip of the stout and thought it was decent as well, but again nothing earth-moving.

But what the Terminal Brewhouse lacks in beer production uniqueness (they are a relatively new craft brewer and I expect to see growth and experimentation in this area) they completely make up for in ambiance. This is postively one of the best brewpubs I have ever been to (and that's putting them up against some very unique place/pubs I have visited such as Lake Placid, NY, Duluth, MN, Spokane, WA, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Brisbane, Australia). They took an incredibly unique historical structure called the Strong Building (teetering on the edge of condemnation from what I have heard) and turned it into a beautiful establishment that downtown Chattanooga should be very proud to add to their collection. Sitting out on the patio with the huge "Choo-Choo" neon sign looming over us next door was entralling. A few in our group had been here before and ate dinner, and said the food was good as well, so I am looking forward to indulging in both the food and the beer on our next visit. I also applaud the owners' conviction toward having a "green" establishment both inside (water and energy-saving bathroom implements, reclaimed wood table tops) and outside (rainwater cistern, green roof that includes the aforementioned lovely patio). This brewpub was an ambitious undertaking and from what I have seen in terms of crowds so far looks to hopefully be paying off. Chattanooga was in dire need of a real brewpub (sorry Big River - I just don't believe in your conviction to craft brewing and think even less of your products). I still give the edge to Moccasin Bend Brewing as far as the best and most unique beer produced in Chattanooga at this time, but with their limited production and community presence, The Terminal Brewhouse is king of the mountain for now.

Despite my overall lack of enthusiasm for their IPA, I still had two pints and bought a growler of it on the way out (hey, I said it wasn't anything too unique, but I didn't say it wasn't PRETTY DAMN GOOD). I look forward to another visit to The Terminal as soon as possible and will be spreading the word to folks I know in that area or who will be visiting Chattanooga to check it out, including right now with a link to their very nice website: http://terminalbrewhouse.com/

Swine Flew Hits Lebanon, TN

Amen, brother, and past the pint glass. Lebanon, Tennessee, once again has a real pub and a real IPA on tap. From the darkened shadows that was once the beloved Lady Godiva English Pub here in my hometown of Lebanon, TN, - the home of Cracker Barrel (whoop-dee-do) and the home of no real beer store or bar that serves real beer up to this point - rises the Bunganut Pig English Pub and Eatery, a local "chain" with locations in nearby Murfreesboro and the original one in Franklin, TN.

My wife, Ashlee, and I went there for dinner last night after anxiously awaiting it's opening on...when else...my birthday, April 20 --- has to be a sign, don't you think? The food was good and the beer was....quite decent. They had Sweetwater IPA from Atlanta on tap which made me very "hoppy" since I had been wanting to try it on draught ever since having it recently in a bottle and loving it.

The place has some growing to do to say the least in terms of beer...they only listed their draught beer as "Sweetwater" and when I asked if it was "the 420" our ditzy waitress answered that "yes, it's only $4." Whatever, you twit, just bring it. When it happened to be the IPA, I knew it was destiny.

Long live the Bunganut Pig in Lebanon and here's to great draught beer on tap again just a mile from my house!!!

Bits & Pieces

A few beer-related notes of interest taking place over the past couple of weeks:

I tried two more new beers from two of my favorite Southern craft brewers: Terrapin in Athens, GA, and Highland in Asheville, NC. The new (to me) Terrapin I tried was their India-style Nut Brown Ale. I had a bottle of it while at Maffiaoso's Pizza in Nashville (excellent pizza and a great beer selection). This is the best of both worlds combining the hoppiness of an IPA with the nutty flavoring of a Belgium-style brown ale. Delicious. I bet it's even better on draught. Gotta keep a close eye for that offering somewhere.

I was in Murfreesboro the other night meeting a friend for dinner and a movie and had just enough time to stop by the new Total Beverages Store that I discovered recently. After perusing over their vast selection of craft beers, I settled on a six-pack of a new seasonal offering by my old pals over in Asheville, Highland Brewing. It's called Black Mountain Bitter Pale Ale. I get the "Black Mountain" part - that's an area near Asheville whose most famous resident is probably Billy Graham. But the "Bitter" part threw me because this stuff is smooooth. Really reminded me more of a German-style bock than a pale ale, but I won't argue the point and will settle for just enjoying its crisp flavor and thirst-quenching appeal (an ice-cold one went down really smooth this weekend after working in the yard in the unseasonably warm mid-80 temps of late April...gulp, gulp...aaahhh).

I celebrated my 42nd birthday this past week and my dear wife, Ashlee, surprised me with a very unique little gift from what is clearly one of my favorite craft brewers, Stone Brewing in California. It was two small drinking glasses made from recycled Stone IPA beer bottles. She was really patting herself on the back with this gift choice since the day before I received them we were at Maffiaoso's Pizza as I mentioned above and my second beer selection was a Stone IPA. As you can see in the photo above, I have already put these little beauties to work in our house. It just so happened that Ashlee was also traveling this week of my birthday out on the west coast and was fortunate enough to get to visit the Stone Brewing Restaurant and Pub just outside San Diego (man, was I jealous). Her friend, Christian, is quite the beer nerd as well out in San Diego, and after taking her to Stone also took Ashlee to Port (Lost Abbey) Brewing where she nabbed me a very cool T-shirt. I have not had any of the Port/Lost Abbey brews and according to Ashlee's description it's a fairly small operation that looks mostly regional in distribution (according to their website, it's west coast and some up north only for now).

Finally, I am proud to report that I am now a "card-carrying member" of the Bosco's Beer Police Force. Yeah, it's just a customer-loyalty program, but you get a cool card and points for drinking beer...what's not to love!

Lost Wages - Gained Calories

Despite zero success on the poker tables on a recent visit to Las Vegas, some great beer was found most of which I consumed at the best ale house/restaurant I have ever been to.

As soon as I got to Vegas after checking into my room, I went and got my usual $3.50 pint of Guinness at the street bar of tiny O'Shea's Casino on The Strip. This place is dated and pretty much a dump, but they give a good pour (despite being in a plastic cup) which is absolutely vital to me while walking around Vegas. A block or so away is the Flamingo Hotel and Casino and overlooking their garden area inside is the new Sin City Brewing Bar. With only four craft brews on tap, it's obvious this microbrewery is just getting started. And to me, they have a long, long way to go. I was not impressed. From their limited selection, I chose their Octoberfest Amber Ale. Fairly boring and served in a plastic cup for the ridiculous price of $6. Laughable. I am not one who worries about the price of good beer, but this swill was mediocre in taste and you can't even give it to me in a glass? What a joke. I've got a real feeling that like the fake Eiffel Tower in front of the Paris Casino, the fake volcano in front of The Mirage and the fake Manhattan skyline in front of the New York, New York Casino, Sin City Brewing is basically a fake of a real craft brewery and should be considered just another Vegas tourist trap.

With the disappointment of Sin City Brewing (even their T-shirts were overpriced and cheap) and finishing two places off the money in two different poker tournaments on my first day, my trip to Vegas was not going that well on day one. But, as Scarlett O'Hara said so long ago, "Tomorrow is another day." And it certainly was. The poker didn't improve, in fact, it got worse with early exits as my pocket aces and pockets jacks got cracked in two successive tournaments respectively by awful players with awful hands - yup, that's poker. Before that first bust-out at the Planet Hollywood Casino I was wandering around waiting on the tournament to start and happened across the original location for Sin City Brewing - a small walk-up bar with just a few stools in PH's Miracle Mile shopping area. I gave them another chance for some reason (boredom more than anything probably) and tried their Irish Stout. Not bad, but nothing original. At least it was a buck cheaper than the Flamingo location but it was still served in a plastic cup. I asked the barkeep about IPAs and he said they actually had one coming out next month (I perked up a bit since I will be returning to Vegas at the end of next month), but he said it would a British-style IPA - hmmmph, never mind. I ran into that recently bottled (Greene King IPA) and did not care for it at all. Not hoppy enough for me to waste any more time or money on these guys ever again. I won't be trying it unless they are handing it out free on The Strip (don't see that happening).

After that first bad beat/bust-out, of my AA vs an unsuited J5 (uggh!) I was done with poker for a while and I had to find some real beer.

I had read rave reviews online of an ale house/restaurant with a location in Vegas called Yard House, so I decided to seek it out. Unfortunately, it's at the far, far end of Las Vegas Blvd., so I had to take a cab to get to it. Even the bellman when I told him where I was going to need a cab to said, "All right, excellent place!." I remained hopeful. It's a chain restaurant that mostly has locations out west (but a couple in Florida - note to self for future reference) and claim to have more beers on tap than anyone else (over 100). I concur. Wow! I know there are some bars with this many beers on tap, but they are not actual restaurants as well.

This place is amazing! If I were to design an ale house this is what it would look like: lots of great beer on tap in a beautifully-appointed building with food as good as the beer. I was as blown away by my lunch ( a hot pastrami sandwich infused with jalapenos - yummy) as I was the beer and the restaurant itself. Nirvana had been reached! As for the beer, I chose to stick with pints even though they had plenty of 3-foot-long "yards" of beer glasses to serve you with (see photo below hanging above the taps), hence the name of the place. I started with the Double Daddy IPA first. This product from Speakeasy Brewing in San Francisco was excellent. Double IPAs are my favorite style of beer. As the name implies, the brewer doubles the standard amount of hops and malt creating a ferociously heavy, alcohol-laden beer. The Double Daddy checks in at 9.5%...oh yeah. Double IPAs are also sort of hard to find since they absolutely reek of hops in aroma and taste, they're just not for everyone (wimps). My second choice was a bit of a miss (but then most everything would be to me after enjoying a good double IPA). It was Kona Fire Rock Ale from Kona Brewing in Hawaii. It was your basic Irish-style amber ale. Nothing memorable, but a decent product nonetheless and I get to mark Hawaii of my state list.

The poker woes continued that evening with JJ going down in flames to A2 (great hand, buddy) and as bad as I was running, I was going to have a hard time justifying another tournament the next day before I returned home in the evening. That fact was confirmed as I hung out in my hotel room the next morning and proceeded to win $75 in a small online tournament (take it any way you can get it I guess). I went ahead and checked out of my room around lunch time and decided to just spend the afternoon before flying home with the two things that would cost me the least amount of money and heartache in Vegas: sightseeing and beer. I wondered thru a couple of the big strip casinos that I had not been into before. The MGM was nice with its free lion exhibit. I thought it was cool that the lions basically work "shifts" in the casino and also get time in an outdoor facility away from the Vegas madness. The Luxor was nice as well (that's the pyramid-shaped one) and it is connected to the lovely Mandalay Bay Casino by an enclosed breeze-way full of shops and restaurants including the one I was looking for called simply Burger Bar.

This upscale burger joint was also recommended online as having a good selection of beer on tap. And they certainly did! 24 to be exact. My first choice (out of a nice collection of IPAs) was Hop Henge Experimental IPA from Deschutes Brewing out of Bend, Oregon. Super-hoppy and delicious (experiment a success, boys!). I was lucky to get this great beer looks like because according to their website it will only be available thru May. I am very interested in trying more of their many selections because it looks (from the website) and tastes (from this IPA) that these guys are the real deal when it comes to craft-brewing (hear that, Sin City Brewing - get with the program or get out). I opted not to eat at Burger Bar because I was still full from breakfast, but their food looked pretty good. Maybe next visit. I stayed on the IPA train and ordered a Ruination IPA from Stone Brewing in California. Stone is one of my favorite craft brewers and I dearly love their standard IPA on draught and in bottles (see next blog post for more on that) and I had heard of Ruination but never had a chance to try it. Very smooth and not as strong as the name might indicate (at least to me). An excellent pint start to finish and quite a different experience from their standard IPA. Well done, again, Stone-meisters.

With a bit of a stumble to my bumble, I decided to walk off some of these calories by heading south thru the Mandalay Bay Casino and back out on to Las Vegas Boulevard toward the Town Square Mall area where the Yard House is located. I made sure to drink some water while at Burger Bar in preparation for the mile or so hike in the already mid-90s heat of Las Vegas. Of course, it's a dry heat there in Las Vegas and as I heard one comedian say "That's what they tell as they are loading you in to the ambulance."

I made the walk with no problem. Poked around in a few of the stores there and awaited the clock to strike 3 PM when Happy Hour starts at the Yard House...hoo-ray!!! My second visit to the YH started with Lost Coast Brewing's Indica IPA. I was able to try some Lost Coast brews in the past (8 Ball Stout, Alley Cat Amber and Downtown Brown Ale ) and liked what they were doing, and that goes definitely for their IPA concoction as well. Wonderfully smooth with a refereshing finish. And it goes good with Asian flavors, since I ordered the lettuce wraps off the half-off appetizer menu to go with it. Same as yesterday...great, great food. Before heading out to catch a cab back to the airport, I finished off my visit with the Alaskan IPA. It was actually a bit dull compared to some of the other wonderful IPAs I had tried in Vegas the past few days, but not awful. It still made anything Sin City Brewing was doing look like bilge water.

Thank goodness for good beer or my Vegas trip would have been pretty much a bust, but the weather was perfect and Vegas is always worth a gander. Now, I have more good reasons to come back than just poker. As I mentioned, I do have a trip planned late next month over Memorial Day weekend back to Vegas with the in-laws, and I hope to add a couple more beer-related stops on that visit including Boulder City Brewing over near the Hoover Dam and another great ale house in the old part of Vegas.

"Beer Wars" - A BOCK-umentary

Last night my friend, Nate, and I attended the live premiere of Beer Wars, a documentary focusing on the beer industry in America that in the last 20 years since the legalization of home-brewing has become a struggle for a multi-billion dollar business between the big, established mega-brewers (Anheuser-Busch, Miller, Coors) and the nearly 1,500 craft breweries sprinkled across the country.


Overall, it was a good film, but not great. Beer Wars does a good job of exposing the mega-brewers for what they really are - big businesses driven by the almighty bottom-line dollar with the sacrifice of quality of product, individuality and even sometimes, ethics. However, the underdog heroes of the film, the independent brewers, are not given nearly enough focus, in my opinion. The director admits that this documentary took almost three years to make, yet to me it almost looked like a rushed production that is a good idea and an interesting topic, but could have been so much more. Here's why:


- Only about a half dozen craft brewers are even included in the film. Of those only a couple are really focused on: Dogfish Head Brewing out of Delaware (an excellent success story/work ethic) and some caffeine-infused beer called Moon Shot - they never mentioned where it is brewed, but instead focus on one woman's struggle to introduce it into the already crowded market of New York and Boston. New Belgium Brewing of Colorado and Stone Brewing in California also have brief "cameos."


- Of the few craft brewers mentioned, all were fairly regionalized with most of the focus staying on the East Coast. Zero mention of some of the great southern craft brewing success stories such as Shiner, Sweetwater, Terrapin, Bluegrass, Yazoo and Highland.


- Advertising for this movie was almost non-existent. I feel lucky to have found out about it myself and it was purely by accident while surfing on the Internet. It was promoted by Fathom Events (http://www.fathomevents.com/) which uses movie theatres nationwide to broadcast opera, concerts, comedy, plays and in this case, documentaries usually in a live format. I have Fathom bookmarked on my computer because I like the idea of using movie theatres for more than just Hollywood films and it was while browsing their event list that I came across Beer Wars. Even local Yazoo Brewery owner/brew master, Linus Hall, mentioned to me in his blog ( http://www.yazoobrew.blogspot.com/) that little effort was made by the film's producers to work with craft brewers to spread the word about it. In fact, Yazoo had already made conflicting plans for last night before they even heard about the film's premiere broadcast, thus negating any chance to perhaps have a pre- and post-screening party. Even the theatre in L.A. where the live pre- and post-film broadcasts were being held was not full?

- The cost for the movie was a staggering $15. That's way too much to get anyone but real beer enthusiasts off their couch and into a movie theatre (a movie theatre which doesn't serve beer - see my next knock against this movie) and those people already know most of the points being made in the film anyway. I mean for Pete's sake, my wife and I are going to the Nashville Film Festival's world premiere of William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet tonight with Capt. Kirk himself scheduled to be in attendance and those tickets were only $11 each.

- Broadcasting in theatres that don't even sell beer made no real sense either. Another point Linus from Yazoo made on his blog was that such a film really belongs in an art-house theatre such as the Belcourt here in Nashville (which serves beer). I couldn't agree more. Nate and I made up for this fact by stopping by the nearby Music City Bar and Grill (a decent little bar trapped in the Tourist Hell that is Opryland/Music Valley Drive) before and after the movie and had a few Fat Tire pints (from Colorado's New Belgium Brewing). Linus, if you read this, see if you can't talk those guys into serving Yazoo. They serve a ton of tourists looking for "local beer" according to the bartender we talked to.


- The "live" introduction and follow-up round table discussion hosted by Ben Stein (who seemed very unprepared and not even a fan of craft brewing) were very brief and fairly unorganized. I mean I know it's live, but you are broadcasting nationwide with months to prepare...so have your shit together already!

Despite all the flaws, I did enjoy the movie. I wouldn't run right out and buy it when it comes out on DVD and I probably would only recommend it to other beer lovers, but I did learn a thing or two from it:

- like the fact that when Anheuser-Busch bought out Rolling Rock several years back they closed the Rolling Rock Brewery and continued production in their own brewery...they paid for the facilities but only wanted the name....disgusting.

And that although there are nearly 1,500 Lilliputian craft breweries in the U.S., combined they only make up 5 to 6 percent of the market share dominated by the Gulliver-sized mass producers.

And I did get a few laughs from it:

Two of the funniest parts of the film (that probably weren't meant to be) was the fact that the director doesn't drink beer (she's allergic to alcohol...WTF?), but got her start in the business by successfully hawking Mike's Hard Lemonade....OK? The other was the "brew master" at Anheuser-Busch promoting some new rip-off craft-style of beer they were brewing and he just dumps it in a glass with a huge head on it....hilarious....way to show your love for your product, dude.

Well, It Sure Beats Hard-Boiled Eggs

If the Easter Bunny can hide plastic containers full of goodies for the kiddies, why can't he do the same for responsible adults in glass containers? Well, it probably won't catch on, at least not by producers of good beer, but an Easter Growler Hunt sounds like a great marketing idea to me!!!

Ok, ok, it's a staged photo, but since my birthday falls fairly close to Easter, I was given a nice present today in Chattanooga by my brother- and sister-in-law, Paige and Andy, while we were visiting for the holiday.

Paige swung by the Riverside Beverage Store yesterday and picked up two growlers, one filled with Shiva IPA from Asheville Pizza & Brewing (yet another top-notch craft brewing group from this amazing little North Carolina mountain city) and the other was filled with French Broad Altbier also from the Asheville area. The amazing thing was that while I have had both of these beers in very small samples (the Shiva at the Southern Brewers Festival in Chattanooga two years ago, pre-blog, and the Alt Bier from Riverside Beverage the last time I was there when their keg ran out and the guy in the store was nice enough to give me about a half a glass sample to try), Paige didn't know squat about what to get and nailed exactly what I would have gotten had I been there myself. Kudos, sis (and thanks for contributing the photo as well).

The Shiva was really interesting. While calling itself an IPA, it's color and aroma indicated neither. No hoppy aroma and the light golden look of almost a pilsner when poured in the glass (it did look a bit darker in the volume of the growler). The taste didn't have the opening bite of a "real" IPA but with a nice hoppy finish, and that seems to be what they are going for with this solid brew.

Altbier ("old beer" in German) is an amber ale brewed in a traditional Bavarian style that blends malt and hops flawlessly. It's an excellent choice for any beer lover since it has a little something for everyone in terms of body, taste, refreshment and weight.

Thanks again to Paige and Andy for this great birthday present.

ADDENDUM: Who knew one of the best bottled IPAs in the U.S. I have found so far comes from the South. I bought a six-pack of Sweetwater IPA at our local Publix last weekend and it was a wonderful surprise. Made in Atlanta with a strong hoppy aroma and flavor with no bitter aftertaste and an easy-flowing body that leaves it refreshing and not the least bit heavy. Sweetwater Brewing gains popularity each year in the craft brewing industry and it seems like now I see why. Got to check these guys out on a draught level as soon as I get a chance.