Ymm, Beer

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Had a Beerwine at ABC yesterday. Still as good as it was last week and the week before.😊

ricks

Sitting at APBC currently, sipping a forgotten favorite. Red Light pale ale. Very smooth drinking, one of the first "house beers" here, and rarely on tap anymore. Pretty tane by Asheville hop standards, but crispy for a summer afternoon.

Never bottled, never canned, only available in house. Recommended, if only for the historical context. It may predate the Shiva, if memory serves.

[mattman91]

Sitting at APBC currently, sipping a forgotten favorite. Red Light pale ale. Very smooth drinking, one of the first "house beers" here, and rarely on tap anymore. Pretty tane by Asheville hop standards, but crispy for a summer afternoon.

Never bottled, never canned, only available in house. Recommended, if only for the historical context. It may predate the Shiva, if memory serves.

I will second this.

[ricks68]

Sitting at APBC currently, sipping a forgotten favorite. Red Light pale ale. Very smooth drinking, one of the first "house beers" here, and rarely on tap anymore. Pretty tane by Asheville hop standards, but crispy for a summer afternoon.

Never bottled, never canned, only available in house. Recommended, if only for the historical context. It may predate the Shiva, if memory serves.

I will have to try it on these hot AVL days then. Thanks for the update.

ricks

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I will have to try it on these hot AVL days then. Thanks for the update.

ricks

Just had the Beerwine at your recommendation. Pretty damn tasty. Not as tart as a "sour," but definitely more complex than the other APBC porter seasonals.

Nice variety.

[fuse]

Raleigh Beer Garden kinda fun.

Ultimately just a bar, and a bar with bad parking at that.

Deep fried pretzels amazing.

[devildeac]

Raleigh Beer Garden kinda fun.

Ultimately just a bar, and a bar with bad parking at that.

Deep fried pretzels amazing.

Wait, didn't you have some beer, too.

One had kind of a cool, catchy name, IIRC.

[ricks68]

Just had the Beerwine at your recommendation. Pretty damn tasty. Not as tart as a "sour," but definitely more complex than the other APBC porter seasonals.

Nice variety.

I think the sour cherries counterbalance the wine so the barrel aged sweetness is no longer dominant. They originally had it at 4 bucks, but just raised it to 5 on Thursday. It's almost gone, however. Now try the Boojum and let me know.

ricks

[ricks68]

Altamont Brewing in West AVL just sold to founder of Terrapin, which was recently bought by Miller/Coors. New name will be UpCountry. Looking forward to the upgrade, as Terrapin makes good beer.

ricks

[fuse]

Wait, didn't you have some beer, too.

One had kind of a cool, catchy name, IIRC.

Let's see...Trophy Darryl Strawberry Ale.
As fruit beers go, this was disappointing.
As a pale ale, maybe middle of the road.

[fuse]

Mother Earth Porch Pale Ale

Was excited to try Porch.
Like the Trophy one post above, I was disappointed.
Not a bad beer, just not a memorable or outstanding beer.

[fuse]

Mother Earth Tripel Overhead

Never had seen it on draft before.
This one hit the spot and is a simply amazing beer.

[fuse]

Haw River Newlins Belgian Pale Ale

Every Haw River beer I've ever had had been memorable.
My only wish is their brewery was in Apex and not in Saxapahaw.

[Tripping William]

Mother Earth Porch Pale Ale

Was excited to try Porch.
Like the Trophy one post above, I was disappointed.
Not a bad beer, just not a memorable or outstanding beer.

Agreed. Serviceable. Workmanlike.

[devildeac]

This week in beer:


Farking Wheaton w00tstout (draft)-Stone Brewing

The story-sort of:

http://www.stonebrewing.com/beer/sto...#ageGatePassed

The beer:


Style: flavored, bourbon barrel-aged Russian imperial stout
Appearance: almost pitch black
Pour: 10W30
Aroma: dark chocolate, dark caramel, espresso
Mouthfeel: 10W30-this stuff is viscous
Tastes: mirrored aromas with some licorice, black strap molasses and a bit of whiskey
IBU: 65
ABV: 13% (no typo)
Cost: $6 for a full pint-most places won't pour a full pint of this heavyweight

Idle chatter: After reading the description, I thought I might find nuances of orange flavors (from the wheat), a bit of nuttiness (D'oh!) from the pecans, some mustiness from the rye and a lot more bourbon. No disappointments, just the flavors didn't really match the labeling/my expectations, but I still found this to be an excellent sipper, especially the more it warmed during the 30-45 minutes I eventually decided not to buy any products from Crafty Beer Shop.

There are a couple $10 bombers waiting to be delivered by ricks68 on one of his football journeys and I've got one I purchased that is cellaring now so it'll be interesting to taste the bottle versions after several (many?) months of aging.

Tip of the snifter to ricks68 for notifying me of this beer's release last month and buying the couple mentioned above.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Altamont Brewing in West AVL just sold to founder of Terrapin, which was recently bought by Miller/Coors. New name will be UpCountry. Looking forward to the upgrade, as Terrapin makes good beer.

ricks

This bums me out - though not from a beer perspective. I went to school with Gordon, the owner of the Altamont, and really appreciated what he did with the place. It was a great spot for locals to gather, listen to good music, play ping-pong - and it was dog-friendly before being "dog-friendly" was a staple of Asheville.

I also admired his willingness to experiment with his recipes on beer. Naturally, some experiments worked better than others, but it was never boring.

I suspect that with the Terrapin owner coming in, the quality of beer will go up. I just hope that the atmosphere won't take too much of a left turn.

RIP Altamont Brewing

[devildeac]

Grapefruit IPA (draft)-White Street Brewing Company

Drink local!

Served from a beer truck 10 yards from the brewery last PM at a street festival on (wait for it) White Street in (not so quiet) downtown Wake Forest. It don't get much fresher than this, nor cheaper as the pint pour set me back $4. Hazy amber-orange in color with a citrusy-piney nose. There was a small, foamy head and I tasted more rind and pith than I did grapefruit juice considering the 5 pounds of puree they added per keg. Similar idea/concept to the Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin but in a different category as this is a session IPA with IBUs of 45 and ABV of 4.8%, that drinks more like a regular IPA and it's on extended release but only available on draft. It would have paired nicely (the forbidden open container "rule" they had prevented me from carrying this to the restaurant) with the giant cheesesteak I had 10 minutes later a few blocks away.

[devildeac]

Hoptimist (draft)-White Street Brewing Company

More local!

Another $4 pint at Friday Night on White Street in rockin' downtown Wake Forest.

Appearance: clear orange-amber with a small, creamy head
Nose: pine, resin and citrus
Mouthfeel: slightly oily and moderately bitter
Taste: Upfront herbal, piney/resin-y with some smoothness and sweetness of butterscotch and caramel and a citrus-y finish
Malts: American 2-Row, Crystal, Vienna
Hops: Citra, Centennial, Cascade, Bravo, Amarillo
IBUs: 60
ABV: 7.5% (whoa!)

More bantering/blathering: The brewers thought grapefruit and mango, I thought more pine/resin. That many hop varieties make it a bit confusing on the mind and palate with scents and tastings to me. Solid offering but certainly not in the Ballast Point, DFH, Bells league with their flagship IPAs. It's a crowded, crowded field. I really wanted to try their limited release IPL (India Pale Lager with some experimental hops) which they had on tap inside the brewery but the very nice young beertender told me there'd be quite the line at the bar at 8 PM at night and was ready to draw me a pint that second from his beer truck so I succumbed to his charms and guile and handed over my last token (I only bought 2 anyway, 1 for before and 1 for after dinner ) for the quickie.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This bums me out - though not from a beer perspective. I went to school with Gordon, the owner of the Altamont, and really appreciated what he did with the place. It was a great spot for locals to gather, listen to good music, play ping-pong - and it was dog-friendly before being "dog-friendly" was a staple of Asheville.

I also admired his willingness to experiment with his recipes on beer. Naturally, some experiments worked better than others, but it was never boring.

I suspect that with the Terrapin owner coming in, the quality of beer will go up. I just hope that the atmosphere won't take too much of a left turn.

RIP Altamont Brewing

Following up on my own post... chatted with a few people in the know this morning, and the changes mostly sound good. Bringing in a chef from Bouchon for the restaurant, completing some renovations, and keeping most of the staff. Hopefully they can find a good balance between "upgrades" and keeping the comfortable atmosphere.

[mattman91]

Following up on my own post... chatted with a few people in the know this morning, and the changes mostly sound good. Bringing in a chef from Bouchon for the restaurant, completing some renovations, and keeping most of the staff. Hopefully they can find a good balance between "upgrades" and keeping the comfortable atmosphere.

When I finally get to work all I do browse DBR

Glad to hear that all of the proposed changes sound positive.

[weezie]

There's really nothing else worth doing BUT hide inside and drink beer today.