Brewery Review: The New Guys--Second Self Beer Company

Time for a Brewery Review...

Jason wishing he was leading tour

In the not too distant past (a few Saturday's ago), I got a call from friend of the Ale Hoppers, Jason Murphy wanting to go check out a brewery. He needed to get out of the house, his wife was not feeling well.

It didn't take much to convince me, I didn't have much on my plate and Chelle was bogged down with a work project she needed to finish.

So Jason and I did a little homework and decided we'd take the 20 minute drive and visit Atlanta's newest brewery, Second Self.

LOCATION:

1311 Logan Circle in Atlanta. For those who live in the ATL, on the Westside, about a mile from Red Brick and not far from Nuevo Laredo Cantina.

WEBSITE:

SecondSelfBeer.com

BEERS:

--They are brewing 5 Beers right now and they are all pretty darn good. A little different than the standard, the beers all share a clean, flavor filled taste. For $12, you get 6 samples and a tour of the small, but nice facility.

Thai Wheat

THAI WHEAT: One of the Cleanest beers I've ever had. Very strong Lemongrass and Ginger flavors. Light and refreshing, I could drink this during the summer and never go to anything else. Really good and highly recommend this beer.

RED HOP RYE: Hoppy, with some carmel and malt notes. Again, a very clean beer, just a bit hoppier than what I prefer. For me, the bitter end makes it hard to drink more than one.

LIPA: One of the lightest IPA's I've ever had. Pretty good beer and I'm not an IPA fan. Once again, nice clean taste with a very slight bitter finish. Not as hoppy as the Red Hop IMO. Good entry level IPA for those looking to venture into the Craft Beer world.

Mole Porter

SAISON: Yum. Not a year round brew, but it should be. Notes of grapefruit and orange peel stood out to me. Slight peppery finish. Sensing a trend, this also is a very clean beer and a good accompaniment to just about any kind of food.




MOLE PORTER: Limited release beer. Can't say enough good things about this. I'm a big Porter/Stout fan, and this absolutely nails it. Chocolate is prominent and the peppery/mole flavor is there just enough to let you know it's there. Too many of these type beers go for too much heat, Second Self got the mix perfect here.

BREWERY: 

Brewery

---A smallish warehouse on the Westside of Atlanta. The size may be deceptive as they only have a couple of tanks. The tasting area takes up most of the space right now. According to Chris, one of the co-owners, they chose the site knowing they would need to expand. And if the quality of the beer is an indicator, that won't take long.

Bar and Taps

ATMOSPHERE:

---Again, typical warehouse. Once you park and walk in, there's a small bar with 4 taps along with a pressure cleaner for your glass if you are sampling. There's a lot of room for people to visit.

OUR THOUGHTS:

---Really enjoyed the visit. When we were there, it was the second tasting session they'd ever had. The gang still has some kinks to work out, it's very laid back.

The name itself came from what Chris described as their "Second" jobs. Neither he, nor Jason, the "beer architect" were full-time brewers until they opened Second Self. Both began brewing as a hobby--or second job.

They both got into the business because they wanted to produce something a little different. While Chris has brewing experience from Sweetwater and from getting his brewing certification, Jason's background is more as a chef.

Which is why the beers blend so well with foods. Ideally, food pairings are the best way to drink them.

If you are a serious Craft Beer geek looking for something to do on a Friday or Saturday we highly recommend paying these guys a visit.

Brew Your Cask Off: Cask Beer With The Masses

104 One of a kind casks on the Sweetwater Brewing Campus in Midtown Atlanta, what could be wrong with that?

Very little actually....

This past weekend, we ventured back onto the beer trail with a couple thousand of our friends to check out the annual Sweetwater Brew Your Cask Off event.

It was a cool fall November evening in Atlanta and a good chunk of the event was outside, but it all wasn't. There were beers scattered all over the Sweetwater campus, from the tent out front, to the tank room, to the upstairs party room. Plenty of beer and plenty of people.

By no means was the event a Sweetwater event. Most of the local breweries participated. As did a ton of local restaurants, a couple of beer distributors and even some out of town businesses.

There were some, um...interesting concoctions. Including the people's favorite, a "Fruity Pebbles Ale" from Cypress Street Pint and Plate. Yes, Fruity Pebbles.

My favorite: A beer called "Cask and Titties" (mmm...) from the World of Beer. It was a stout with bourbon soaked peaches, vanilla bean and spices. It was really good.

For Chelle: A hoppy Belgian beer from Twain's Restaurant in Decatur. "Nelson's Spicy Berries" featured Sweetwater Whiplash infused with Green Hatch Chilis and Strawberries. And it was dry hopped.

But alas, we did not pick the winners...

The Judges Choice: " The Walking Dad"--A Sweetwater 420 with dried Apricot, Grapefruit Peel and Peach Extract and infused with Forbidden Fruit Yeast. It was done by United Distributors, who distributes many of the Georgia Craft Beers. We didn't get a chance to try it.

The Professional Winner: "Danch Meng Blueberry Bootlegger" from Jailhouse Brewing in Hampton, Ga. A breakfast stout with bourbon soaked blueberries and coffee. Somehow, I missed this despite it being a spot on Phil beer. Though Chelle did try and said it was "Pure Awesomeness".

The People's Choice Award: "Fruity Pebbles" by Cypress Street Pint and Plate--(one of our favorite craft beer bars in Atlanta). Haha! We both tried this and while I wouldn't say I'd drink a growler of it, the sample was really good and they gave out Fruity Pebbles treats to chase it with. Oh, and everyone was dressed in Flintstones costumes. (thought I got a photo of them, but guess I didn't.)

Event Review: It was a fun time. It's the 5th time Sweetwater has put on the event and it's gotten bigger every year. They apparently expanded the offerings this year to include beers created by local businesses to round out the 100+ casks.

However, the one thing we did not enjoy was the crowd.

The event was packed by the time we got there just after the gates opened. It was very difficult to move around the main tent due to the amount of people and those people getting their beers and not moving out of the way to drink them.

The crowd also had a larger number of people there in good part to get drunk, which takes a little of the fun out of the event. Most Craft Beer fans are there to enjoy the variety of different beers and sample. Not to get crappy-ass drunk. And unfortunately there was a lot of that.

It did not help that Sweetwater, while Atlanta's largest brewery, has limited parking. The night we went, there was almost no parking in the warehouse district they are located. So we took the shuttle from a local plaza. It was a bit crowded and there were not nearly enough buses for the people there, but they were moving and when we were ready to leave, there was a bus ready to go.

Would we go back?

Probably not. It was a cool event to go to and experience as fans of good, original and creative craft beers, but now that we've done it, we more than likely would not go back.

Because we can---here's something to explain the "Fruity Pebbles"---The Pebbles and Bam Bam Show. (Yes, this really existed)

GABF Day #3: Festival Time--Our Look at The Great American Beer Festival

So, Saturday marked Day 3 of our Great American Beer Festival trip and also the day we had tickets to the event.

And when they tell you it's the "World's Largest Beer Festival" and that you'll see some crazy stuff, well, whomever "they" are was understating.

It's a long day too.

We started by going down to LoDo and settling in near the Denver Convention Center early. The gates were not scheduled to open until 5:30pm, we got downtown around noon. Which left a ton of time to wander and explore.

Probably too much time.

But we killed the clock with a good lunch at a local pizza spot and some coffee at Starbucks along with a couple of trips up and down the 16th Street Mall.

And around 5pm, we made our way to the Convention Hall. Along with, oh, say 20,000 or so of our fellow beer fanatics. I don't know what the actual attendance for the event was, but the 20,000 may be on the low side.


**NOTE**--We took a ton of photos, I will have to figure out the best way to produce a photo gallery. I'll put as many as I can in this post.

Let me add at this point the organizers of this festival have crowd control down to a science. We waited for a few minutes to get in, but considering the amount of people being herded in, it was a bit tight, but not long at all. It moved assembly line--ID check, bracelet, upstairs to get your glass and boom...you're staring at more beers than you can ever possibly imagine in one place.

Think Home Show or something like that on a oh, 4 times larger scale size wise. And then compound that with 20,000 or so beer fanatics. Or a better example might be a fan festival attached to a major football game.

The people watching was amazing. Never in our lives have we seen so many people wearing pretzels. Or dressed up in some sort of bizarre costume even though Halloween was 30 days away.

The photos barely encapsulate what we saw. There were people with beer can necklaces, wearing beer mug hats, dressed like Disco Fever or in some cases some sort of exctasy related get-up.

The pretzel necklaces were indeed impressive. Some had the mini-twists, some had soft pretzels. All looked ready to be eaten and we suspect by the end of the evening, most of them were.

And yes, a lot of them were drunk. Though we aren't sure how since the event featured 1 oz pours and the Brewers were pretty consistent with it.

But the star of the night...and the week is the beer.

And there is beer everywhere. 3000+ different beers from over 700 different breweries.

The styles weren't incredibly different, there are only so many way to produce a beer, but the spins are what made the best stand out.

We tried very hard to stay away from the "Big Name" brewers. The lines for Stone Brewing, Great Divide, Left Hand and others were almost back out the door.

No, we tried to hit the little guys. Visit the breweries we'd never get to experience at home. And sometimes it meant going to a brewery that didn't have a long, crowded line.

But that was okay. For us, the fun in traveling or going to places we've never been is to experience things we don't get at home.

For me, there were a couple of favorites. Obviously, I lean towards the Porters and Stouts and this event was no different.

I loved the Peppermint Stout from BJ's Brewery (yes, I know, mass retailer). But man it was good. Tasted like a York Peppermint Patty.

I also enjoyed my first Cigar City Beer. (yes, I know, from Florida) For some reason there beer isn't available in Georgia (that we're aware of). I had a Maduro Brown Ale. Which was nutty, roasty, goodness in a glass.

My 3rd favorite--the Award Winning Smoked Alaskan Porter from Alaska Brewing. I had heard from my friend Chad Clark who used to live there how good the beers were. And boy was he right.

For Chelle it was a Louisiana Beer (natch) from Bayou Teche. A Honey-Oak based Ale called Miel Sauvage, which I tried as well. And, yeah it was pretty tasty.

She also fell in love with the Gose beers. And she had a bunch of them. For those of you unfamiliar with the style, a Gose is a slightly sour/salty version of a beer. It is somewhat similar to a Farmhouse Ale with more bite to it.

I tried a few of those as well, and yeah, though a contrast to my first love the Porters, the Gose's were pretty darn tasty.

All in all, this was easily an event to scratch off our bucket lists. We are very sure we will never experience a festival on this scale ever again.

The festival was the focus of our trip but the culture in Colorado was the reason we came. You could say that GABF 2014 was the Apex or highlight of our trip and arguably it was. But the beer culture itself is the star in Colorado.

Everywhere we went, there were Craft Beers or fans. The culture is open, friendly and very, very inclusive. We met some awesome folks at the breweries in Fort Collins and the Brew Pubs in Denver and our last day trip in Boulder as well.

If you love great beer and have never been out here before, you owe it to yourself to make the pilgrimage. Everywhere you turn there's a brewery or brew pub or restaurant with fresh to table food.

Having and experiencing the festival on top of the trip made this quite possibly one of the best trips Michelle and I ever have or ever will take.

We WILL be back....

Cheers!

GABF Week Day #2: Beer Daytrip--Fort Collins, Colorado

While there is so much to do in Denver, particularly on Great American Beer Festival week, we decided that it would be fun to do a little exploring. In part because we've never really spent much time in Colorado.

With that in mind, we decided to spend our Friday about an hour north of Denver in the sleepy little college town of Fort Collins. Which we should add is quite the beer town in its own right.

**NOTE**---Rather than review each place individually, we're going to combine things here.

We started our adventure at the most fitting place we could think of...New Belgium Brewing.

NEW BELGIUM:

The biking crew at New Belgium has a gorgeous, wood toned, busy building just east of downtown Fort Collins.

And they have an amazing collection of beers on tap. We should note, as much as we would have loved to take the 90-minute tour, we weren't able to get a reservation.

Beers: (Favorites)

Phil--Salted Chocolate Stout (Lips of Faith). Of course I loved this. Right in my wheelhouse. Had a 1554 Black Lager as well, don't know why I never had one before.

Chelle--Tour de Fall. A nice, seasonal, Octoberfest style beer. Easy to drink.

**NOTE**--We also tried a one off run called NBB loves Loveland. It was a sour with lots of fruit notes. Did not taste like a beer, but boy was it good.

Thoughts: A local hangout place. Many of their beers are available everywhere, but the brewery specific beers are amazing. You must come here if you are in town.

The tour from what we are told is worth the 90 minutes, but plan ahead, you have to get reservations in advance. It books very, very quickly.

FORT COLLINS BREWING:

This is a modern, beautiful, art-deco looking building that houses a great brewery and a really, really good brew pub/restaurant. (We had lunch here at Gravity 1020 and it was fantastic)

Beers: (We did Tasting Flights)

Phil--Yes, I loved the Chocolate Stout, because I almost always love those beers. This was a really good one. A little stronger than most, but that's not a bad thing. Their new 1020 Pale Ale was pretty good too.

Chelle: Rocky Mountain IPA. Much like me with the Stouts, Chelle loves her IPA's and this one was very good. Lots of fruit and earthy notes, very well done. The Red Banshee Amber was right up her alley as well.

Thoughts: If you come here, get a tasting flight and some food. The beers are very good, the restaurant is even better. I had a Cuban style sandwich on Ciabatta bread that featured house made pickles. Chelle had a flatbread that featured some fresh goat cheese. Really good stuff. Another worthy stop.

ODELL BREWING:

The last stop on our Fort Collins tour. We weren't familiar with their beers because we're pretty sure they aren't available in Georgia. Which is unfortunate because they do some great beers.

Again, we did tasting flights here, which we recommend because you can try a little bit of everything in the house. Well, okay, not everything, they had some 16 beers on tap.

Beers: (2 Different Tasting Flights)

Phil: Their Dopplebock was really good. I can't remember the name of it unfortunately, but it was deep, well rounded and very tasty. Gramps Oatmeal Stout was also very, very good.

Chelle: She also loved the Dopplebock. It may have been a brewery only beer. But man, it was a good one. She also like the Levity Amber Ale. It was a slightly bitter, hoppy classic Amber Ale.

Thoughts: Another obvious local hangout. The building is beautiful and just a couple of blocks from Fort Collins Brewing. They don't have a restaurant, but have food trucks on site daily. The patio/courtyard area is huge and can hold a ton of people, the inside also has quite a few bar seats.

Again, a worthy stop for anyone trying to get the best of the best.


OUR THOUGHTS ON THE DAYTRIP:

This was a lot better than we expected, a straight drive up Interstate 25 North and just a couple miles off the highway, Ft. Collins is a small but cool town. It's very obviously a laid back culture and vibe with several good breweries and pubs. Enough so that we couldn't hit them all.

If you are in Denver for a few days and want a great beer stop, this would definitely be a worthwhile trip.

GABF Week Day 1: Breckenridge Colorado Craft: Great Beer and Good Food

We promise we aren't going to rave and gush like slobbering children over every place we go to this week.

Really, we do. We will be honest.

Our last stop on Day #1 of our Great American Beer Festival adventure in Denver was the Breckenridge Brew Pub in the shadow of Coors Field on Blake Street in LoDo.

Atmosphere: Very typical brew pub. When we were there, the bar was crowded and that is indeed where we parked ourselves. The restaurant had a few folks there and there was a party in the back room. It was a surprisingly low-key sedate place.

The Food: Food was good, not great. Very typical bar fare. I had a pulled pork sandwich with sweet potato fries. They were nothing outstanding.

Chelle had Chicken Wings with Mango Habenero sauce on them. These were pretty good. Roasted, nice size wings and the sauce was tasty. Nice, subtle zing.

We also split some pretzel knots to start. They were doughy, but nothing to write home about. Though the mustard, made from their 471 IPA was really, really good.

Beer:

Phil--I had to start with the Nitro Vanilla Porter, it's always been one of my favorites. This was as good as I expected and very fresh.

I also had a Mango Mosiac Ale (limited release) which was really tasty. Tasted a bit like unsweetened Mango Tea, which I really like. Had a nice smoky finish.

Chelle: Loved her choices. Started with a Black Bottle Mexican Hipster. An IPA aged in tequila. Which if you know her, you know why she loved it.

She finished with a Lonetree Brewing Peach Pale Ale which tasted exactly like you think it would. A solid session beer with a nice, but not overpowering peach flavor attached.

Our Thoughts:

Come here for the beer. It's very good and was a great way to wrap up our first day here. Go to the bar and get a tasting flight or work your way down the list but stay local. There are some awesome limited run beers here that you may not find in other places nearby.

The food however, well, eat if you are hungry, if not there are better places out there. The food wasn't bad, just generic and with so many "Farm to Table" restaurants/pubs in the area, you can do better than eating here.

We could easily see this place packed before a Rockies game in the summertime. But when we were here, the Rocks were as usual, long since eliminated from the baseball season. Still having this view out your window from a bar seat ain't bad if you into your baseball.

Overall: Come thirsty, leave hungry.

Cheers!

GABF Week Day 1: Great Divide Brewing: Busy For a Reason

First off, let us say there is no way to hit every brewery or beer pub in the Metro Denver area in a short period of time.

Too many choices and eventually you'll get beered out.

But you'll end up mighty happy in the process.

The 1st Brewery we hit on our 1st full day in town: Great Divide Brewing.

Location: Araphaoe Street in Denver. In LoDo, a few blocks from Coors Field.

Atmosphere: Somewhat of a hipster vibe. The bar/tasting room is small and at happy hour can get crowded. There are a handful of seats and bar space in the narrow tap room.

Beers: You can get a full pour 12/16oz or "Tasting Samples" which are 3 oz. We suggest you get the tasting samples so you can try as many beers as you can, they have a lot on tap, some stuff not available outside Colorado.

Some of our Favorites:

Phil--Oak Aged Imperial Yeti. A barrel aged Imperial Stout. Nice. The bourbon taste compliments the chocolate/espresso notes in the beer very well. Easily one of my all time favorites.

Phil-- Colette: Very tasty Farmhouse Ale. Slightly sour notes complimented by the herbal aroma. Not a heavy or high gravity beer, very session able.

Chelle--Lasso IPA: A simple, smooth IPA with Columbus, Centennial and Cascade hops. Very herbal with some slight citrus notes. Even Phil liked it and he's not an IPA guy.

Chelle--Hoss Rye Lager: Nice. A German style Marzen beer that pours copperish in color and tastes very fruit-flavored with Cherry notes prominent.

Our Thoughts: 16 Different beers on tap. Nice. And we are pretty sure they are all good. Somewhat similar in structure to some of our home state of Georgia's breweries only with a full on-for profit taproom.

If you find yourself in Denver, this brewery without question should be on your shortlist. It's one of the best we've been to.

GABF Week: Day 1 You Must Come Here: Freshcraft

Hey everyone, sorry for the long time between posts. Consider it us preparing ourselves for the journey we currently are on. A week in Denver, Colorado, a mecca of craft beer if you will. And the trip just happens to coincide with the Great American Beer Festival, which we will be attending on Saturday.

But in the meantime there are brew pubs and breweries galore to explore. Which is exactly what we are doing.

With that in mind, we began our adventure at one of the best places we possibly could. We got up in the morning and made a beeline for LoDo.

After walking around for a bit, it was time for lunch. So of course we decided to find a brewpub. And yeah, there are a lot of them here.

But our motto is "Go Big or Go Home", so we started with one of America's best, Freshcraft.

Freshcraft sits right in the heart of the action on Blake Street, just a few blocks south of Coors Field, home of the Rockies.

And much like it's name, not only is the beer fresh, so is the food.

Atmosphere: Beer Geek heaven. It looks, feels, smells and sounds like a bar/pub when you walk in. It's not a huge place, it fills up fast. If you have to wait to get in, trust us. It's worth it.

Beer Selection: 20 Rotating Taps. And not just your run-of-the-mill standard popular craft beer selections. The taps lean Colorado, but a lot of the beers are one-offs, stuff you won't find outside the state.

And...they keep about 130 or so different bottles, some fresh, some cellar aged, some very rare beers mixed in.

For me, I had 2 drafts. My favorite: Lilikoi Kepolo from Avery Brewing. An amazing wit beer that I'm quite sure I'd never find back home.

As for Chelle--she had a Pomme Baril from Epic Brewing, a good smooth Pils.

Food: One Word: Fantastic! We started out with a Fried Pickle Appetizer that was one of the best we've ever had. The pickle chips were all house made. Some were sweet, some garlic and some dill. Great variety. Plus it had some hot peppers tucked in there. The aioli on the side was a great compliment.

For lunch, I went with the B.A.R Rueben sandwich on Marble Rye. Again, great stuff. The corned beef was not thin sliced, it was more chunky, but really good. A great mix with the kraut and dressing too. But the highlight was the cole slaw side that was vinegar based mixed with barbecue sauce.

Chelle had a burger that was pure, fresh, beefy goodness. Perfectly cooked, it tasted a lot like what a chef would do on your grill at home. Again, the highlight of her meal: the side dish--Spud puppies. Think Hush Puppies made with mashed potatoes. Wow!

Our Thoughts: If you are a beer nerd, you need to come to this place. No question about it. It should be on your to do list here. The beers are the best of the best and the food is bar food done perfectly.

We totally get why this place is on every list of great Brew Pubs in America. Come hungry and go early. We got there around 11:30 a.m and were seated fairly fast, as the clock struck noon, it filled up with thirsty Great American Beer Fest participants and fans really, really fast.

Either way, it's well worth the wait.

This song has been stuck in my head all week--enjoy it while reading our review:

Beer of the Week: Orpheus Wandering Blues

The beauty of beer is that despite what the budget conscious Bud drinkers think, there are tons of crazy good styles out there.

And for at least me, one of the most enjoyable parts of learning about the different styles is actually getting to try them.

Last week (sorry for delay), I got to try one from a really unique local brewer here in the Atlanta area.

Orpheus Brewing isn't your traditional Ale/Porter/IPA brewery.

No, the specialize in sours, farmhouse ales, some IPA's and Belgians. All good stuff.

The Beer: Orpheus Wandering Blues

Style: Saison/Farmhouse Ale/Sour

A.B.V 7%

Appearance: Looks like Grapefruit Juice

Taste: Strong. Solid notes of blueberries and grapefruit. Not strongly carbonated, very smooth with slight notes of wheat. Really, really tasty summer beer.

Our Rating: 4.0 (out of 5)

Thoughts: This beer is not for everyone. I've been on a bit of a Farmhouse/Sour roll this summer and this beer is perfect for that. Probably the best of the bunch I've had. I would not drink this in the middle of winter, but we suspect the good folks at Orpheus wouldn't want us to.

Recommendation: If you like this style, absolutely. If you are a lager drinker with little Craft Beer experience, uh...probably no.

Festival Report: Savannah Craft Beer Festival 2014

So...if we are going to portray ourselves as reviewers of good beer and good food, that means along with some breweries, we probably need to visit some festivals.

Our 1st festival just so happened to occur on Labor Day weekend (well, ok, August 29th). It took place in Savannah at the Convention Center. The Savannah Craft Beer Festival.

The Event: 2014 Savannah Craft Beer Festival

The Location: Savannah Convention Center (across the River from River Street). Indoor and outdoor booths.

Conditions: It was hot, hot, hot outside, we had to wait awhile before they'd let us in. That was shall we say--less than fun.

The Crowd: Full, but not overwhelmingly so. Maybe a thousand or so craft beer fans in the house. It was a serious crowd, not there just to get drunk, but rather to try some new and exciting beers.

Brewers: From local (Service Brewing, Moon River, Southbound etc) to Regional (Thomas Creek, Red Hare, Red Brick, Jekyll and Burnt Hickory) to National (Stone, Dogfish Head, Lagunitas and others), there was a very diverse cross section to visit.

Samples: All of the 2 oz, small pilsner glass variety for General Admission. The VIP's got a snifter glass.

Engagement: Because of Georgia's antiquated beer rules, nobody from the breweries could pour, but most all had representatives there who interacted with the eager, questioning crowd.

Highlights: For me, Burnt Hickory's 9353 Berlinweisse was a revelation. A big, but not huge beer with a distinct fruit/tart taste. Thomas Creek's Pumpkin Ale was also very, very good.

Recommendations: This is a great "Starter" event for someone just getting into Craft Beers. It's not overwhelmingly crowded and not overrun with college frat boys looking to get drunk.

Well worth the $40 or so bucks if you can visit. Savannah is a wonderful albeit very warm town. Great place to spend a weekend.

Brewery Review: Jekyll Brewing

Recently the Ale Hoppers made another tour stop, this time in Alpharetta, Georgia, home of Jekyll Brewing.

The Jekyll team was celebrating their 1st birthday in early August and while we missed the early part of the party, we did get there for the second half of the soiree.

Here are our thoughts:

JEKYLL BREWING

Where are they: 2855 Marconi Drive, Suite 350 in Alpharetta, GA

Website: jekyllbrewing.com

Brewing Since: Summer of 2013

On Site Brewing: Yes. Absolutely. Jekyll can pump out of 900 gallons of beer. They do not have a mass production labeling machine, they hand label each bottle produced, 5 at a time.

Tasting Room: Yup. They've got one. It's kind of strange though. The facility is located in the middle of an office park. The tasting room, which also stores some of the hops and malts looks and feels like you are in somebodies office.

Vibe: Rural. Which doesn't make much sense. Though located in the middle of one of Metro Atlanta's booming suburbs in an area with a LOT of money. It doesn't come across that way. A good mixture of yuppies, bubbas and hipsters/bicyclists all in search of great beer.

Tastings and Tours: Longer hours than most. They are open Tuesday through Friday from 5 to 9pm and Saturday from 1 to 9pm. And they do accommodate group events. The event we attended was $15 and included a Mason Jar and five 5oz fills.



















Beers: (Note--They did not have all their beers available while we visited--We will review what was on tap only)

I.P.A--(Phil) I didn't drink this, only had a taste. Nothing outstanding that jumped out and said "Drink Me". A fairly typical, standard I.P.A.

Double I.P.A--(Phil) Pretty good as far as I.P.A's go. I don't generally care for them, but liked this. Very, very strong grapefruit notes and not incredibly hoppy. But it did have quite a kick.

Southern Session--(Phil) A solid, drinkable Blonde Ale. Again nothing incredible here, but a well rounded, smooth beer with a slightly floral finish. Not strong, it carries an ABV of 4.8%

Cooter Brown--(Phil) My favorite of their beers. But I enjoy a good Nut Brown Ale. Very traditional version of a classic English style. The nutty finish is prevalent with a very succinct note of chocolate. I recommend this of all the Jekyll beers. It carries an ABV of 6.0%

Notes:

---Jekyll was partially funded by a Kickstarter campaign. The guys in charge were able to raise $30,000 in just over 20 days to help start the brewery. That is quite impressive and the photo you see here has the names of everyone who contributed.

---Jekyll was chosen as the name in part because Jekyll Island is in Georgia, but mostly because the guys are history buffs. Ask them to tell you the story of James Ogelthorpe, Jekyll Island and the requirement that settlers in the 1800's were required to brew beer to help eat and drink. It's a very interesting tale.

Should You Go:

(Phil)--If you live in North Georgia, absolutely. If you don't and find yourself in that part of the world, sure. If you don't, not so much.

It's a long drive from Atlanta proper and while the beer is good, there are multiple breweries closer to town that are just as good if not better. Don't misunderstand this, the beer is very good, but it's not incredibly unique. I would be proud drink one of their beers should I come across it at a restaurant, I just don't know if the drive up there is worth it.

Our Rating: (1-5 Beer Glasses; 1-meh, 2-uh, maybe, 3-uh-huh, 4-probably, 5-uh, yes)

(Phil) 2--Uh, maybe. If in the area, we'd visit again.

Beer of the Week: Cherry St Brewing Co-Op Summer Fling Watermelon Blonde

So this weeks choice for Beer of the Week is actually stolen from the Chelle collection.

Our winner comes from the Cherry Street Brewing Co-Op in Cumming and is a Watermelon Flavored Blonde Ale. I picked up a growler of this at our favorite growler shop, The Stout Brothers/aka The Smyrna Beer Market...which coincidentally is about .5 miles from the house.

When I mentioned I was looking at something for Chelle, Brandon suggested this beer saying it's as good, if not better than the wildly popular 21st Amendment Watermelon Wheat...

And he was right...

Brewer: Cherry Street Brewing Co-Op (Cumming, GA--north of Atlanta)

Website: http://www.cherrystreetbrewing.com

Name: Summer Fling Watermelon Blonde Ale

A.B.V: 4.8%

Thoughts: This is a great summer beer. Not heavy at all and thick with the Watermelon flavor, which comes from the fresh squeezed Watermelon juice added to the brewing process.

And yes, the Watermelon hits you as soon as you open it.

It's not unlike a Watermelon Jolly Rancher, though not quite as strong. The Blonde Ale portion of it smooths things out and makes for a light, great beer to drink on a hot summer night.

This beer would go well with heavier foods, but I'd drink it with just about any food prepared between March and October.

Our Ratings: (1-5)

3.75--An excellent, well rounded and clean taste. Not strong, you could easily drink several of those without even thinking about it. Very well done.

Note--We've yet to visit the Co-op, but after this, it's on the must do list....

Cheers!

Beer of the Week: Terrapin Guano Loco

Again, a Phil review and yes, again, it's slightly stout/porter/dark beer heavy.

This week, my choice for beer of the week is Terrapin's Guano Loco. Guano Loco is a Brown Ale sprinkled with Ancho Chili Peppers. And it's good, damn good.

Brewer: Terrapin Brewing (Athens, GA)

Name: Guano Loco (Side Project 23)

Style: Spiced Brown Ale

A.B.V: 8.6%

Thoughts: This is really good. We've had several spicy ale's, most of which were overwhelmed with the pepper flavor.

This one is not.

Ancho Chili Peppers give it the zing, but they are in perfect balance with the chocolate and brown malts. I had this beer at a Taco Mac location and it made for a really good mix with the Hot Roasted Chicken Wings.

Our Rating: (1-5)

4--If you like a slight spice twist in your beer, this is for you. If you like Brown Ale with a twist, this is for you. Really enjoyed this beer and will come back and revisit it.

Brewmaster Spike Buckowski and the Terrapin team outdid themselves on this one.

Cheers!

Beer of the Week: Sierra Nevada Rain Check

For me, there are few beers better in the world than a well done stout. I haven't really had a bad one that I can remember.

And I'm not particular about them. Spiced stouts, porters, pretty much any way they make 'em, I'll probably try it.

That being said, Sierra Nevada's Rain Check is a bit different. And in a good way.

A traditional stout flavored with ginger and lime.

Yes, ginger and lime.

It adds a sweeter, cleaner and lighter tone to a style that is more traditionally thicker or heavier than most beers.

No, Michelle didn't care too much for it, but me, I loved it.

BREWER: Sierra Nevada

NAME: Rain Check

STYLE: Spiced Stout

ABV (Strength): 8.9

THOUGHTS: This is not for everyone, but if you like the porter/stout style beer, chances are you will really like this. It's lighter tasting almost like a Sprite flavored stout. But it retains the richness of the heavier beer.

RATING: (1-5, 1: not great, 5: must drink)

3.5: Smooth and easier drinking that most stouts. A different spin on a traditionally rich, thick style. Very strong, but worth it if you like stouts. I'd definitely recommend this to try.

Wild Heaven: Something Old; Something New

So we did the 1st of our official "Ale Hoppers" tours this July 26th and we're going to give you our review.

Mind you it's our opinion, what we think, what we like and what we didn't like.

You may disagree and that's okay, the whole objective here is to get people to try new things, try something different and see what they think about it.

On to the review:

Wild Heaven Craft Beers

Where are they: 135 Maple Street, Avondale Estates, GA

Website: wildheavencraftbeers.com

How Long Have they Brewed:  Since 2010

On Site Brewing: Yes. Though until recently, they farmed out a majority of their production to Thomas Creek Brewing in South Carolina.

The team has some tanks used by Terrapin Brewing and one of Sweetwater Brewing's original production tanks. They are ramping up to do all the production in house and have a small canning machine as well.

Tasting Room: Old warehouse in an industrial area just east of Decatur. Open air with limited seating inside and benches outside in a courtyard area.

Vibe:  Laid-back. Very relaxed. The day we were there, we were with a group of friends. There were maybe 25 or so others there enjoying the beer, talking and learning about the team


Tastings and Tours: They offer 3 tastings a week on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. And they are relatively new to the business as the "Brewery" has only been offering this since June. For $12 you get a really nice tasting glass and 6 tokens to sample the beer.

Beers: They had 6 beers on tap beginning with a Golden Ale and moving all the way up to Barleywine.

Let There Be Light: A solid pale ale. Nothing outstanding. To me, a bit bitter at the start, though the more you sip, the less bitter it tasted. A bit hoppy for a Pale Ale to me, but I'm not a "Hop-Head"...

White Blackbird: Nicely done Belgian Saison. Tasty. The pear taste is very noticeable, but not overpowering. Dry, not bitter at all a very easy drinking beer, particularly on a warm day.

Ode to Mercy:  Big smile :). Well done brown ale that becomes rather strong at the brewery where they add fresh expresso to it. The day we were there, the coffee/chocolate finish was a bit to much, it over powered the smooth taste of the beer.

Invocation:  Slightly spicy, well rounded beer. Somewhat similar to Let There Be Light, but much deeper flavor profile. A good beer to have with food.

Eschaton:  My favorite. Very malty. Pronounced brown-sugar, molasses taste even though that's not in the description. Faint vanilla and fruit aromas round it out. A very strong beer at 10.5 abv, that you could drink a lot of but probably shouldn't.

Civilization:  Not a fan of this style, but Michelle is. Interesting flavor profile with a lot of fruit in each sip. Very strong and like a carbonated wine.

Should you go?:

Wild Heaven is one of the more underrated, less noticed breweries in the Metro Atlanta area. They put out a quality product that for some reason doesn't get the love of some other local breweries. Their beer is available at Publix, Kroger, most Beer Stores and a handful of local restaurants.

The styles are unique, the beers are very complex and well produced. I'd recommend going to a tasting as the beer tastes considerably fresher on site as opposed to what you could buy at the store. The volunteers at the brewery are very friendly and knowledgeable and enjoy chatting about the beer. It's well worth your time to make the trip.

Our Rating (1-5 Beer Glasses, 1-meh, 2-uh..maybe, 3-uh-huh, 4-uh...probably, 5-uh...yes)

3 Glasses...if you like good beer and a laid back vibe, you'll love this place.

Cheers!

Enjoy this video while reading our review--(The song is appropriate, don't cha think?)

Introduction: Who We Are and Why We Are Doing This

So, if you were a part-time writer who - along with your wife - has become a consumer of great beer, how would you tell people about it?

For me, it was easy. Create a blog. 

For my wife, who shares the passion and excitement, it was a no-brainer. 

Of course we will write about and post pictures of beer.

So that's what we are going to do. 

We may mix in some food reviews, because, well, after all, what's a good restaurant without a great beer selection. And for us, it is a factor as to whether or not we will come back.

Who are we:

We are a couple of beer fanatics who live in the Metro Atlanta area. We are active participants in Atlanta's growing beer scene, visiting breweries and festivals whenever our time allows us to. And we've been to breweries in other states too. 

Why tell you about beer? Well, for one, we aren't brewers.  We don't make the stuff, we just enjoy drinking it and learning about the 3,000 or so breweries here in the U.S. 

It's our goal to give you, beer aficionados like us, a basic and simple perspective. We aren't professionals, we don't have a vested interest in any of the breweries, beers or restaurants we are going to write about. 

We are just fans. 

Just like anyone else.

It's been a challenge to explain to some of our friends that there's more to life than Bud Light or Miller Lite. Which is the other reason we are doing this.

If we can get just a couple of people interested in trying something different, to try a local brew, to try something they've never had before, then we've succeeded. It may be a small difference, but anyone we can convince to buy and shop a local small business over a corporate behemoth is a victory. 

And it never hurts if you can have an awesome, tasty beer in the process.

Cheers!