And Now For Something Completely Different

I love to drink beer seasonally and for me the impending Fall means Browns, Pumpkins, and Oktoberfests. Sierra Nevada's regular Fall seasonal, Tumbler, is probably my favorite brown this time of year. I've already enjoyed a few in early September.

But this year, Sierra Nevada switched things up a big but adding an "Early Fall Seasonal" to their lineup: Flipside Red IPA.

Funny story. I was out at the store the other day. I saw this on the shelves and I thought "hey, that looks good. Let's try it." So I bought a six pack.

Later that day, Matt came home from playing golf with a friend and in his hand he held...a six pack of Flipside Red IPA. Great minds think alike, as they say.

Yesterday, Matt and I got together with some friends from Minnesota on a Google+ Hangout that we like to call Thirsty Thursdays. They are super fun and you should do them with your friends from around the country and the world. Everyone grabs their favorite beverage and hops into a Hangout. It is just like going out to the bar with friends except you're on the Internet!

I popped open a couple of Flipsides to enjoy as we chatted.

For an IPA this is an extremely mild beer and not overly bitter at all. There is a great interplay between the citrusy hops and the maltiness of the well crafted red ale. As advertised it is a lovely early fall beer to prepare for the coming of the season. If you can get Sierra Nevada in your area definitely give this one a try before it is gone.

Drink Seasonaly: Devil's Britches from Highland Brewing

Yesterday someone asked me the question:

"What is your favorite beer?"

How in the world does someone answer that question? I guess a lot of people have a go-to beer or a favorite style. For me it seemed like trying to pick a favorite child.

I thought about it for a minute but I didn't really have a definitive answer I could provide. So I answered the only way I could.

"I like seasonal beers."

Seasonal beers, for those who aren't familiar with the term, are batches of beer breweries make that are only available for a limited time. Typically these are styles that fit the current weather or are brewed for holiday seasons.

Many of the local Asheville breweries create seasonal beers throughout the year, but the one I think has nailed it is Highland Brewery. Arguably Asheville's biggest brewery, at least before some of the big guys move in, Highland does brew some of the area's beer staples. Their St. Therese's Pale Ale is a refreshing beer that is available year round. Gaelic Ale is also an easy drinking red that you can get just about anywhere. But I believe Highland's best work is their seasonals.

Anticipation is palpable as far away as Atlanta for the release of the popular winter beer Cold Mountain. I also love their Oktoberfest, Clawhammer. Last year, in late spring, Highland introduced an amazing pale ale with hops that tasted like sunshine called Little Hump. I honestly couldn't get enough of the stuff. I bought bottles from the store and ordered pint after pint in any bar I found it in. I have been assured that it is going to be back this year and that it was a staff favorite last year. Turns out it was also award winning last year.

Highland has done it again with their late winter/early spring seasonal available right now called Devil's Britches. Like all of their beers, this one is named after local mountain. Devil's Britches is a rich red IPA brewed with a couple of hops varieties that I had never heard of - but both are named for Greek Mythology (Apollo and Calypso) so I can't find anything wrong with them. The result is a malty beer with hops that don't try to knock your taste buds off your tongue with each sip.

And yes, when I realized that I wanted to blog about it, I went and got a bottle out of the recycling bin to get a photo of it. These are the sacrifices I make for my art.

Because it is a seasonal this beer won't be around for ever. I'm finding myself ordering it out at every chance I can get knowing that might be my last opportunity. If you like malty beers with a little kick of hops but not too much, you might want to check it out for yourself before it is gone.

The Second Best Beer in Asheville

There is one small problem with declaring The Best Beer in Asheville. It is that the next time you have something as delicious you feel as though you are cheating on the other beer.

I didn't mean to, Heresy Brown. It just happened. I'm sorry.

Last summer, we spent a lot of time at Wedge Brewery. It is such an easy summer place to be. The old warehouse in the river arts district right on the bank of the French Broad is the perfect place to enjoy a cold beer on a hot day. We would sit on the patio and be all carefree. I would wear my hippie skirts and tank tops and think to myself "I belong in a place like this." 

Then we went away for the winter. We spent two months bundled in layers of clothes as we enjoyed the company of friends and family for the holidays. By the time we got back, I had kinda forgotten about Wedge. 

The other day, Matt reminded me. It was a really cool day. Both cool as in awesome and cool as in cold. We spent some time visiting with Joe of Tennessee Tiny Homes while he was in Asheville on his tri-state tour. Besides beer, tiny houses are my other favorite thing. We were there for about an hour and half talking with Joe and another local tiny house enthusiast. We started to get hungry, though, and Matt said "Lets go down to Wedge." 

I was all like, "I totally forgot about Wedge on a count of it being winter and everything."

My goofy grin and an Iron Rail last summer.

So we said our goodbyes and headed down to the RAD to enjoy some beer.

It was freezing cold that day and not at all the kind of day that would bring someone out to the riverfront. The place wasn't packed but it had a fair amount of business for a cold February day. We bellied up to the bar and ordered "Two Iron Rails, Please." 

And that was when I remembered. This beer is SO delicious. Kind of Heresy Brown delicious...but I forgot about Iron Rail when I declared that Heresy Brown was the best beer in all of Asheville. Oh no!  

By the way, Iron Rail is an IPA. It is hoppy but not painfully so. It is really easy to drink. 

I felt caught. Like I was committing a horrible sin. I can't possibly say one beer is the best in the whole city when this other beer makes me feel so joyful at the same time. Can someone be PolyBeerMorous? Can I really love both of them at the same time? 

Asheville kind of makes us a little PolyBeerMorous. There is so much great beer in this town and new ones coming every day. By the way, I made that word up: PolyBeerMorous. You won't find it if you Google it. I know, I tried. 

So I want to raise a glass to ALL of the great beer in Asheville. Or, alternately, I want to raise a glass OF all of the great beer in Asheville. Don't worry, I'll call a cab.

Great Beer Night

It has been a while since I've paid much attention to this blog. With my other projects, sometimes this one gets a little neglected.  Making beer is very much a repetitive process, so sometimes I don't feel the motivation to write about it after I've done it.

However, there has been another aspect to Beer and Now that I have been neglecting. The beer experience. I have certainly had some great ones this summer.  Last month, we spent an afternoon at Highland Brewery in Asheville.  We've also been spending some times at local Atlanta bars enjoying new brews. But last night was one of the best beer nights I have had in a while.  

After work, I picked Matt up at our apartment and we drove up to our favorite beer bar, and one of Atlanta's best kept secrets.  We had a mission, so we decided that while we were enjoying some tasty craft brews, we would also work on a budget for our project in South Africa.  We ordered our first beer, the Southern Tier Harvest, and some food. This past week in Atlanta had cooled down significantly after Hurricane Lee swept through and yesterday really felt more like a gorgeous Autumn day. The Harvest Ale felt like a great kick off to an early fall.  I don't usually associate ESBs, which is one of my favorite styles, with Autumn beers, but it was a really well done brew.  The color evoked the season perfectly with the orange-amber lights and the flavors were earthy and malty with just a hint of caramel.  We got some food too and chowed down before the table was cleared and we set up our laptops to work on the budget for the shelter project.

While we researched and set up our spread sheet, we were ready for our second brew of the night.  Matt had the Rogue Love and Hoppiness. He wasn't as impressed as he was hoping to be, but he said it was all right.  I, on the other hand, tried the Weyerbacher Imperial Pumpkin Ale. Here is the thing about pumpkin beers.  They are either hit or miss - either they blow your mind or they taste like pumpkin flavored water. I asked our waitress her opinion before ordering and she said that this was the good kind of pumpkin ale - full of spicy flavors. I went with it and seriously did not regret the decision. She was right about the spices. The flavors of clove, cinnamon, and nutmeg were prominent and a fresh pumpkin taste. 

Nearing the end of our research, it was time to try our third beer of the night.  Matt got the Stone 15th Anniversary Black IPA, which our waitress said was super hoppy and really good. He agreed and my sip did confirm it as well.  But since I had been enjoying Fall Seasonals all night, I really wanted to keep it going.  So, I did the unthinkable... I ordered a beer I have already had before!  The Sierra Nevada Tumbler has long been one of my favorites. Since I do love a good brown beer, this one is a great Autumn offering and it was exactly what I was looking for.  It is just a solid brown beer with some nutty flavors.

We had already packed up our laptops and were finishing our beers when we asked for the check.  While that is normally the end of a great evening out, that was actually when the fun began.  Two guys who had been standing at the bar came over and said "Hey, we saw you were paying and we wanted to know if we could be vultures and get your table?" So told them they certainly could and they sat down in the other two chairs. They introduced themselves and we started talking. We started talking about beer, of course, because we were all enjoying fancy beers at a fancy beer bar. Then, it turns out, one of the guys is This Guy. Now, we went from talking about enjoying beer to brewing beer.  Matt and I told him we were home brewers and that we had a pomegranate wheat in the carboy. He told us that he started homebrewing and now he does contract brewing with Thomas Creek in South Carolina.  Then his friend asked us if any of us were musicians and Matt told them he had been a drummer since he was a kid and recently took up the guitar and singing. Both guys were also musicians so then we talked about music for a while.  And finally, somehow, the conversation got around to building and we talked to them about our cabin in North Carolina and about or project in South Africa. 

It was such a great night.  We got a lot of work done, drank some fantastic beers and met some folks who seem pretty cool.  That is one of the things I like about the "Culture of Beer".  There is something about this shared interest that can really open up those spontaneous social situations. Seriously, hanging out at the bar and talking to strangers is truly one of my favorite hobbies.  You just never know who you'll meet.