I visited Deschutes' tasting room in downtown Roanoke VA on a Saturday at opening (1 PM). The taproom had a clean, modern design that was nicely counterpointed by the use of old, reclaimed wood to frame out the backbar, and was scrupulously clean. The interior had a cohesive feel due to a lack of distracting wall decor and the use of consistent, unbroken wall color throughout. The color was a fairly cool grey, but the copious sunlight coming in through the full-length windows kept the feel light and airy. The mid-sized bar seated about 30, and there was ample seating inside for plenty more. There was a single table outside; this may have been so limited because it was market day.
Gate City Growlers – Greensboro, NC
Gate City Growlers is everything that I look for in a bottle shop: a great selection of beer, well-curated by people who are passionate about good beer and are willing to personally travel NC to bring the best of it to their customers, even beer that gets minimal (or no) distribution. With 20 taps, there is plenty of kegged beer to be had; when I visited, the tap selection was diverse and impressive, and featured beer from top-shelf brewers like Prairie Artisan Ales, Mikkeller, Grimm, Burial, and Wooden Robot. And unlike some places, they are happy to fill outside growlers. The packaged beer selection is great as well, with an appropriate focus on NC beer but no skimping on great beer from outside NC (and outside the US). A couple of coolers provide cold beer. Like any proper bottle shop, mix-a-six is the method to the madness.
Citra Session – Green Flash Brewing Co. – San Diego, CA
This single-hopped IPA is deep gold in color and very sparkling; it sports a moderate chill haze and a short-lived thin pillowy white head. Lacing is fair and manifests as bands and spots. The nose is medium-strong in intensity and very bright: a nice blend of grapefruit and green pine with lesser floral notes and faint alcohol overtones. The palate is also style-appropriate in intensity, lead by bitter grapefruit and pineapple with hints of soapy pine/floral notes and a decent view of the light bready malt foundation. This beer is pretty bitter for a low-ABV IPA; not surprisingly, the finish is hoppy: piney florals, then a flash of malt, then a strongish hoppy bitterness builds in and lingers for a few minutes. Mouthfeel is commensurate with the light body, and the texture is slightly creamy and slightly prickly the carbonation, which is quite restrained given how effervescent the beer is.
AC/DC – Karlsberg Brauerei – Homburg, Germany
This is a nice-looking lager: a crystal-clear, sparkling pale-gold body and a giant (pour carefully!) creamy white head that doesn't last long enough. Lacing is fair and consists of rafts and blotches. The nose is light in intensity, even for the style, otherwise it is pretty typical of a European pale lager: lagery grains, sweetish light fruit (apple in this case), slight boozy undertones and hints of Noble hop spiciness. The palate is more assertive than the nose: moderately-expressed spicy Noble hops and a style-moderate bitterness that is nicely balanced by a slightly-sweetish light malt presence. There are hints of light fruit, more subdued than on the nose. The finish is a well-balanced blend of spicy hops and sweetish malt, with a nice carbonation bite, followed by a mild hop bitterness that lingers for a few minutes. Mouthfeel is biggish for the light body, and the texture is nicely prickly from the strongly-expressed fizzy carbonation. This lager is quite drinkable, and is a respectable example of the style.
Top 10 Metal Albums of 2017
2017 was another good year for new metal releases... this is what it looked like from where I sit: 1. Midnight - Sweet Death and Ecstasy. Midnight plays blackened speed metal that's a coked-up cross between Venom and Motörhead, with an extra side of Satan and a manic, gleefully blasphemous feel that's all their own.... Continue Reading →
Old Man Metal's Musings 