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A Noteworthy Accesory

http://www.uncrate.com/men/culture/drinks/beer-belt/

Reviews are Coming!

I recently made a foray into Asheville, NC and visited one of my favorite beer places in the world Bruisin' Ales.  While there, I picked up 3 of the Pisgah Solstice...which is an exquisite Belgian style beer.  I put it up there with New Belgium and Ommegang as far as Ameri-Belgian brews go.  I picked up a few Terrapin beers and some other sundry items like a six pack of Old Chub, which is my friend Chris's favorite beer.  I will definitely be reviewing some of these "new to me" beers.  Maybe I can get Rich to chime in as well.

Local Festival Anyone?

They don't have a full website as of yet, but here is a link to the upcoming beer festival in Bristol, TN.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=347739301

Racks By The Tracks 2008

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9006321

Saturday I got a call from my good friend Erich who wanted to know if I was heading downtown for Racks by the Tracks. My first question was "What the crap is that?" After I got off the phone I pulled up gotricites.com and got the details. A BBQ festival with some breweries from across the NC border. I was interested, so I called up my buddy Kevin and we headed over. I like the idea of what is happening.

Here are my likes...

Good selection of breweries for a first time thing. French Broad from Asheville, Catawba Valley from NC, Depot St from Jonesborough and about 9 others where there. Very nice.

I didn't eat, but there was a larger selection of ribs than beer. Kevin said there was some good stuff. If I had not already eaten and hadn't had ribs the night before, I would have been much more interested.

There was music. Any of these deals needs music. As we walked up, Sweet Home Alabama was being played by the first band. I am not sure who any of the bands were, but it was nice to have that background music. The 2nd band, a bluegrass band, sounded like Tommy Shaw singing with Ricky Scaggs...interesting, if not anything else.

Now for the stuff I want to change next year...

More beer offerings. But this cannot happen until they change the situation with the way they handle paying to get in. It was $20 and 5 cans (which went to Second Harvest Food Bank) or $25. You were given a tasting glass and 15 tickets. The beer and food vendors were to take tickets when you got something from them. 1 ticket per beer or a couple tickets for 3 ribs or something like that. This is the first thing I ever saw like this. Perhaps pay $25 to get in next year and do not do tickets for the beer. Tickets for the ribs is fine because they can then be used to determine the best ribs in some way. However, I have never been to a fest that had tickets and many of the brewers felt the same way.

I know we are in Kingsport, but can we have more than Bluegrass? I realize that the 1st band was some sort of country/rock cover band, but the next 2 acts were bluegrass. 1 is enough. You don't have to go raggae like Knoxville did last year, but something besides BG would be good.

ADVERTISING!!!! Saturday morning was the first I heard of this. There needs to be more advertising for something like that. 1 TV spot played during prime time would have been nice to see. I realize this is the first year and probably a trial run for Kingsport, but I would have liked to have known a few days in advance.

With all that aside, we had a great time. We saw our new friends Anthony and Stacy out there and a good time was had. The highlights of the day were the French Broad Marzen Amber Lager (I do love a good Octoberfest style beer) and the French Broad Gateway Kolsch Style Ale. Great beers. Of course we enjoyed the Firewater IPA from Catawba Valley as well.

Here's to next year and I hope they pay more attention to things like the Knoxville Brewer's Jam and Asheville's Brewgrass festival (yes I know...bluegrass, so maybe it could work Kingsport).

Hickory Hops 2008

Last Saturday Rich, Kevin and I took a fun little jaunt over the mountain to Hickory, NC for their yearly Hickory Hops festival. It's a little beer festival that several of my Knoxville friends frequent every year. I quite enjoyed the time and had some good brews as well. We ate at Olde Hickory TapRoom and had some great food. I had one of the best barleywines I have ever tastes there and enjoyed several of the other offerings. Most of all, we had a fun time and quickly made new friends and enlightened their lives as well. Hey...it's what we do.

Tastings From The Hotel Pt Deux

So I made it in from the wedding earlier than my fiance tonight.  I decided that a warehouse with no air conditioning was not the place for me to sit with a long sleeve shirt and khakis.  As well, I wanted as much time as possible to get home before the roads were rolled up and stored for the evening here in Tazewell, VA. 

10:10 PM - I had some brews chilling during my absence and started out with a Great Lakes Brewing Co. Burning River Pale Ale.  I have to say...it smells, feels and tastes wonderful.  I won't even get into specifics because in the time it took me to open Windows Live Writer, partially answer a question for school and start typing, it is nearly gone.  Perfect balance of the citrusy bitterness that good hops can give.  Good carbonation and overall great flavor.  Beer Advocate gives it an A-, I give it an A+.  This one is up there for me with Sierra Nevada and Olde Hickory Tablerock.  I am glad I got a 6-pack of this one!  1 to share with the first person to call dibs and 4 more for me.

10:40 PM - Next up is the Red Hook Sunrye Summer Ale.  I am a fan of the Red Hook ESB, so this one held some promise.  It pours a nice wheaty yellow color.  There is no description on the bottle, so I am thinking its probably a rye wheat.  Let's see.  It has little head.  It has good carbonation.  Its clearly not a wheat beer.  The taste is a little hoppy, maybe at the beginning, but fades when the malty and sweet taste overtakes it.  It smells a little like bread, but not really...I know...good description.  I would like to like it more because it feels good in my mouth and it could make a great session beer, however, it is a bit sweet and has not enough true taste beyond that to make it drinkable.  Beer Advocate gives it a C+...I would go C.

11:10 - Those first 2 went down quick.  Much better than last night's offerings.  I am finding myself wishing I had 1 more of the first one on ice...alas, I do not.  So now I go to the Saranac Adirondack Lager.  It is made with water from the Adirondacks or something like that to balance the something or another.  At this point I am drinking...not reading labels.  :)  The color is light brown almost Pal's tea coloring.  If you are not from NE Tennessee, you will not understand that.  The smell is a little sweet almost with a bite on the end.  Not sure how else to explain it...but I guess the hops are doing that.  The taste is clean and crisp, but nothing special.  Not a lot of hop flavor to overcome the maltiness.  Its okay at best.  BA gives it a B-...I think its more middle of the road like a C or C+.  I got this in a "trail pack", since their theme is the mountains...get it...trail pack?  I think I have one more.  I may update this one after that 2nd one.

11:32 PM - A note while I finish this beer...I was re-reading last night and thought that Thunderhump IPA would be a better name for a beer than Thunderhead.  Just a thought...

11:44 PM - Last one for the night.  I have a Wild Blue Blueberry Lager.  It says nothing on the label but the beer is apparently made by Anheuser Busch, according to BA.  The label says Blue Dawg Brewing, Somewhere KY.  Who you gonna trust?  I have had fruity beers.  Purple Haze is probably my favorite from Abita.  The beer pours deep purple with no real beer coloring at all.  The smell is very fruity and sweet, as you might expect from a lambic style offering.  The taste is not beery at all.  It is very near to something like Welch's grape soda, but less carbonated.  The aftertaste is not as comparable and leaves a bitterness I wish wasn't there.  BA gives it a D.  One BA'er actually stated that it smelled like crotch.  I will not go that far, but I will give it a D as well.  I am not sure I will finish this one, let alone ever purchase another.  I tend to agree with another BA'er when he states "With high alcohol content, I think this one was brewed for the soul intention of shady college guys getting high school girls drunk."

It sucks when a session ends on a bad note.  I may drink the last beer I have in the cooler or I may just drink some water and go onto bed hoping that this purple substance doesn't upset my natural rhythm of life.  Good night to all.