The long-standing rumors proved true yesterday, when New Belgium announced they were coming to the neighborhood. This is the craft beer equivalent of the Broncos upgrading from Tim Tebow to Peyton Manning, and then signing Drew Brees just for giggles. Asheville is a player now on the national beer scene.

It appears that both breweries are at least two years away from being operational, with Sierra Nevada planning on going live early 2014 and New Belgium sometime in 2015.

Sierra Nevada is setting up shop in between Asheville and Hendersonville near the Asheville Regional Airport. They have plans to include a restaurant with the production facility.

New Belgium will be right in the thick of things in the River Arts District downtown. It’s an area that’s been home to artists and industry for years, but recently has undergone a revitalization with several new restaurants and bars opening in the past year.

What About the Little Guys?

Ironically, when Wedge Brewing opened in the River Arts District in 2007, it provided an anchor business in what had been a rough area, bringing in a lot of traffic, which over time attracted other businesses and spurred development. The area is now attractive enough that it brought in the third largest craft brewery in the country.

That begs the question, what will the effect of having two brewing giants within 15 miles of each other in Western North Carolina? What happens to the other seven small breweries (and who knows how many others in the works) in the city?

Obviously, I think it’s good for the city of Asheville. The two breweries are going to invest several hundred million dollars and create a couple hundred jobs.

I think it will also be a benefit to the other breweries in the city and the surrounding area. I think of Odell being right down the street from New Belgium in Ft. Collins. It makes for awesome brewery hopping having two breweries within walking, or at least biking, distance from one another.

Asheville is also going to be a destination for beer geeks throughout the entire Southeast. People who have never been to Sierra Nevada (myself included) or New Belgium out West will have a chance to experience what it’s all about much closer to home. Having 7+ other breweries to check out will seal the deal.

While it seems like old news now, the craft beer market is still emerging. In 2011, Craft breweries only account for 5% of the total U.S. beer market. It’s not about Sierra Nevada or New Belgium taking market share away from the small guys, it’s about making the whole pie bigger for craft beer. There is a lot of room left for everyone.

This Isn’t Just Good For Asheville

This news makes me especially excited for those of us across the border in South Carolina. My hope is that the arrival of these two breweries draws the attention of the legislators in my fair state and they start wondering why the second and third largest craft breweries in the country chose North Carolina, and why North Carolina has over 40 breweries while South Carolina has seven.

Maybe, just maybe, it’ll wake some people up to understand that more favorable brewing laws, such as self-distribution and allowing on-premise and off-premise beer sales at the brewery, will level the playing field and make South Carolina competitive in the craft brewing industry.

I guarantee expanding the brewing industry in the state will create more jobs and tax revenue than the wholesale distribution companies whose interests they are protecting currently provide. But I digress, this is supposed to be about Asheville, right?

While I’m happy for my brethren 60 miles up Highway 25 and will surely reap the benefits myself, I’m still left to dream of what could be in my own city.

While I was working the first part of the week, I was staying in Laguna Woods, about an hour south of LA. On Tuesday I was able to steal away for a post-work jaunt down to Laguna Beach for dinner at the Ocean Avenue Brewery.

Laguna Beach is a quaint little beach town, and is the only place in Southern California where the mountains go all the way to the sea. The beaches and small cliffs provide a beautiful setting. I was able to watch the sun set over the Pacific for the first time in almost four years. Ah, it’s been too long…

Sunset on Laguna Beach

After checking out some beach volleyball (players) and walking in the sand, I headed over to the brew pub. It was around 7 pm, but I was dog tired from the jet lag. It also threw me off that the Bulls-Pacers game was just finishing up. Stuff happens so early out there!

Ocean Avenue Brewery

The place was smaller than I thought it would be from the outside, with the bar on the left and a big projection TV on the right side. I got the feeling this place would be rocking during the peak of beach season, but tonight it was empty.

The dining area in Ocean Avenue Brewing

They had a good sized patio section along the sidewalk, but I decided to pull up a seat at the bar along with the other two patrons in the restaurant. As my father-in-law taught me, if you’re traveling by yourself, always sit at the bar. You’ll make some good connections that way.

I struck up a conversation with the bartender, Giovani, and ordered a sample flight of their four beers on tap. (They also had another four or five guest taps.) Of the brewery’s own beers, they had Watchtower Wheat, Red Sunshine, Ocean Pale and The Moors Scottish Ale.

Giovani told me a bit about each beer, in an awesome Italian accent, by the way. I started with the wheat, which would make a great beach beer. Light in body and flavorful, it came through with citrus and coriander.

The red was solid for a session beer. It had a nice malt flavor and dry finish. The pale ale was my least favorite, though it was decent. The Scottish was interesting. Smokey. I’m not sure I would have enjoyed an entire pint of it, as the smoke was too intense to make it a good session beer. However, the sample was tasty.

The food menu was creative and well thought-out. I ordered a pizza topped with fresh grape tomatoes, arugula, carmelized onions, garlic and shaved parmesan. It was delicious.

I wasn’t able to steal away to any more beer stops until I took my leave of Aliso Viejo and headed across town to visit for a couple days with my friends Jackie and Justin in Culver City, west of downtown LA. Justin is also a kindred craft beer spirit, and he proved to be a sage shirpa for my first foray into the SoCal beer scene.

Wally’s Wine and Spirits

Tactical Nuclear Penguin would have blown up my happy home.

I managed to leave the office early enough to avoid the worst of LA traffic, and I arrived at Jackie and Justin’s around 5 pm. Since Justin wasn’t getting home until around 7, Jackie took the opportunity to drive me over to Wally’s Wine and Spirits, a beer and wine shop a few minutes from their apartment. (They also had a separate small building dedicated to cheese. The world needs more buildings dedicated to cheese.)

Despite only having a few coolers for beer amid the wine and spirits, the selection was carefully chosen. No A-B here.

Somehow, I managed to restrain myself from buying the $100 bottle of Brewdog Tactical Nuclear Penguin, but I still came away with a good haul. Russian River Damnation and Supplication, Alesmith Old Numbskull and Odonata Saison. The 50 pound weight limit for checked baggage really puts a damper on a beer smuggler’s day.

Father’s Office

Once Justin arrived home from his hard days’ work, they took me to Father’s Office. I could only wish this were my father’s office. Nothing against my dad. He is a hard-working American.

Like most places in LA, Father’s Office has an upscale vibe, but in a way that makes you feel cooler for being there. It’s open seating, so there’s a predatory element that takes the excitement to a whole new level.

The wall of taps was impressive, and I went right in for a Deschutes Hop Henge. It had been over three years since I last tasted a Deschutes, and I felt like I was reunited with an old flame that I once shared a tryst with in Bend those many years ago.

I ponder the greatness of Pliney the Elder

After finishing the Hop Henge, Justin was able to score some seats at one of the outside patio tables. I then had the opportunity to cross one off my beer bucket list: Russian River Pliney the Elder. Yes, I’ve never had Pliney of any age. I now understand.

The food menu at Father’s Office is also on par with the quality of the beer. When he opened the place, chef Sang Yoon decided he was going to create dishes his way, so there are no substitutions. By the look of the dishes, I wouldn’t want to question his judgment.

I went with the burger, which was cooked a perfect medium rare, topped with guere, caramelized onions and arugula on a crusty baguette. We also got a basket of sweet potato fries, which were just sick. Oh, and don’t order ketchup with the fries. Just trust me.

Friday was laid back. While my hosts were working, I went for a run in Culver City Park, which put any hills in Greenville to shame. My calves are still sore. After lunch with Jackie at Native Foods Café, which was nutritious and delicious, I took a drive down to the beach in Santa Monica.

I stopped in for a beer at the Library Alehouse on Main Street. It was a neat little place and had 29 beers on tap. I chose the Firestone Velvet Merlin, a tasty oatmeal stout, roasty and chocolatey.

I stuck around long enough to watch the Broncos select Rahim Moore and Orlando Franklin back-to-back in the second round. I think Denver had a good draft, despite not taking a defensive tackle. If you want my full opinion on the draft, send me an email and I’d be happy to share.

Later Friday night, after sushi dinner, where I tried sashimi for the first time, we dropped Jackie off at LAX to catch a red eye to DC for a baptism. That is one dedicated godmother.

City Tavern

Justin and I then proceeded to the City Tavern back in Culver City. He’d never been there and wanted to check it out. It was packed when we arrived at 10 pm. There was patio seating, but was reserved for diners only before 11.

We went into the bar and ordered a couple beers. The atmosphere was lively. There was a bachelorette party and another group of guys that ordered a round of shots of brown liquor. It could have been one of those nights. The crowd seemed a little bit older, but as Justin put it, “People seem to grow up late in LA.”

The City Tavern is unique in that it is the only bar in California (or anywhere that I’m aware of) that has self-serve taps at three booths. I’m not exactly sure how it works, and I forgot to take a picture, but you have to reserve the booths and they offer three selections that aren’t available from the main bar. It’s a cool concept, though I’m not sure it would be good for my health.

Stone World Bistro and Garden

On Saturday Justin and I wanted to take a pilgrimage down to the Stone World Bistro and Garden in Escondido, about two hours south, just north of San Diego. When we first pulled up, there was a huge parking lot full of cars. I caught a glimpse of a sign that said “Trailhead,” so I figured that the brewery was next to a state park or something. Nope, that’s all for the brewery and garden.

Walking in, the place was teeming with people. It felt like bizzaro Disneyland for beer geeks. We were told it would be an hour and a half to be seated for lunch, so we took our chances with bar seating.

The dining room at Stone's World Bistro

I began by ordering an El Camino (Un)Real Black Ale, a collaboration between Stone, Firestone Walker and 21^st Amendment. It was fantastic. Rich chocolate malt with a terrific bitter finish. Justin got the Bashah, a collaboration between Stone and Brewdog.

We made our way up to the balcony area overlooking the huge patio area and garden. Unfortunately, the garden was being worked on, so we couldn’t go in.

I usually prefer places that are less populated and a little more rustic, but Stone created as close to a Garden of Beer Eden as I’ve seen. The garden is like an oasis among the desert of San Diego, and the restaurant is top-notch. Since we couldn’t order lunch entrees in the bar area, we did the next best thing, soft pretzels and sausages. Not a bad consolation prize!

Our lunch of pretzels and sausage, accompanied by Oaked Arrogant Bastard and Cali-Belgique

The pretzels were soft, yet crispy and buttery on the outside. We were given four sausage links: smoked cheddar bratwurst, spicy Polish, chicken florentine and hot Italian with provolone, all served over braised cabbage. Paired with an Oaked Arrogant Bastard and a Cali-Belgique, it was a heavenly meal.

I can’t speak highly enough about the Stone beer garden. I’m still in awe. However, if you do go, be sure to make a reservation.

But wait, there’s more…

Lost Abbey

We had one more stop left in us. About five minutes down the road from Stone is Port Brewing and their sister Belgian-style brewery, Lost Abbey.

Unlike Stone, Lost Abbey is no frills. You walk into the brewery, and it’s a brewery. There’s a small bar off to the left where you can sit on kegs with bags of dextrose for cushions. Everywhere you go in the brewery, you’re surrounded by oak barrels and aging beer. It is, in a word, inspiration.

There were oak barrels around every corner in the brewery

This was probably the most fun stop of the weekend. Combining the excitement of $1 four-ounce samples with other people who were equally excited about $1 samples, the atmosphere was festive.

I was wearing my Coast Brewing t-shirt and a guy from Mt. Pleasant who was also in California for a work trip came up and introduced himself. He and his other friend who lived in San Diego were also at Brewvival in February. Yes, it is a small world.

We also met a group of four girls who were chemists in graduate school. We compared tasting notes, and I learned that one of the girls, Jenny, was from Germany and had never eaten an avocado! Imagine!

At this point, Emma the Dog saved me. After trying several samples, including 10 Commandments, Avant Garde, and Carnevale, along with Port Brewing’s Old Viscocity, Mongo IPA and Santa’s Little Helper, I was in a good place.

I could have kept drinking samples like this was Brewgrass, but we had to leave to pick up Emma from doggy day care. I’d like to send Emma a personal thanks, as she prevented me from being hungover on an airplane for eight hours the next day.

The Lost Abbey beers were great, and I still have an unopened bottle of Red Poppy waiting for me in the fridge. I’m going to wait a few weeks to open it, after I’ve come down from my California high and need a little reminder of what the beer is like on the West Side.

Out front of Front Street Brewery

Over New Year’s weekend, I went on a family trip with my in-laws to Wilmington, NC, where we met up with some long-time family friends from Columbia. It was a fun three day excursion to welcome in 2011. We went for a walk on the beach, ate seafood at the Fish House Grill in Wrightsville Beach, watched bowl games. And drank. A lot. Of beer.

In true Zokan fashion, when we rolled into town on Friday around 1:00, the first thing we did was stop at Front Street Brewery for lunch. This brewpub has a special place in Zokan family lore. My father-in-law had a good bit of business in Wilmington back in the day, so he frequented the brewpub often. (Rumor has it that Nicole may have accompanied him on a couple of these trips and had a beer or two when she may or may not have been of age…)

The brewpub’s facade is unassuming among the historic storefronts on Front Street, however the fermenters and brewhouse immediately greet you on the left upon entering, reassuring you that you’re in the right place.

While waiting for a table, we had our first round at the bar, which had seating for a dozen. I began with The James Brown, a seasonal brown ale. I’m not sure the Godfather of Soul would have enjoyed this one. I found myself slightly disappointed, as it was a little too bitter, lacked enough body and had a dusty character. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great. It reminded me of a rye brown I once brewed that I wasn’t too fond of.

However, my faith was restored when I tasted Nicole’s IPA. This IPA achieved legendary proportions according to my father-in-law, so there was a lot of hype surrounding this beer. I must say, it lived up to the billing as a solid choice. Nice malt backbone with a gripping bitter finish. Not spectacular, but I was impressed.

We had lunch upstairs, which was a cozy, compact area with a low ceiling. The food menu wasn’t cutting-edge, but featured a lot of Irish bar-style classics. I chose the Brew-BQ burger, which included Scottish Ale BBQ sauce.

Of course, I had to get the Dram Tree Scottish Ale to go with my BBQ burger. The Scottish was miles above The James Brown. It had a big, sweet toffee malt flavor with a substantial body and lingering finish. I enjoyed it immensely with my burger.

On Sunday afternoon, the entire group of us, 12 deep, commandeered the front corner of the downstairs dining area to watch some NFL football. The Zokans were on pins and needles as the Packers were fighting for their playoff hopes against the Bears, and I was watching the one spec of hope I have as a Broncos fan, as Tim Tebow went up against the Chargers.

The Hot Dog King holding The James Brown

I started out my afternoon with the Coastal Kolsch. This was a tasty golden Kolsch with a bready malt flavor and clean finish. If I may be so bold, I would say it reminded me of the Kolsch I brewed last summer, so that made me feel pretty good.

Next it was onto the American Amber, which like The James Brown, didn’t seem to achieve a good hop/malt balance. I didn’t care for that one. I tried a sip of someone else’s Tiny Tim’s Christmas Ale, an Imperial Java Porter, a 9.2% coffee-malt bomb. Tasty, but so intense it would probably take me two hours to drink a pint.

I ended up coming full-circle and going back to the IPA to finish up the session. My palate was shot by this point and I needed a can’t miss closer to continue cheering on Tebow and his comeback of futility. Luckily, the Broncos came up just short and secured the number two pick in next year’s draft.

Even though Front Street Brewery had a few misses, there were more than enough hits that it did not come up short. It’s a great place to hang out, eat dinner, watch football, whatever you fancy. It has a solid lineup of beers, good food, a cool atmosphere, and waitresses in short jumpsuit skirts, which make it a place where I could become a regular, if I didn’t live 5 1/2 hours away.

The camping portion of the weekend turned out to be ill-fated, literally. Nicole came down with a cold or some sort of illness on Thursday, but being the trooper that she is, she decided we should try to go camping anyway. However, we started out on Friday later than we planned, so it was getting dark before we could find a legal spot to camp near Bryson City. To top it off, a cold front was moving through, so there were also spurts of rain throughout the evening.

Between the illness, darkness and rain, we decided a motel stay was in order. We ended up at the Ridge Top Motel in Bryson City. I must say that it exceeded expectations for $60 a night. The actual hotel looks much better than the photo on the website. It was not a bad stay and we were able to spend a couple hours drinking Dale’s Pale Ale on the second story porch over the motel office. Disaster averted.

On Saturday we had a delicious breakfast of crepes and locally roasted coffee at Cork & Bean, a wine bar and coffee shop in town. After breakfast we headed out to the brewery, about six blocks away.

The Brewery

The brewery is in an old hangar that the Tennessee Valley Authority built in the early 1940s to store equipment that was used to build the Fontana Dam. Most recently it was an apartment building for hippies.

The outside of the Nantahala Brewery

Nantahala is one of the newest breweries in North Carolina, having just started production in May 2010. However, the idea for the brewery first took shape in June 2008 while Chris and Cristina were on their way back from the National Homebrewers Convention in Cincinnati.

The Colliers traveled from their home in Atlanta to Cincinnati on their motorcycle, and took back roads on the return trip. The night before they finished the home stretch, they stayed the night at the Fryemont Inn in Bryson City. They were having a few beers in the hotel bar when they struck up a conversation with Mike Marsden and a guy named Sarge.

They started talking beer and breweries, and things went in motion. Chris had long thought about starting a brewery, but the brewing climate in his home state of Georgia isn’t very conducive to small craft brewers. Because of restrictive laws, much like in South Carolina, you either need to be a brewpub like Five Seasons, or huge like Terrapin or Sweetwater.

However, North Carolina offered three huge benefits to a small start-up brewery: growler fills, a tasting room and self-distribution. After running the numbers, Chris and Cristina decided to give it a go across the border.

They teamed up with Mike, who also owns Across the Trax, a bar and grill attached to the Nantahala brewery hangar, Joe Rowland, who owns the local Paddlefish outfit, and Ken Smith, owner of Smiley’s in Greenville, South Carolina.

The inside of the brewery is still in the process of being renovated. Team Nantahala has done pretty much all of the work themselves, from installing and refitting the 10-barrel brewhouse they bought from RJ Rockers, running the electrical in the building, putting in a new bathroom, even hanging tarps along the ceiling to insulate the brewery from the metal roof.

Chris Collier with his 10-barrel brewhouse

The goal is to have a tasting room with a bar in the large open front area with the brewhouse and fermenters visible in the back. You can see from the photos that there is a way to go, but it’s going to be a fun atmosphere when it’s done.

All this is even more impressive when you consider that Chris and Cristina still live in Atlanta, and Chris has retained his full-time job. They commute up to Bryson City on the weekends where they work around the clock brewing beer and working on the brewery. It’s been a difficult, but rewarding road to this point.

Renovations continue while the brewhouse pumps out beer

The Beer

All this would be for naught in my eyes if the beer didn’t match the coolness factor of the brewery. Rest assured, the beer is good. The year-round lineup includes Noon Day IPA, Nantahala Pale Ale and Bryson City Brown. Seasonals have included Eddy Out Stout, Nanny Gold and Depot Street Summer Wheat. There is an Octoberfest chillin in the fermenter as I type. I took home growlers of the IPA and the Stout seasonal.

The IPA is a wonderful example of a highly drinkable, yet flavor-packed IPA. It doesn’t hit you over the head and destroy your taste buds on the way down. It has a wonderful aroma of grapefruit citrus, and juicy-fruit flavor. It’s not overly sweet but does have a little bitter hop kick that slaps you about five seconds after swallowing.

It’s difficult in this age of pervasive IPAs to distinguish yourself with this style, but I found this one to be very pleasant, tasty and drinkable. Very good.

The stout is also solid. Jet black with all the roasty, caramel, chocolate you want in a stout. It’s reminiscent of a melted bar of dark chocolate, but it’s not too sweet nor too bitter. It’s medium bodied and flavorful, which make it very drinkable, much like the IPA.

If these two beers are any indication of what’s to come from Nantahala, I’d say that they have a bright future as the frontier beer outpost in Western North Carolina. Hold down the fort!

Brian enjoying the Eddy Out Stout

More accurately, they are probably the most polarizing brewery in the world. Long ago, in 1994 when Sam Calagione founded the brewery with the tag line “Off-centered ales for off-centered people,” he wanted to push the boundaries of what had been done. They have created some of the biggest, craziest, weirdest and tastiest beers around.

However, when you step out like that, people are either going to love you or hate you. Or at least love a beer or hate a beer. There is no middle ground.

Last night at Barley’s was a perfect illustration. It’s rare to be at a table full of fairly sophisticated beer drinkers and see the range of strong reactions on people’s faces as they tried beer. It went from pure bliss to all-out disgust. There was no, “Oh, it’s alright.”

I’m guessing Sam would be happy with that.

The lineup we were treated to last night was amazing. On draft we had 90 Minute IPA, Palo Santo Marron, Punkin and Black & Blue. In bottles were Olde School Barleywine, 120 Minute IPA, Fort and World Wide Stout.

It was my first time having the Olde School, Palo Santo and World Wide. Olde School and World Wide were big, strong beers bursting with malt and alcohol. Obviously, at 15% and 18% ABV, respectively, these are sipping beers. More than a sampler glass would be too much. I really enjoyed their flavor, but I think they could use 3 to 5 years of aging to mellow and achieve their peak.

I found the Palo Santo to be the most intriguing of the night. It’s a 12% ABV brown ale aged in Paraguayan Palo Santo wood. The wood aging gave the beer a very unique smokey character. It was more subtle than a truly smoked beer, but it was balanced and tasty. Then again, I am on a smoked beer kick, so take that as you will.

Welcome to Greenville, Dogfish Head. I hope you enjoy your stay.

Fred Block holding a couple of his babies.

The pilot beer is a belgian-style blonde ale which I think it’s going to make a big splash once it hits the market. It’s crystal-clear golden yellow with a light body, slight sweetness and a dry finish. It also has a perceptibly tart twist at the end.

Fred’s aim with this beer was to make it a refreshing, accessible gateway beer for people who typically don’t drink craft beer, but with enough complexity that will satisfy the beer geek. However, this isn’t a “light” beer in the traditional sense. It’s 6% ABV, but you’d never know it by how light and crisp it is.

I give it my stamp of approval. I think it would make an excellent summer session beer.

The Dream of BottleTree

Fred’s story in creating BottleTree is one of those down-home, American business stories that ought to inspire any aspiring homebrewer or entrepreneur.

Around 8 years ago, Fred discovered homebrewing while researching thermodynamics for his professional engineering exam. He found some info on the thermodynamic aspects of brewing and was instantly hooked on the process. He started reading everything he could find on brewing for more than four hours a day after work nearly every day.

Being an engineer, he started building process maps, high level at first, then drilling down and expanding each piece into more and more detail. And believe me, I’ve seen his homebrew system, he’s done his homework.

Almost immediately, Fred knew he wanted to go commercial. He started planning and after more than 600 hours of research over eight years, he finally caught the break he was looking for.

Fred happened to run into Tom and Bill Davis, the owners of Thomas Creek in Greenville, SC, at an Octoberfest celebration in the fall of 2009. After telling the Davis’s his plans for BottleTree, they were interested in working with him to brew the beer. Seven months later the pilot batch rolled off the bottling line.

Now, don’t let my terse description give the impression it’s been an easy process. Fred has had to deal with a lot of rejection and doubters along the way.

Rejected by banks, Fred has risked his personal life savings to make this happen. Rejected by other breweries, he had no idea how his beer would be brewed until his chance meeting with Thomas Creek. It sounds cliche, but through it all he never doubted himself and never gave up on his dream.

Fred has sent most of the 32-case pilot batch out to 18 distributors in seven Southeastern states looking to see who wants a piece of the action. Early signs look good, as distributors who have heard about what Fred is doing have actually been calling him, which is remarkable for a start-up venture.

Fred describes BottleTree’s philosophy as creating unique beers that most people would enjoy. Once the Blonde kicks in the doors, Fred said his next style will likely be an American Pale with fresh ginger root. That was his first award winning homebrew, and it’s only appropriate that it be the next beer in the BottleTree lineup.

There’s a long road ahead, but I want to congratulate Fred on achieving this milestone. I hope he’s able to take a moment to pause and soak it all in. It’s one hell of an accomplishment to get to this point, and I’m looking forward to buying my first six-pack.

Amazing how advertising has changed in 100 years. They used to sell beer as if it were a medicinal tonic:

“In every glass is health, and what is health but efficiency and power… The little alcohol in it promotes cheerfulness of mind – which is the best of all medicines. The Lupulin in the hops soothes the nerves and acts as a digestive tonic; while the juice of the barley contains a high percentage of substantial nutriment.”

I also enjoy how they used a deceased Alexander Hamilton to promote their beer. “He believed in protecting the brewing industry, and drank good beer all of his days.”

I want that quote to appear on my tombstone.

As the saying goes, any time you start out at something new, it’s at the bottom. For those of you who may romanticize working in a brewery, my first shift consisted of removing cobwebs from the rafters and changing fluorescent light bulbs. Not exactly glamorous work.

Call me crazy, but I loved it. I’m sure that if that’s all I did every day, it would get old very quick. However, I find it very rewarding that I am contributing, in however small a part, to craft beer. I hope that I can bring a valuable dynamic to the team, and if they find me the least bit competent I’ll soon prove my worth for larger responsibilities. Maybe like cleaning the bathroom :)

I am very excited about my new venture. As with most things in my life, I don’t know exactly where this will lead, but I feel it’s on the right path. I want to be a sponge and learn as much as I can. It’s an awesome opportunity, and I know of so many people that would love to trade places with me.

The people at Thomas Creek have been great so far, and being in a brewery just feels like home. I just hope they have patience the first time I screw something up badly…

Here’s to new beginnings. Cheers!

If you have never had a barrel-aged beer, or a beer served from a cask, please, I beg you, find a cask night or a barrel-aged beer at a fancy beer store and drink it. It will change your life.

Now, I’m a huge fan of Oskar Blues regular selections. I think Dale’s Pale is a staple for any session or camping trip, and Old Chub is one of my favorite choices when I’m looking for something sweet and malty. The whiskey oak-aged versions of these beers did not disappoint. They were delicious.

Mama’s Little Yella Pils

I started with the Mama’s Little Yella Pils. This was a very unique selection, as I’d never had a barrel-aged pilsner before.

The whiskey aroma was dominant, but more of the oak came through in the flavor. I would not have guessed this was a pilsner. It was a very tasty and unique combination.

My only criticism is that the body seemed a bit watery. The regular Yella Pils has a nice body and mouthfeel, so my only thought is that this was due to the cask. Either way, it was tasty and I wouldn’t call it a failure.

Old Chub

The Old Chub was the opposite of the Yella Pils. I noticed a lot of the oak in the aroma, but the whiskey came through wonderfully in the flavor.

Perhaps from the combination of malt, oak and whiskey, but I tasted a banana malt milkshake thing going on. It was smooth and delicious.

Ten Fidy

The barrel-aged Ten Fidy was a huge malt bomb wrought with whiskey and oak aromas. It was sweet, bready and smooth. Excellent, although if I had another, it may have put me on another planet.

My choice for best of the night was the Old Chub. It was somewhere in between the Yella Pils and Ten Fidy in terms of intensity and body, which made it a very smooth drink. The flavor was simply amazing. That’s the kind of beer that I could nip on all night.

An interview with Tom Davis of Thomas Creek

Tom and his father, Bill, talked with me about why they got into beer, how Tom started brewing, and what gave him the desire to go out on his own and start his own brewery.