Atlanta has somehow become a craft beer mecca with some of the greatest beer bars in the world. This is a tribute to the beers and the bars.

Monday, January 25, 2010

Here and There

I was thinking a few days ago about how odd it is that Ommegang Hennepin rarely shows up on tap around town, and then it appeared at The Porter this week.  A very good rendition of a Belgian farmhouse saison, it boasts a richer body than many saisons, with some nice light fruitiness, grassy hops, some spice, subtle yeasty funk, and a lingering bitterness.  I think this is a beer that would appeal to serious beer drinkers and novices, while also being great for food pairings.

We stopped by Kirkwood Public House as business was winding down last night.  Apparently a lot of people noticed the beautiful new painted sign and stopped in to check it out so they had a great weekend.  It's good to hear that the transition has started successfully.

Update 1/25: As commenter Leslie (coincidentally also my girlfriend) pointed out, I forgot to mention the most important part of our conversation with the owner.  Though because of stupid distribution laws no bar can buy straight from a brewery, in keeping more with the farm to table concept of locality he wants to focus on American beers.  I love Belgians, but there are so many great American beers that I think it's a good idea to highlight that.  There's probably a limited market for expensive, rare Belgians and I think that part of the market is pretty well taken care of by The Porter and BSP.  I'll take a Stone or Jolly Pumpkin any day.

4 comments:

  1. At the Porter I had a Founder's Double Trouble, which was a fruity IPA (one of my favorite styles). It was yum. I also had a Lagunitas Maximus on cask. A very smooth, mellow IPA. And we saw our buddy Justin, which is always fun!

    Kirkwood Public House is beautiful! I am really glad to see it's becoming a beer bar. It's a nice place to hang out. We'll have to try the food! We had an Allagash Tripel (always good), a Highland Oatmeal and a Heavy Seas Loose Cannon. All were good. The owner, John, mentioned that he plans to focus on American brews. We suggested Stone, Lagunitas and Allagash, as they are (in my opinion) the three best American breweries.

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  3. Yeah the Founder's was nothing spectacular, but I liked it. It's at the Brick Store now.

    And while I agree that it's a good idea for Kirkwood Public House to focus on American beers, there is not one that (for me) can really hold a candle to a La Chouffe, Houblon Chouffe or N'Ice Chouffe. And Tripel Karmaliet is the best tripel. Delirium -deliri-yum! Don't forget the elusive Ondineke! Will we ever taste it again?? If we had the money, I'd love to open a little Belgian beer bar like the Burp Castle! You could dress like a monk and shush people! Though the competition around here is getting pretty stiff. Gotta love it.

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  4. I'm hoping that Ondenike will show up at the B United takeover at The Porter. I agree that the American beers aren't quite up to the best Belgian beers, but they're also not trying to make the same beers. I think we're entering an era of more mature American brewing, not totally dominated by trying to out-hop the competition to prove that American beers have flavor. We get it. Now there's a lot more sense of balanced, deep flavors. That, combined with a sense of adventure will lead to lots of great beers.

    That would be awesome to run a bar like the Burp Castle though.

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