Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [48]
Rocket City Homebrewers
Day 3: From Huntsville, we drive to Memphis, stopping at Hops Restaurant Bar and Brewery and Boscos Restaurant and Brewery, tasting masterly impressive beers and gathering insights from the brewmasters themselves. The evening eventually ends at a rendezvous with the Bluff City Brewers. Of course, it’s homebrew emerging at every opportunity that provides the evening’s nightcaps.
Day 4: We cross the Mississippi River as it flows its meandering way toward the delta country of Louisiana. I can’t help feel as one with the river, one long ribbon of liquid that has been the lifeblood of the population. Surely beer seems a lifeblood of these impassioned southern brewers who are brewing some of the most excellent and memorable beers I’ve ever had. Like the river, our adventure seems to meander endlessly. We roll toward Little Rock, Arkansas, to meet its homebrewers and craft brewers. There we experience the taste of mighty fine microbrewed beers at Vinos Pizza Pub and Brewery, homebrews at Fermentables Homebrew and Winemakers Supply and a packed brewhouse finale of pride and passion, beers brewed at the Diamond Bear Brewing Company.
Like a springtime tornado, we have whirled our way through parts of the South, tasting southern microbrewed beers made with soul. Make no mistake about it: here live brewers as passionate and as skilled as in any well-known beer city.
The ultimate beer? As always, there never is one ultimate beer. Just when you have experienced what you believe is the beer you want to be engaged to for the rest of your life, along comes another quintessential brew. And so it goes.
Boscos beer lover
One thing I always appreciate during these tours is the privilege of tasting new and classically brewed beers. This adventure through the South included a unique personal experience. Beers brewed from recipes in my book The Complete Joy of Homebrewing were judged in three separate “Completely Joyous” competitions in Nashville, Memphis and Little Rock. What a taste delight for me, sampling old favorites brewed from recipes out of my books: Get Rio Light Lager, Rocky Raccoon’s Honey Lager, Goat Scrotum Ale, Toad Spit Stout, Sparrow Hawk Porter, Armenian Imperial Stout, Who’s in the Garden Grand Cru, Buzdigh Moog Double Brown Ale and, most memorably, the wondrous sparkle and refreshing Wailailale Chablis Ginger Mead. Then there was the nefarious Cock (that’s Cock as in “rooster”) Ale. They were all winners in my opinion, but the ribbons went to the Chablis Ginger Mead and the Cock Ale (made with chicken and spices), which is reminiscent of spiced malty holiday ale. Both of these brews won respective first places.
I’ll never forget the taste treat of Memphis-brewed Armenian imperial stout with added oak chips—wow! And I’ll always recall the ale brewed in Huntsville with five different breakfast cereals by the ten-year-old daughter of one of our hosts. At the All Seasons Gardening and Homebrew Supply Company in Nashville, I encountered a mead brewed with sour cherries and the Middle Eastern ingredient mahleb, ground cherrystones that offer a wondrous cherry aroma. I was astonished because of my familiarity with this spice: my grandmother used this ingredient when making braided Armenian choereg (bread).
Tapping into a keg of real ale at Boscos
Tapping into a keg of real ale at Boscos. Courtesy Boscos.
As with any microbrewed adventure, it was always comforting to know that while I was away things were getting better at home. My homebrew had a chance to age and improve for one more week. I was inspired by all those five-gallon batches and the skill of all the master homebrewers and master microbrewers I met along the way. I became inspired to brew within days of returning home. You simply can’t keep me down.
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IRISH COCOA WOOD PORTER
Here’s a recipe I’m inspired