Brewery Visits

On Saturday Hoppy visited two brewery taprooms and one brewery. His first visit was at the newly opened taproom of Guggman Haus in the SoBro district. This is in a space that was formerly occupied by Scarlet Lane Brewing.

While there Hoppy sampled an Into the Wild Sour: Raspberry and Lemon Berliner Weisse – Brewed with raspberry and lemon with an addition of fresh vanilla beans. Described as a very tart and refreshing raspberry-forward rendition of a raspberry lemonade. A wild yeast strain provided natural souring and milk sugars and oats help create a creamy body for this bright sour. 7% ABV.

He also drank an Orange and Pink Guava Kettle Sour Berliner Weiss – This is built on a base of Golden Promise and chit malt and described as having a delicious tart balance of sweet orange and guava with hints of pear and vanilla and a refreshing citrus finish. 7.5% ABV.

Images from the visit follow:

You can find Hoppy’s recent visit to Guggman Haus Brewery here.

Hoppy visited The Moerlein Lager House Brewery in Cincinnati last week. They opened at their current location in 2012. However, the Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. opened its doors in 1853, was closed during prohibition, and reintroduced in 1981 at the leading edge of the craft beer revolution. Current ownership purchased the brewery in 2004.

This establishment is called a working microbrewery producing a full line of Moerlein craft brews and delectable fare reminiscent of foods served in the city’s celebrated 19th century beer gardens.

While there, Hoppy quaffed a Bay of Bengal Juicy Press IPA – Described as juicy hops and a hearty malt bill with a smooth oat finish. It is brewed with Centennial, Amarillo, and Cascade hops and fermented with German ale and dry hopped with Amarillo and Mosaic hops. 6% ABV, 65 IBU.

Pictures from the visit follow:

Hoppy’s last brewery visit in South Carolina, on this trip, was at Other Lands Brewery and Cafe in Greenville. They opened in October 2023 and consider themselves a cafe and coffee house as well as a bar and brewery. They have labeled their business as a space for slow – an opportunity for their patrons to disconnect and slow down. Hoppy visited the cafe on a Sunday when they were about to close early for cleaning and team building. He did not get to see the actual brewery, but it can be seen in this video.

While there Hoppy enjoyed an Anima West Coast IPA described has having a slightly malty backbone and crisp, clean bitterness. It is dry hopped with loads of Simcoe hops and displays notes of grapefruit, pine resin and pithy citrus. 6.5% ABV.

Pictures from the visit follow:

Tetrad Brewing opened in September 2019. Their passion is to brew classic beer styles sometimes with a unique, modern twist for the craft beer drinker and novice alike.

They are a dog-friendly brewery, and the day that I visited they had a charity fund raiser entitled Pints 4 Pups. This also happened to be their last day of operation at this site, and they will be temporarily closed until they relocate.

Hoppy enjoyed the below listed brews during his visit:

The Club Collab #10 – Hoppy Cream Ale – This was their 10th Build-A Brew collaboration with the Club at Tetrad members. Described as characterized by a combination of ale and lager yeasts, allowing the beer to be fermented at cooler than normal temperatures, leading to smoother flavors and aromas. They pushed the boundaries of a traditional cream ale by utilizing mash hopping, first wort hopping, whirlpool hopping and dry hopping to something closer to a session IPA than a light lager. 4.8% ABV, 42 IBU.

The Club Collab #9 – English Bitter IPA – Described as a throwback to a traditional beer that some call the “national drink of England.” Although not very bitter by today’s standards, UK grown hops provide a nice earthy and floral contrast to the cracker-like sweetness coming from locally grown malts. Late additions of First Gold hops give this beer a pleasant aroma reminiscent of orange marmalade, tangerine and magnolia. 5.1% ABV, 48 IBU.

Pictures from the visit follow:

Eighth State Brewing opened their doors in 2018. They are best known for their barrel-aged and sour beers.

The primary inspiration behind how the brewery runs its operations comes from Timothy Leary’s Eight-Circuit Model of Consciousness. Essentially what the model seeks to do is unify several interpretations of the main altered states of consciousness into a lucid meta-theory. While there is a deep individual complexity to each stage, every successive circuit is meant to represent a higher stage of evolution than the one before it.

Hoppy quaffed the following beers during his visit:

Famous Last Words Double IPA – Brewed with Citra, Cashmere and Motueka hops. 8.2% ABV

Guessing Game Pastry Stout – Described as a stout cuvee with hints of cinnamon, vanilla and various nuts. 12% ABV.

Pictures taken during the visit follow:

Hoppy’s last brewery visit in North Carolina, on this trip, was at Oskar Blues Brewing in Brevard. They brewed their first batch of beer in NC, Dale’s Pale Ale, on12/12/12. They create a large variety of small batch beers that are found only in their taprooms. They are most famous for being the first craft brewery to can beer which began at their original location in Colorado. (At the time of his visit the upstairs taproom was closed for a private party.)

While there, Hoppy imbibed the following ales:

West CO Fade Away West Coast IPA – Described as the light malts of Pilsner and Pale Ale malt provide a smooth malt backbone to the Mosaic, Cascade and Simcoe hot side hops. The Dry Hop combo of Cryo Simcoe, Strata, Citra and Nelson Sauvin create intense hop flavors and aromas of Dank Citrus, Tropical, Stone Fruit and Floral. 7% ABV.

Ten FIDY Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout – Described as being aged through four seasons and from a blend of the top Bourbons around, This Ten FFIDY has morphed into a monster of cranked up flavor. Espresso, burnt sugar, rich chocolate and caramel notes are now driving alongside the vanilla, oak and bourbon from the barrel and have been smoothed out during maturation. Even at high alcohol and bitterness units it is cool and drinkable, letting each sip add more and more complexity. 12.5% ABV, 75 IBU.

Barrel-Aged 2022 Volume 10 – Aged in brandy barrels. Described as smooth with chocolate note and rich flavor. 14% ABV.

Pictures from the visit follow: