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Owen Ogletree's Brewtopia Brewsletter
October 23, 2022
Owen is founder/editor of Brewtopia.info, columnist for Southern Brew News and Beer Connoisseur Magazine, lecturer at Knoxville's Brewing & Distilling Center, founder of the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting and Classic City Brew Fest, a BJCP National Beer Judge, and judge for Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup.
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Follow our craft beer adventures...
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- Beer Reviews from Around the Southeast USA
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By Owen Ogletree
 Floodgate Rice Lager
Athentic Brewing Company
Athens, Georgia, 4.5% ABV
Rice Lager
Pours with nice clarity, pale gold color and moderate white foam. Aromas of sweet malt, rice, cereal grains and floral hops emerge. Mild esters seem reminiscent of jasmine and a hint of honey. Flavors mingle on the palate that include lightly sweet malt with pleasant citrus/floral hops and a touch of bitterness in the finish. This refreshing lager is crisp, clean and remarkably drinkable. Would pair well with Asian and Indian dishes.
 Freedom Machine Volume 4
Service Brewing
Savannah, Georgia, 6.7% ABV
Hazy IPA
This juicy IPA sports a deep gold hue with nice white foam and moderate haze. Expect aromas of experimental, dank hops that can be described as earthy and tropical, with notes of pineapple, mango and citrus alongside sweet malt. The flavor profile includes notes of pineapple, juicy malt, starchy cereal grains, grapefruit, kumquat pith, orange marmalade and mineral-rich water. The hop flavors work well together and end with a mild bitterness. This is a well-made and well-balanced hoppy ale.
 Hazy Heights IPA
Highland Brewing
Asheville, North Carolina, 7.5% ABV
Hazy IPA
Look for mild haze, attractive golden color and off-white head. The nose picks up notes of fruit custard, lemon meringue, pineapple, mango and a hint of vanilla. The palate detects flavors of lemon verbena, rich malt, herbs, bread crust and perhaps a hint of Thai basil. Hops are interesting and pleasing and prevent the ale from coming across as overly sweet. The dryish finish seems crisp with a beautiful, lingering hop note. This IPA showcases excellent technical merit.
 No Mames
Tripping Animals Brewing Company
Doral, Florida, 6.0% ABV
Mexican-Style Lager
This beer pours with an attractive, bright golden hue and brilliant clarity. The foam produces a fluffy white layer with excellent head retention. The nose detects sweet pilsner malt with light, appealing fermentation complexity and mild floral hops. There's also a slight cereal grain hint in the aroma. Look for flavors including rich malt for the style, mild honey-like sweetness and a clean and refreshing finish highlighted by a floral hop nuance and light bitterness. For an exquisite taste sensation, pair this lager with chicken tacos.
 North by Northeast IPA
Charles Towne Fermentory
Charleston, South Carolina, 7.4% ABV
Hazy IPA
The beer boasts a vibrant gold/orange color with a meringue-like off-white head. Hazy and opaque, the beer appears quite cloudy. The nose picks up fruity hops reminiscent of lemon, navel oranges, lime and marmalade. Also, expect a sweet cereal grain note in the aroma and flavor. The medium-bodied beer offers a soft, pillowy mouthfeel and rich hop flavors of citrus and tropical fruits with light hop bitterness in the end. Mild fruity esters complement the hops in this IPA that finishes slightly sweet with lingering fruity hop notes.
 Sunshine City IPA
Green Bench Brewing Company
St. Petersburg, Florida, 6.8% ABV
American IPA
The appearance includes mild haze and a golden color with a stand of thick off-white foam. Look for aromas of pale malt, tropical fruit-like hops, pineapple, mango and a slightly earthy malt note. The flavor profile matches the aromas exactly, with notes of residual malt sweetness backed by grassy, fruity hop flavors and light fermentation esters. After swallowing, the palate picks up pleasant hop bitterness with hints of melon, orange and apricot. This well-constructed, satisfying IPA would pair well with coconut shrimp or grilled fish covered in lemon butter.
 Vimana
Flying Machine Brewing Company
Wilmington, North Carolina, 5.1% ABV
Kolsch-Style Ale
Expect an attractive gold hue and white foam in this beer that appears almost perfectly clear. Sweet pale malt, slightly earthy fermentation notes and a hint of sulfur from the yeast dominate the aroma profile. Woody/floral hops also come through on the nose. Mouthfeel and malt level may be a bit high for this classic style, and the beer comes across as slightly sweet with a honey nuance and light apricot notes. Look for a mild floral hop flavor and restrained bitterness. With appealing, elegant complexity and great drinkability, this variant of a Kolsch seems quite pleasant and approachable.
 Walk the Lime
Tennessee Brew Works
Nashville, Tennessee, 5.4% ABV
Wheat Ale with lime zest
This American wheat ale pours with a cloudy haze, golden glow and thick, creamy white head. Aromas include cereal/wheat notes, light lime nuances and mild fruity esters. Look for a flavor profile consisting of crisp wheat followed by a dry, slightly bitter citrus pith bite. A pleasant lime zing comes just before a finish that includes a hint of hop bitterness that is most likely complemented by pungent notes from the use of lime zest. The mouthfeel is light/medium, and this refreshing ale would pair exceptionally well with Mexican cuisine.
Read more in the online edition of:
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- Grab your tickets now for our Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting!
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TICKETS are now on sale for the exciting return of our Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting coming to Bold Monk Brewing on Saturday, January 21, 2023. This year promises an amazing lineup of exclusive cask ales, lagers and meads. It's a benefit for the Atlanta Humane Society. Make plans to join us! The exciting list of participating breweries has now been posted at the bottom of our website.
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- Top Seven Reasons Why We Love Hofbräuhaus München
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 Beer and a hearty meal at Munich's state-owned Hofbräuhaus rank as a goal on many craft beer lovers' bucket lists. Several reasons exist as to why the Hofbräuhaus just might be the most recognized bar in the world. Our recent Brewtopia tour group to Oktoberfest in Munich was capped off by a joyful and boisterous evening at Hofbräu in the center of the city.
Here are the top seven reasons why we love the Hofbräuhaus:
7. THE BUILDING
Upon walking through the doors of this Bavarian institution, visitors are immediately struck by the historic and intriguing interior of the building. The expansive space is marked by traditional wall décor and arched ceilings.
 6. ATMOSPHERE
Hofbräuhaus is where visitors from around the world flock to soak in the true Bavarian beer hall experience. “Oans, zwoa, drei, Gsuffa!”
5. MUSIC
The "oompah" band cranks out all the traditional, favorite songs and tunes that encourage customers to have fun and enjoy the food and exceptional beers. You'll be singing along in no time.
4. FOOD
Looking for hearty, traditional Bavarian fare? Look no further than the roasted chicken and pork dishes at the Hofbräuhaus. The tavern serves millions of plates of food each year, but we've never had a bad meal there. Customers are assured not to leave hungry.
3. BEER
Hofbräuhaus produces excellent examples of classic Bavarian beer styles such as Helles, Dunkel, Bock, Festbier and wheat beer. When ordering a beer in a glass smaller than a liter, patrons might get a judgmental glance from the waitstaff, but it's all in good fun. There's something special about hoisting a liter of amazing lager inside the Hofbräuhaus.
2. A SLICE OF OKTOBERFEST YEAR-ROUND
People who shy away from the massive crowds at Munich's Oktoberfest don't need to worry. The party atmosphere of Oktoberfest exists in a somewhat smaller form at the Hofbräuhaus tavern that's filled with Gemütlichkeit - a German term used to convey a state or feeling of warmth, friendliness and happiness.
1. CAMARADERIE
Pick up your liter stein of beer and toast with new friends from across the globe at Hofbräuhaus. It's impossible to be in a bad mood when seated at this extraordinary Bavarian beer hall. Prost!
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- The Erdinger Experience
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Our recent Brewtopia Tours trip to the 2022 Oktoberfest in Munich brought the group into Bavaria a day early to recover from jet-lag. Staying for one night in a Munich airport hotel, our group's choice of an early bonus beer experience was easy. We grabbed some taxis and headed to the nearby town of Erding to enjoy a marvelous tour and tasting at the world-renowned Privatbrauerei Erdinger Weißbräu Werner Brombach - a classic beer producer known for its namesake Bavarian wheat beers.
 Some participants on our Bavaria tours express the opinion that wheat beers are not their favorite. This state of mind evaporates immediately after one sip of the extraordinarily fresh and satisfying wheat beers available in the region. Erdinger did not disappoint.
Erdinger's wheat beers express wonderful, complex notes of refreshing banana and clove weizen yeast fermentation character. These lightly-hopped wheat beers boast a high level of carbonation, wheat and cereal grain notes, a dry finish, fluffy mouthfeel and a typical ABV range of 4.3-5.6%. Adding some caramelized malts to the wheat beer recipe produces a darker version known as Dunkles Weissbier. Boosting the fermentable sugars produces a higher alcohol version of the style called Pinkantus Weizen-Bock. Erdinger also produces flavorful non-alcoholic wheat ales.
The Erdinger experience begins in the brewery's "fan shop" where visitors can purchase all types of Erdinger merchandise and fresh beer to take home. An experienced guide takes groups on a fun and educational walk through the brewery and the history of Erdinger Weissbiers. See the brew kettles, warehouses, bottling line and massive distribution bays.
After the tour, beer fans experience the full range of Erdinger wheat beers alongside traditional Bavarian snacks in the brewery's atmospheric tasting room. Savor the brewery's flavorful range of wheat beers alongside traditional white sausages and massive pretzels. Including the tasting, Erdinger's tours last around three hours. See more information on booking a tour by clicking HERE.
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 Wild Leap Craft Beverages
CHANCE INDIA PALE ALE
From our friends at Wild Leap in LaGrange, Georgia:
Chance is an “easy-drinking” IPA similar to northeastern or East Coast styles in malt balance, haze and hop aromas. The juicy hop blend creates grapefruit, melon, strawberry and passion fruit aromas that give the beer a soft bitterness.
ABV: 6.2%
SRM: 6.2
IBU: 43.3
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- Beer Travel Opportunity
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Here's a link to a friend's excellent world beer tours. Click on the image to find out more from Inner Circle Beer Tours:
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 11/05/2022 DULUTH'S Les Bon Invitational. A celebration of saison, mixed fermentation beer, ciders, natural wine and oysters. Brewers from around the country. Oysters from fantastic farmers in the Southeast. All proceeds go to further the mission of Oyster South supporting aquaculture in the Southeast.
Where: Duluth, Georgia Town Green.
Music on Duluth’s Main Stage.
- 12/03/2022 WRECKING BAR STRONG BEER FESTIVAL. Wrecking Bar Brewpub, Atlanta, Georgia. Sample from the best strong ales and lagers made by Georgia breweries.
- 01/21/2023 ATLANTA CASK ALE TASTING. Mark your calendars for one of Atlanta's favorite craft beer fests that's returning in 2023 to the wonderful Bold Monk Brewing. Tickets are on sale now!
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- Follow Brewtopia Events on Social Media
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UP NEXT...
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Owen Ogletree takes The Beer Wench, Ashton Smith and Three Taverns' Neal Engleman to all the greatest beer spots in central and western Belgium. Westvleteren, here we come!
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