I unashamedly like beer, but I have high standards for what I will drink. When I drink a beer, I would rather have one really good one over drinking a large quantity of sub par beer (I am not naming names). My first beer was acquired about a decade ago when I spent a summer in England. I found myself quiet taken with Guinness. How could I not like something that was dark, strong and tasted like COFFEE! Since those early days, my taste in beer has expanded and that was helped by my move from Anteaterville to Sunshineville. Sunshinville has quiet a reputation for craft breweries all of which make excellent small batch beer. While I do enjoy a good range of the local beers I will warn if you aren't a fan of overly hoppy beers then you'll need to be careful. Sunshineville seems to be the aggressive hop beer capital. I am not a fan of hops, but it is starting to grow on me. I don't think I will ever completely love hoppy beers but I have come to enjoy ones that start hoppy and front loads the bitterness and finishes smooth.
| AleSmith Storefront |
Alesmith is one of the many Sunshineville breweries. ESFSW was the one who actually introduced me to this brewery. And he did it with their Speedway Stout. This stout is actually made with coffee! We then went to an Alesmith Tasting dinner that one of his co-workers told him about, which introduced us to most of their year round brews. It was a pretty cool event considering the chef specially pair AleSmith's beers with the food. It is amazing how cold grapefruit soup can tame the bitterness of the IPA. After the tasting dinner we decided since I hadn't been to their tasting room that an outing was needed.
There have been a few hiccups before we finally got to their tasting room. Our first attempt landed us at their store front before their posted closing time with the doors locked, lights off and no one in sight. As we were leaving we ran into another guy who was there to re-fill a growler who was also confused why they weren't open. We then were planning on going before Christmas but they were closed for renovations (luckily I called before we drove over there). Then about mid -February we were finally successful! And it was a good time to go since they had several seasonal brews on tap. We just tasted beers in 2 oz servings including a sour ale which was one of their Decadence vintages. After inquiring if we could buy a bottle because it was so delicious, we were informed that it was a mistake and only available as a taster until they ran out.I told the guy behind the counter it was a mistake they should make again! This past weekend we went back to get a few tasters (total $5!), but unfortunately they didn't have anymore of the sour ale Decadence. We still had a good time! I would also like to give props to the staff at AleSmith. After we finished we went out to the car and it wouldn't start (second time in a week )! ESFSW went inside to see if someone could give us a jump instead of calling a service and Nick Betteker gave us a jump from his car! Thanks so much!
There have been a few hiccups before we finally got to their tasting room. Our first attempt landed us at their store front before their posted closing time with the doors locked, lights off and no one in sight. As we were leaving we ran into another guy who was there to re-fill a growler who was also confused why they weren't open. We then were planning on going before Christmas but they were closed for renovations (luckily I called before we drove over there). Then about mid -February we were finally successful! And it was a good time to go since they had several seasonal brews on tap. We just tasted beers in 2 oz servings including a sour ale which was one of their Decadence vintages. After inquiring if we could buy a bottle because it was so delicious, we were informed that it was a mistake and only available as a taster until they ran out.I told the guy behind the counter it was a mistake they should make again! This past weekend we went back to get a few tasters (total $5!), but unfortunately they didn't have anymore of the sour ale Decadence. We still had a good time! I would also like to give props to the staff at AleSmith. After we finished we went out to the car and it wouldn't start (second time in a week )! ESFSW went inside to see if someone could give us a jump instead of calling a service and Nick Betteker gave us a jump from his car! Thanks so much!
If you happen to find yourself in Sunshineville you should go check them out (click the picture below to get a map). Their beers are also sold in stores around town and come in cool 750 ml bottles (just like wine!). They have a nice range from Pale to Dark and a good mix of hoppy (bitter) to malty. Definitely a great place to spend a little time for a very small monetary output!
| Directions! |
No comments:
Post a Comment