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!L ORTEN CARLTON = ORT.
What's
Brewing in
Athens?
The air around town has a crackle of ex
citement to it. Could it possibly be that this
term of the Georgia legislature now in session
will be the one to pass brewpub legislation?
Literally thousands of folks are on the edges
of their seats in awaitment, ready to venture
out the first legal night to have their first in-
house-brewed pint and save the mileage to
Chattanooga (our nearest brewpub). You can
almost taste the readiness along with the smell
of hops that haven’t been brewed yet. Folks, I
don’t know any more about
when it will be than you do, •
but as soon as I do, it will find
the light of day here.
At least six different in
dividuals and combines
have expressed an interest
in opening a brewpub in
Athens, or else have exist
ing bars and/or restaurants
that plan to implement in-
house brewing when it be
comes legal. This town is apt
to become a beer mecca like
Fort Collins, Colo., (three micros and a
brewpub) in the next couple of years if all
the places that are rumored to be in the off
ing get off the ground. I look for this city to
become just that — and just in time for the
Olympics — if we are smart enough to pass
the law. That will leave only Mississippi
brewpubless, and rumor has it that folks in
the Biloxi/Gulfport area and in Jackson are
working on their own legislation. “We don’t
want Georgia to be 50th in anything again
if we can help it,” State Representative
Louise McBee offered, and she’s absolutely
right. For once Democrats and Republicans
are working together for constructive end,
and it is about time. As I said, I’ll do my best
to keep you posted right here.
In other beer news, since I wrote about
seasonal beers last week because of the time
liness factor, I ought to tell you about the
regular product lines of these breweries in
this column.
• Among beers recently available in Ath
ens are 10 products from Rogue Brewing of
Newport, Ore. Their flagship Rogue t vie
comes in 12-ounce bottles, albeit with
unique historic labels. The other nine, in 22-
ounce silkscreened imprinted bottles, are
Rogue’n’Berry, Rogue Mo Ale, Rogue
Shakespeare Stout, Rogue New Porter,
Rogue Golden Ale, Rogue Mexicali Rogue
Ale, Rogue St. Rogue Red Ale, Rogue
Smoke A Rauch Style Ale and Rogue
Maierbock Ale.
Several of these lack maltiness, but they
make up for it with originality, and that’s
missing in an awful lot of micro-brews. You
can learn aplenty about beer in general from
trying these products, which deserve an “A”
for their eccentricity alone. Rogue also pro
duces Rogue Mogul Ale, which I mentioned
last week. It is the best of the lot, but the
others are all well worth trying at least once.
• Four Wild Geese have flown into town:
Wild Goose Amber Beer; Wild Goose Golden
You can almost
taste the
readiness along
with the smell
of hops that
haven’t been
brewed yet.
Ale, Wild Goose Porter and Wild Goose India
Pale Ale. These are products of Wild Goose
Brewing of Cambridge, Md. Their India Pale
Ale is my pick of the lot, but it is nowhere near
as intense as my old favorite, Ballantine I. P. A.
of years past... a noble effort, though. Unfor
tunately, their magnificent Samuel Middleton’s
Ale doesn’t grace our shelves, although it is sold
in South Carolina. We did manage to merit
some cases of the very fine Snow Goose Christ
mas Ale, though, as I said last week. Yum!
• After an absence of
nearly two years, Grant’s
products have returned to
Georgia. Made by The
Yakima Brewing And Malt
ing Co. in Yakima, Wash,
(headed by perpetually tam-
o-shantered Bert Grant,
hence the name), the prod
uct line includes Grant’s
Celtic Ale, Grant’s Scottish
Ale, Grant’s Weis Beer,
Grant’s Apple Honey Ale,
Grant’s India Pale Ale (really
bitten my favorite) and Grant’s Perfect Porter.
Alas, Grant’s Russian Imperial Stout is too
alcoholic for sale in our Empire State, so you’ll
have to try your luck finding that one on a
roadtrip. Bert, a former hop merchant who
admittedly brews his fine beers for himself, is
prone to hit the road and visit farflung mar
kets without notice, so one night I fully ex
pect to find him holding forth on a stool in
The Engine Room talking to some cute young
iady about how he took calculus back in 1937
and watching his beers fly out of the coolers.
(Dear Lord, I can dream, can’t I?)
• Summit Brewing Co. of St. Paul, Minn.,
has finally allowed their brew to travel to one
market outside its home turf: ours! Thus Sum
mit Extra Pale Ale and Summit Great North
ern Porter grace many local establishments’
shelves and even crop up on draft at The
Mellow Mushroom. My favorite is their por
ter because of its deep malty bitterness, but
the pale ale is nice, too. It is with regret that
I conclude that they didn’t send us any of their
Summit Winter Ale this year; perhaps if sales
prove worthwhile, they will consider doling
us out some of it next holiday season. I will
twist their arms, even if I must do so gently.
«* Both Home Brewing Supply and
Brewtopia, Athens’ two gently-competing
homebrewers’ stores, reported a busy Christmas
season. “I’ve sold a ton of starter kits,” John
Gayer of Home Brewing Supply informed me.
“They make great presents because... well, they
keep on giving.” Owen Ogletree of Brewtopia
told me “Folks have been thick as flies in here.
We’ve increased our orders, and things are still
running a mite low before they’re replenished.
I bet we’ll be seeing some great Holiday Ales
from our customers.”
My regular column really will appear next
week, unless brewpub legislation passes in the
meantime. Until then, attempt to stay within
the bounds of moderation. (So many good
brews, so little time....) Prosit! (30.)
©1995 William Orten Carlton
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