Category: Distillery

Georgia Beer on My Mind

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Distillery, History, Restaurants, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

I should have wrote this a week ago. Thinking of it, I have not done much writing in general lately. I’ll try to change that.

I’ve been to Georgia before but my time there previously had been limited. A couple weekends ago, we made a long weekend trip to Savannah. Savannah is a trendy place to go. Millennials love to go for the insta post. Had to make the trip eventually.

We started off with a walking tour of the city. Lot of cool history to check out there. Among all the site seeing, I tried out three breweries and a distillery in Savannah. We saw Moon River Brewing, Service Brewing Company, and New Realm Brewing (which also is a distillery). Additionally, we went to Ghost Coast Distillery.

Ghost Coast Distillery

All were solid places, but the beer of the trip goes to Service Brewing. The Raspberry Jelly Donut Pastry Sour was like the first bite of an actual jelly donut. I love me a good sour.

Ghost Coast Distillery was also a really good spot. Further away then the main downtown part of Savannah, it was worth the walk. Additionally, we had great food and drinks throughout the city. The wings at Cotton & Rye were top 3 wings I have ever had. Before I forget, Savannah allows open containers. More cities should do this. Creates an amazing atmosphere. Cleveland, I am talking to you. No reason the Ohio City neighborhood shouldn’t be open container. I digress.

Savannah is a beautiful city. It’s also surprisingly small. You can conquer most it in a long weekend. Good food, good history and Southern Hospitality. Great combo.

Jelly Donut Sour

Wuh-Ster Day Trip

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Distillery, Restaurants, Trips, vacations, whiskeyLeave a comment

Personally, I think this pronunciation of Wooster, Ohio is idiotic. It should be Woo!-Ster like a drunk girl shouting at a bar. However, the locals prefer the WUH so I’ll roll with it.

This past Saturday we took a day trip down to Wooster and walked around the town, had a burger and indulged in some beverages. Traveling during the Covid, is weird. A day trip is easy enough and Ohio has a lot to offer.

First off we visited Muddy’s where I had the cheesiest of cheese burgers. If you have a lactose sensitivity, stay away.

After Muddy’s, the main reason for this trip was to visit the JAFB taproom. Just Another Fucking Brewery, is a pretty spacious taproom and I was able to try several brews. My favorite of the ones I had was the Hefeweizen, though the Summer Forever (New England IPA) was very good as well. The Hefeweizen is a good solid rendition of this beer style with just enough banana taste. I really enjoyed this one. I was told after that I need to try the Apricot one, so next time I’ll give that one a taste.

After the brewery, we had two more stops to make. First off was Minglewood Distilling Company. I am by no means an expert on bourbon but I’m starting to get into it more. They had a variety of alcohols and I did a tasting. I wish the tours were open but again the virus got in the way. I picked up a bottle of the bourbon to take home. Then one last stop at Hartzlers Dairy Farm for some ice cream. Perfect dessert to end the day.

Yee-Haw Brewing, Nashville part 5, and a Quick Weekend Write Up

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Distillery, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

This marks the 5th time I’ve been to Nashville. Been for business and pleasure. This was a pleasure trip. Regardless of the reason, I always love this city. Mainly driven by the amazing music you hear in the city and the food I consume. One of those cities I love visiting, but would die of a massive coronary if I lived there.

Brunch at Gray’s on Main

While we were just in town for a few days, we jammed a lot in. Something that not a lot of people see when they visit is the town of Franklin. Venture a way from downtown and grab some food at all the different restaurants in this city that was a key place of the civil war. It’s a cool little town.

Well now to the beer. I’ve been to a lot of other breweries in Nashville. This was my first trip to Yee-Haw Brewing. I’ll be honest the beer was average but it’s a cool spot with tons of games and activities to get drunk to. Plus they have an Old Smokey Distillery location on site. I’ve checked out Old Smoke’s Gatlinburg location last year. They have tasting of the numerous varieties of whiskey they make. One of which you’re bound to enjoy. Beer and liquor, always a great combo. Till next time Nashville.

Smoky Mountain Vacation

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Distillery, Trips, vacations, whiskey1 Comment

There is a quote or something about man going into the woods to search for the meaning to life. I could look that quote up and get philosophical on you all, but let’s skip that part.

This past weekend my girlfriend and I took a trip to the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I went for the hiking mainly, well and the the variety of alcohol. The area has beautiful views (see picture below for proof), but I think many of the people visiting in downtown Gatlinburg could use a hike or two. I’m not a doctor, but I think a little exercise could do some good.

Ok end of my rant, now onto the drinks. There are so many places to do tastings in that city, it’s hard to hit them all. We didn’t even come close to getting to all of them. We did visit some good ones though. Doc Collier’s moonshine was a really great stop that will get you the cheapest buzz you can find. $5 for 18 sips of moonshine. That’s a deal I can get behind. If the 125 proof at the start doesn’t put some hair on your chest, the brandy at the end will.

If you’re more into beer, like I typically am, Gatlinburg has two breweries plus a craft hard cider maker. Both Smoky Mountain Brewery and Gatlinburg Brewing Company make very good beers. Make sure to try the pizza at Gatlinburg Pizza. That was a tasty late night snack. The Barleywine IPA at Smoky Mountain was a really great beer in the city too. And Tennessee Cider Company is a must visit. Such a wide and unique variety of craft ciders plus free samples. You had me at free. All in all, I definitely ate well and drank well and now need to spend a solid week in a sauna.

Oh So Good

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, baseball, Brewery, Distillery, Restaurants, TripsLeave a comment

Well, I am sitting here in class, munching on Jimmy Johns, hoping it soaks up the beer as I mourn the end of the Indians season. Now seems like a good time to talk about O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery in Phoenix, Arizona. Need something to take my mind off that embarrassing sweep the tribe suffered.

I had a work trip out to Phoenix last week,and while my free time was limited, I did find some time to visit one Brewery, O.H.S.O. Brewery and Distillery.

The beer was pretty good at O.H.S.O. The bartender was great giving the guy I made friends with next to me, bonding over the Cubs Rockies game that went to extras, and I tastes of their vodkas. The 89 ale and Orange Pedal were both very good beers. The Orange Pedal reminded me of a creamsicle and who doesn’t like creamsicles? I grabbed some food while I was there as well and the mac and cheese with BBQ pork was very good. Could go for a bowl right now. Something else to take my mind off that display the Indians tried to claim was baseball. There is always next year and another beer to try……

 

Whiskey and Beer in Cle

On By Chris ElliottIn Alcohol, Brewery, Distillery, Restaurants, whiskeyLeave a comment

The Cleveland Brewery Scene is growing rapidly. Cleveland Scene just wrote a large article about it. It’s a well done article you can read here. While there may or may not be a bubble, it is great for the beer lovers of Cleveland that so many places keep popping up. A few weeks ago I visited Portside Distillery and Brewery for the first time. This place has been open since 2015 but I had yet to stop in.

What makes this place unique in Cleveland is that they not only brew beer but they are a distillery. Not many places out there do both. That is a nice addition to the traditional brewery. They have a good variety of beers and the pretzels were pretty good as well. This location near the water is pretty spacious and when I went on a Sunday afternoon provided a good laid back spot to have a Sunday Funday. Once thing I do regret not trying was the whiskey but it does give me a reason to go back and try it again.