Here comes the Neighbourhood

More craft beer adventures in the USA

Outside the Midlands Beer Garden, Washington DC

One of the problems I struggle with when visiting the States, and one that has impacted on my access to craft beers while there, is the almost total lack of public transport. Linked to that is the fact that shops and bars are either concentrated in vast malls, smaller strip malls or in the downtown area. Only the last of these variables bears any resemblance to town and village life in the UK. Wherever American shops and bars are located, they can only, except in the rarest cases, be reached by car. It follows from this that I have to rely on the kindness of others to deliver me and, hopefully, collect me or else I have to summon an Uber.

On my two Stateside trips this year, to Cincinnati and Maryland, and to Cartersville GA, I did manage to get myself to several bars but I also made better use of the supermarkets and liquor stores. At least I did discover one chain, Total Wine and More, that allows customers to buy single bottles of a particular brew, thus avoiding the usual tyranny of the 6-pack. 

Charita and I had skirted the downtown of Cincinnati last year, when we visited for the family reunion. This year I returned to attend the wedding of my godson, Colin. Happily, he and his fiancée had chosen a brewery for the service and reception! This was Rhinegeist and if you dig into Cincinnati’s history you will discover that it has a proud tradition of brewing. This still persists and if I had made it my mission to visit all the city's currently operating sites I would still be there now!



The ten taps of Rhinegeist

Rhinegeist is a little way out of downtown, in the fashionable area called Over the Rhine. As well as a taproom the brewery has an impressive, bookable hall and it was here that Colin and Brenna made their vows. After the meal and the speeches I got to work on the beers. Happily for me, the bar was not just serving pints but also half measures so I was able to work my way through most of the Rhinegeist card without getting too smashed. Most styles were available: pale ale, stout, porter, session IPA, even an English-style mild, but if I’m being brutally honest the standard was pretty ho-hum. Their standard IPA, the 7.2% Truth, was about the best but the runner-up, more surprisingly, was a zingy, spicy Gose. Ironically, I had drunk a better Rhinegeist brew than either the day before, when I visited the Gaslight Café with Charita’s cousin Sheldon. This was their Calfe Milk Stout.

From Cincinnati I flew to Washington, to spend a few days with Robyn and Darryl in their smart Virginia home. This whole trip had been meant to involve Charita as well but, with Krystin’s wedding later in the year already eating into our funds, she opted to stay behind. I was still keen to go to DC though and it turned out that Darryl had already been shortlisting some of his favourite bars for the two of us to visit. It would have seemed churlish to not make it over there!

The first bar we visited was probably the best of the trip. After the pick-up up from the airport and then a drive to the house, so that I could drop my bag, we headed straight out to a pleasant homely brew pub in nearby Leesburg County called the Loudoun Brewing Co. It felt at first like a tiny micropub and with a handwritten list of beers on the wall that impression was only underlined. But, like many a British coffee shop, it had a large, cosy upstairs, as well as a big garden. It was a warm afternoon so we sat outside on the stoop, me nursing a schooner of Azacca What You Want IPA and Darryl with a 9-2-5 Stout.

The bill of fare at Loudoun Brewing Co

The next day we headed out towards DC, and the neighbourhood where Darryl used to work. Before we got there we stopped off at a bar that he didn’t know but had heard good things about. This was the Midlands Beer Garden and as we parked the car it was easy to see how it got its name. The paved and covered garden out front had row after row of benched tables  and, as it was Sunday afternoon, they soon began to fill up. The inside area resembled a barn and although there were TV screens everywhere showing sports it was easy enough to ignore them and chat. We ate burgers and worked our way through a few of the beers. I started with a Blood Orange Gose from Atlas Brew Works and then tried a Belgian Strong Ale from The Bruery.

The other two bars, the Blackfinn Ameripub and the American Taproom, were hangouts of Darryl's. They were both comfortable, busy bars on the outskirts of the city. After the Midlands, and its large screens showing sports, I noticed that here there were still TVs, but they were behind the bar. 

Our trip out on the Monday was shorter but memorable. Our final stop was a standalone bar inside a movie theater: the Alamo Draft House. They had a fine selection, including beers from brewers such as Allagash, Dogfish Head and Stone, but it was the first venue we visited that took the plaudits. The Sweet Water Tavern was more than just a bar; it had a full steak bar style restaurant and, like Loudoun, it brewed its own beers. After studying the full list, we decided on a couple of flights. For me it was a case of my favourite styles - IPA, pale ale, stout - being the most enjoyable, although their Sidewinder Saison was pretty good too. But Darryl and I did agree on the standout beer from the ten - the High Desert Imperial Stout. It was so good we got a growler to go and I must say, American TV is significantly improved by large quantities of lethally strong stout!

Darryl and I working our way through the card at the Sweet Water Tavern

Toto, we ain't in Atlanta anymore

My second trip Stateside was to Cartersville, a small town to the north of Atlanta. This was where Charita's daughter Krystin had settled when she decided to up sticks and take herself and our grandson Tyler to live in the USA. She and husband-to-be Zack have since moved further north, to Calhoun, but their wedding was arranged for Cartersville. 

The first trip out from our air bnb took us inevitably to a mall and I was relieved to discover that the Walmart there had a better selection of craft ales than my local branch of Tesco's in Portslade. I picked up several 6-packs: Hop'lin IPA, from Southbound Brewing, from Savannah, Hopsecutioner IPA, from Terrapin of Athens, GA and Voodoo Ranger, an IPA, from Colorado's much-lauded New Belgium Brewery. It did turn out though that that afternoon gave me probably my best chance to try some of the craft beer joints that I'd discovered in my research. They were all in the downtown area of Cartersville, the designated historic district. That translates as "the area that has actual streets that you can, you know, walk around." It took me back twenty years to my first ever trip to the States. I was there as part of a job exchange, to spend six months working in an American university library. The university was Mercer, based in Macon but with a campus in North West Atlanta. I spent my time living in Decatur, which had a downtown area exactly like Cartersville.

Ate Track Bar and Grill

It may have been October but the temperature was 94F when I got dropped off, right by the railway line. Luckily, the two bars that I had targeted were a short walk from there. The first, Ate Track Bar and Grill, was just a block down from the impressive 100 year old Grand Theater. Not only was my beer cold, probably a few degrees too cold for my liking, it also came in a frosted glass. In spite of all these shenanigans it was a tasty brew, a citrussy pale from - yep, them again - Terrapin, with the strange name of Luau Krunkles. 

Around half a mile away was the Cellar Bar and Loft, whose  name rather begs the question: what was the ground (1st, if you're American) floor used for? I headed for the cellar, a room so dark that it was hard to believe that the sun was blazing down outside. Once there I broke a rule that some misguided drinkers seem to have adopted - ie you don't drink stouts and porters when it's hot. The Cellar had a 6.6% dark classic from Rome City Brewing amusingly called Goatmeal Stout. I enjoyed it immensely. 

From that point on until after the wedding I relied on my 6-packs - the Hop'lin IPA was the pick - although I did have to supplement them with a visit to the Cartersville Beverage Company. The day after the wedding several of us drove down into Cartersville for lunch at the Jefferson Grill. We got there around midday and were taken aback to have to wait until 12.30, when the alcohol licence kicked in. After we had eaten, Charita and I went walkabout and discovered a store by the name of JZ's A Taste of Georgia. As we walked in, the first things we saw were local crafts: dolls, knitwear, arty nick-nacks, but to the rear were crafts of the alcoholic variety. They had a full bar with several taps and a fridge full of local beers. I drank a tasty IPA from Marietta's Ironmonger Brewing Co. Clearly taking its name from This is Spinal Tap, they call it But this one goes to 11.

Musicians at A Taste of Georgia. Shame they weren't live.

The next day, Charita, Katryna and I headed for Hartsfield Airport, Katryna and I on our way back to the UK, Charita to Mexico, to catch up with the family that she lived with for a year as a high school student. We had two layovers en route for London but, as I had discovered on my earlier trip, American airports have usually got some good beers available. Our first stop was at Charlotte and when we got to the gate for our next flight I found a bar directly opposite that had a good selection of crafts. It was even called A Taste of Carolina, and I went for a pale ale from Wicked Weed, which they called Napoleon Complex.

We had a further stop, at New York's JFK Airport, a longer one this time. The bar we ate in, O'Neal's Sports Bar and Grill, was pleasant enough but, when we tried to order, we found ourselves in that infuriating position of asking for one item then another, only to find that they were unavailable. It was the same with the beers. Their list was limited and uninspiring and my first two choices were also out of stock. The waitress then said that they did have Dogfish Head 90 minute Double IPA, a better beer than either of my earlier choices. After a couple of those, I was good to go - home!

And next time?

The next blog post will be my best of year - best brewery, best beer, best experience - and all the best to everybody!