Enjoy watching a Belgian bike race with a bottle from Hops & Barley

We’re in the heart of the 2015 Belgian cycling season, where hard men hammer up steep cobbled climbs to the cheers of hardy fans who, like the riders, are often at the mercy of harsh elements.

It’s a blend of performance, panache and pain that’s without parallel.

Fortunately, for us cycling fans, several of the upcoming races will be shown on the NBC Sports Channel. Paris Roubaix, which takes place on Sunday, will air at 7 p.m. on Monday, 13 April, and Fleche Wallonne and Liege Bastogne Liege will be slotted into the schedule later this month.

It would be nice if they were aired live, but, the later times will allow the consumption of some topflight Belgian beer during the broadcasts.

You can, of course, take the easy route and put down a few Stellas or Hoegaardens, but why not roll with a little more style. Hops & Barley, a recently opened beer retail store at 412 MLK Jr. Blvd., has a stellar selection of Belgian Beers.

Based on a couple of visits, here’s three recommendations: White Gold Belgian Ale from Hof ten Dormaal, Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel, and Saison d’Erpe-Mere from Brouwerij De Glazen Toren.

The IPA and the Saison have rock-star rankings from beeradvocate.com, but I was tantalized by the White Gold Belgian Ale, a complex and lusty combination of styles and flavors. It’s neither an ale, nor a Saison, but it melds components of both, with notes of herbs and fruit, along with bites of pepper, and the toasty taste of chicory, not surprising since one of the ingredients is chicory root. It also has an element of champagne: Don’t look down on the cork when you’re pulling it out.

In addition to the wide selection from Belgian, British and other foreign breweries, Hops & Barley also has a wide and imaginative range of domestic beers. If proprietor David Barker still has any on the shelf, check out Clown Shoes’ Chocolate Sombrero.

For more information, go to www.hopsandbarleysav.com.

Stone makes the decision on buying a mixed 12-pack easy and the drinking delightful

We’ve all been there, standing in the aisle, looking at a mixed 12-pack, and wondering why that one beer, the one that you don’t like or don’t want any more of, is included. Well, Stone Brewing Co.’s new mixed-12, introduced in January of this year, eliminates any hemming and hawing. It contains three established stars from Stone’s stable – Cali-Belgique IPA, Ruination IPA, and Arrogant Bastard Ale –  and a dynamic newcomer, Delicious IPA.  Stone, which produces the best-written, most-informative bottle labels in the business, succinctly summarizes the pack’s bona fides by listing ratebeer scores on the top of the box:  98 for Cali-Belgique, 100 for Ruination, and 99 for Arrogant Bastard. The Delicious IPA, also introduced in January, is labeled as new.  For a concise description, let’s look at the bottle which calls it a “pleasantly bitter, deliciously citrusy, hop-driven IPA.” If you like a cold, crisp lemonade, or even Lemonhead candy, you’ll enjoy this beer’s citrus-centric flavor. It’s also important to note that Delicious can stand on its own as a damn-fine IPA, one with 80 IBUs, an exotic mix of hops, and the brewing expertise that comes with Stone’s honored heritage. 

North Carolina brewer invites you to raise a glass to a Savannah hero

Gen. Nathanael Greene, the Rhode Island native whose wily tactics and adroit leadership played an instrumental role in the American victory at Yorktown, is a big name in Savannah. There’s the massive obelisk to his memory in the middle of Johnson Square, along with Greene Square and Greene Ward. Mulberry Grove, his plantation along the Savannah River, is world famous as the site of the invention of the cotton gin. Yet, you can’t buy any products here from Natty Greene’s Brewing Co., a history-conscious craft-beer business in Greensboro (named for guess who!), N.C.  On a recent trip to Charlotte, I came across a 12-pack of Natty’s, stylishly labeled as a Battalion. Inside were four longneck bottles each of Buckshot Amber Ale, Southern Pale Ale and Wildflower Witbier. There’s also a nifty quote from Natty himself on the side of the carton: “Without spirits the men cannot support the fatigues of a long campaign.” As for the beers inside the carton, each was a solid representative of its respective style. I was particularly impressed by the pale ale, which I found to be medium bodied, with fine tones of pine and fruit, accented by an easy malt finish. Other Natty offerings include Freedom American IPA, Flintlock Double IPA and the soon-to-be-released Hessian Hefe-Weizen. For more information on Natty’s, go to www.nattygreenes.com.

I’m thankful that, even after 44 years, Buddha still rides with me

The sight last week of a Lucky Buddha Enlightened Beer bottle sitting on the shelf at Habersham Beverage brought an immediate smile to my face. There were a couple of reasons for that. One, its unique red-and-white cap would be a welcome addition to my collection, and two, I’ve got what can be described as a long-running relationship with Buddha dating back to 1969-1970 when I was stationed at Nakhon Phanom, a remote Air Force installation in northeast Thailand. About midway through that tour of duty, a couple of other airmen and I flew out of NKP to Bangkok. We were headed for a week of R&R at Pattaya Beach, an idyllic resort on the Gulf of Siam, 90 miles or so from Bangkok. We had a choice on how to cover that distance: Take a slow, but safe Air Force bus, or hire out a Thai taxi, a little risky, but likely to get us there first and into an ocean-view room. The taxi, which operated under the auspices of the Armed Forces exchange system, looked safe from the outside. But, instead for safety belts, it had only short pieces of straps, neatly cut off near the seat. When I asked the driver about that, he smiled and said, in words that have stuck with me ever since, that we didn’t need seat belts because “Buddha rides with me.” Well, that may have been so, but at some point on the ride, almost all of which was spent speeding past other vehicles on a two-lane road, I’m quite sure that Buddha wished he could have buckled up. We arrived at Pattaya Beach, in a time that has also stuck with me, in 79 minutes.  I laughed, I screamed, I sweated so much that my khaki uniform looked like I’d put it on while in the shower. It remains one of my life’s indelible experiences. Thanks, Lucky Buddha, for the memories.

Look to the Prairie for saisons to serve at Thanksgiving dinner

For years, my favorite beer for Thanksgiving dinner, with all its flavors, textures and pleasures, has been the saison. This history-tested European ale can stand up to and stylishly complement such traditional Southern favorites as turkey, dressing, gravy, green beans and sweet potatoes.
Saison Dupont, a traditional Belgian choice, and Ommegang Hennepin, a strong New York-state saison, usually grace our table during this meal. But, in 2014, we’ll be passing around bottles from a rather unlikely source, the state of Oklahoma. Birra, a farmhouse ale, and Prairie Ale, a Belgian-style saison, are two of the products of Prairie Artisan Ales of Tulsa, Okla.
A relative newcomer to the Savannah market, Prairie lists some 29 beers on its website, including the wonderfully named Bible Belt, an imperial stout aged on coffee, Cacao nibs, vanilla beans and chili peppers.
Neither Birra nor Prairie Ale is quite that exotic, but they’ll star throughout the Thanksgiving meal. Birra, the lighter of the two at 4.2 percent ABV, is a perfect, slightly peppery accompaniment to pre-dinner conversation. Prairie Ale, at 8.2 percent ABV, has the usual spicy saison notes of citrus and pepper, accentuated by a generous addition of Saaz hops and enlivened by the addition of flaked wheat and cane sugar.
This rare level of complexity and flavor has brought it a rating of 91 percent at beeradvocate.com. For more information on Prairie Ales, check out its website, prairieales.com.

Wide range of Georgia craft beer is now on the menu at Johnny Harris

It wasn’t history that finally lured me into Johnny Harris Restaurant, though the Victory Drive landmark has plenty of that; nor was it the delicious barbecue dishes and sauces, though they have delighted generations of customers over the past nine decades. No, all it took to get me there, after living in Savannah for more than 30 years, was an invitation earlier this month from my friend Tim Rutherford to sample the restaurant’s craft beers. The Maple Room Tavern, located at the rear of the restaurant, has 16 taps devoted to Georgia craft beers. The locations of the breweries cover the state like the dew. From up in the mountains, there’s Burnt Hickory and Grumpy Old Men: from metro Atlanta, there’s Sweetwater, Monday Night and Red Hare: and, from Savannah and the Coastal Empire, there’s Service, Eagle Creek, Moon River and Coastal Empire. Other breweries on the October menu include Jekyll, Three Taverns, Creature Comforts, Wrecking Bar and Orpheus. Over two separate visits, and enabled by 5-ounce sample pours (which can be ordered as a flight), I enjoyed eight of the beers on the menu. Of those, my favorites were Eagle Creek’s River Street Praline Brown (a sweet, malty treat), Three Taverns’ Quasimodo (smooth, delicious and dangerous with an ABV of 10 percent) and Orpheus’ Lyric Ale (a stylish, hop-centric saison). In addition to its rock-star regular beer menu, the Maple Room is also hosting special events. Red Brick Brewing of Atlanta will host a special dinner there, featuring a keg of its 2013 Buffalo Trace Bourbon Barrel Aged Russian Imperial Stout, on Nov. 6. For more information, on this and other events and activities, check out The Maple Room Tavern at Johnny Harris Restaurant Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/themapleroomtavern.

A salute to Savannah's Service Brewing

Everything was inspection ready when Service Brewing Co. opened its tasting room last Saturday. The floors and equipment were shined, the gift shop was stocked, and, best of all, the menu board was stacked with choices. The story of Service Brewing has been well chronicled. Army veterans Kevin Ryan, Dan Sartin and Jeff Hyatt have painstakingly converted a cavernous century-old warehouse just off Savannah’s riverfront into a state-of-the-art craft brewery. It’s a saga of patriotism and persistence. But, the success of Service Brewing will hinge on factors far less idealistic. For that to happen, its beers have to appeal to an increasingly educated and sophisticated beer audience. Happily, based on my tasting room experiences, along with earlier opportunities to try their beers, I’m convinced that Service Brewery has the requisite arms to make that happen. Ground Pounder Pale Ale, Rally Point Pilsner and Compass Rose IPA are solid examples of those styles. Two other selections, Peach Apricot Pale Ale and a Cask Biere de Garde, are particularly distinctive and delicious. Go by and give them a try. The brewery is located at 574 Indian St. The tasting room will be open from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and from 2 p.m.-4 p.m. on Saturdays. Tours will also be conducted during those hours. For more information, go to servicebrewing.com.