A Drive For Beer

So how far would you drive to sample some good craft beer?  Or maybe the question should be (and was in my case) how far can you convince someone else to drive you so that you can sample some good craft beers?  This past Friday the answer for me was somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 miles (each way).  That is how far The Wife agreed to drive me to spend some time at Dunedin Brewery during their 14^th Anniversary Celebration.

No fooling around here!

For quite some time now I have been meaning to get down to Dunedin to visit the brewery and drink some of their fresh beer to help erase any memories of the old stuff I bought in a bottle here in town a while back.  Sure I have tried some of their beers since then at festivals, but nothing is quite like getting it at the source.  So when Mike Bryant from Dunedin Brewery (who I met recently while pouring beer) sent me a message that this event was going to happen on a day that both The Wife and I would be at home, it seemed to be the perfect opportunity to finally make that visit.

The perfect beer drinking environment

Besides, who can turn down a tap list for the day that looks like this?

• Piper’s Pale
• Beach Tale Brown
• Redhead Red
• Celtic Gold
• Lowland Wheat
• Apricot Peach Wheat
• Razzberry Wheat
• N2 Stout
• Dropkick Murphy’s’ Red
• Leonard Croon Stout
• Wee Heavy Scotch Ale
• Barrel-Aged Wee Heavy
• Summer Buzz
• Hoppy Hippy Heffe
• Three Copper Coins (dry-hopped lager)
• Red Oak (oak-aged red ale)
• Barkey Wine ‘09
• Blitzen ‘09
• Christmas Farm Ale ‘06
• Belgian Trippel ‘08
• 14th Anniversary Pilsner

Driving that far to hang out for a while and have a few beers meant that the beer had to be pretty good to make it worth the trip.  Any question about that was settled with my first choice of the day . . . the Dropkick Murphy’s Erin Red Ale.  I very easily could have been happy drinking just this beer all afternoon.

Wait for it . . .

There's the happiness!

Surely someone will correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the Dropkick Murphy’s is essentially a dry hopped version of the Redhead Red.  Whatever it may be, this member of the Brewmaster’s Reserve has an absolutely intoxicating aroma and a really nice IPA-like flavor with some pleasant malty sweetness underneath.

Had we arrived a bit later than we did I likely would have started the day with their 14^th Anniversary Bohemian Pilsner instead of the Dropkick Murphy’s (to treat my palate properly), but I needed that first beer to pass the time until the pilsner keg was tapped.  Once it was available I paired a half pint of it alongside the same of a Three Copper Coins.

As an interesting side note, the gentleman next to me went to order a Three Copper Coins and came back with Three Copper Coins.  Fortunately he had two people with him!

Back to the beers.

The final beverages before going to "The Nook"

The Three Copper Coins was a very, very pale color with an interesting aroma that seems to have notes of butter and grassiness.  The carbonation gave it good crispness, but it was also quite smooth and slightly creamy on the palate.  It was a very refreshing, lightly hoppy beer.

The 14^th Anniversary Bohemian Pilsner was a pale straw color with a fluffy white head and had a very crisp, clean lager aroma.  Interestingly the body of the beer was light, but it seemed to have a fuller mouthfeel.  The flavor was lightly sweet with a slightly fruity (grapefruit) hoppiness.  There is also some nice, sharp bitterness from the middle through to the finish that does linger slightly.

They were both nice beers, but that was enough of the light stuff for the afternoon for me.  I needed to make sure to try some of the other beers that are not typically available, so I headed over to “The Nook” to meet up with Mike and Bethany and try a few more from the lower half of the list.

An inspiration for my garage conversion?

Before leaving “The Nook” area of the brewery that afternoon I was able to also sample the Barkey Wine, the Belgian Trippel, and the Wee Heavy.  There certainly was no dud in that trio.

Quite pleased

Both The Wife and I thought the Barkey Wine was quite tasty.  It was very smooth and had a great balance of maltiness and hoppiness.  It must have since The Wife is not typically a fan of the style or at least has not often been in the past.  I was chatting quite a bit while drinking this one so my notes are pretty short.

The Belgian Trippel was a hazy honey color with a short, white head that left a nice trail.  It had a relatively mild, though sweet, lightly spicy aroma.  The flavor had a honey-like sweetness with some notes of spice (clove) and a bit of noticeable warmth.  The crisp carbonation was very pleasant, as was the slightly dry finish.  I believe my exact words after a few sips of it were “This is a really f’in nice beer!”  I probably could have skipped the description and just led with that.

Some familiar glassware

Lastly in my recap today is the Wee Heavy.  It was a nice dark brown color with a sweet, dark caramelly aroma.  The flavor had a molasses-like sweetness and an earthy, slightly roasted maltiness combined with some light bitterness.  The finish had some light dryness and did linger a bit (not a bad thing).

Quite a comfortable place

Though I did not get to everything (and I never expected to), I think I took a fair sampling of their lineup during my relatively short time there.  Many thanks to Mike for giving us the heads up on the event and thank you to him and Bethany for keeping us company for a while.  Also a big thank you to The Wife for driving me down and back simply to indulge my craft beer curiosities.  I enjoyed my time and (especially) the beer there so much that it certainly will not be our last visit, so we will have to make arrangements for both of us to enjoy the beer next time.

Cheers!