Day 2 was slow and easy. I started out by heading for a brief run to Cincinnati to stop at Urban Artifact. It is a very cool part of the city that seems like a separate, little town of its own with great architecture. The taproom itself is in the basement of a church. They advertise their beers as fruit tarts and have a unique flavor profile that combines what you might expect from heavily fruited kettle sours with spontaneous fermentation. The result is you get a bit of that funk and pomace taste and the fruitiness for a nice combination. They are definitely tart. Kudos to the bartender who walked me through all my questions. I walked out with a handful of different Dinosaur series beers that are all made with fruits that I have never really tried, but they are variations of raspberries and blackberries. I also tried their new award-winning The Gadget in cans.
Next up was a four-hour drive to Nashville. I started at Yazoo. Another great bartender here that loved to talk about the beers. I tried numerous tastes of saisons and sours. I left with a four-pack of the Foudre Noire, which was excellent, a six-pack of IPA, and a couple of bottles from the Embrace The Funk series.
The last stop of the night was Barrique. This place was in a warehouse and set up like a barrel room. I had heard of their beer, so I was excited to get there in time so I could have a taste and pick out some bottles. This place did not disappoint. The bartender was super cool and guided me to a nectarine watermelon wild ale which was out of this world. Never really thought I would ever hit a beer with watermelon that I would like, but this balanced out very nicely. I picked up a bunch of bottles that came from various stone fruits. I wish I had time to try a few more and see what some of the dry hop stuff was like. The lack of flights made this difficult, and time was running short anyways. Overall it was a great stop.
Today is a busy day that begins in Atlanta with Wild Heaven and Monday Night brewing. I then move on to Athens, Georgia, for a pickup run at Creature Comforts since they don’t open until much later. Moving on towards Ashville, NC, we have Wicked Weed and Hi-Wire, maybe another stop or two depending on time, and then on to Fonta Flora.
