Mr. Sean Roper

Aw… to be 45 again; I can only wish! It was the best of times. I love you bro, Happy birthday! your big sis jul

Nothing like a little downtime at an airport to get me thinking about beer. It is, after all, noon somewhere. In my family, noon was the appropriate starting time, not 5 o’clock. Life is too short for clock-watching.

Memorial day weekend saw the release of the Pig Swig line of beers at Piggy Wiggly. Pig Swig is a store brand brewed exclusively for the Pig by Thomas Creek Brewery of Greenville, SC (pronounced green-vull by the way). Pig Swig comes in two styles, the Pig Pen Pilsner and the Pig Tail Ale. Both are really good beers and something that will definitely be a big part of my hot South Carolina Summer.

The Pig Tail Ale is reminisce t of a fat tire. Nice malt presence and very easy to drink. I think it clocked in at about 5.5%.

The Pig Pen Pilsner though is the beer to really talk about. This damn pilsner is damn near perfect. A great, refreshing pils with just the right about of bitterness to balance out the hops. Easily one of the best I have ever had. Kudos to Thomas Creek whose own Pilsner is rock solid. This 4.5% beer is perfect for the heat. Buy it by the case.

I can’t tell you how they looked as both were perfect right from the bottle. It’s 99 outside, screw glasses!

This past weekend was spent in Harrisburg, PA where I essentially lived off Troegs pale ale, quite possibly the finest Pale i’ve ever had. In all, I tried about a half dozen Troegs beers, along with a single Appalachian Wheat, which was nice but could not stand up to the glory that was the Troegs Pale.

Troegs Hopback Amber Ale
The first of the Troegs line- up encountered was the Hopback Amber. When I ordered it I wasn’t sure what It was, the amber part of the name left off the menu of beers. I was pleasantly surprised though. A good amber is a nice was to start off an evening. All in all, a very nice beer. I had to ask for a glass, and then explain what kind of glass I wanted to the server-in-training. Nova good start to her career but I think she learned something.

Troegs Trogenator Doublebock
Wow. Loved this beer. At 8%, it was the beefiest of the trip. By the second night though, my new love would turn on me. Double-crossed by the double-bock as it were. What a great, thick bready beer this was.

Troegs Pale Ale
On day two, I discovered the pale ale in the bar on the hotel, on tap no less. What a great beer. Shared it with the now arriving family as we prepared for the wedding. All seemed to like it in spite of it’s bold up front hop presence. This may have been the most well-rounded pale I have ever enjoyed. Perfection.

Troegs Dreamweaver Wheat.
The wheat offering came around just as the wedding was ending. Long after many pale ales, wine, martinis, champagne - you name it. In other words, the road ahead for the rest of the night was just getting bumpy but as usual, I was oblivious to the danger. A refreshing beer, and what I should have has all evening rather than mixing foolishly.

Once the fun had shifted from the wedding hall to the local watering hole, the die was cast. A few Trogenator’s later and they were peeling me off my stool to send me home to face nasty hangover, one of more than a few I have experienced this year. Shame on me. The only this to help the next days, of course, was……

Troegs Sunshine Pils
Hair of the dog. But still a really nice pils, my lager of choice.

So in the end mission accomplished. I had my first Troegs fix, and gave the family something to make fun of from now until eternity.
Most importantly though, I had the honor of seeing a beautiful wedding ceremony, and the pleasure of spending time with my other family. Best hangover ever.

Really tasty and smooth mega oatmeal stout from Terrapin. The aroma was soaked in chocolate. What would I expect with pretty much any oatmeal stout. The deep brown head was minimal. When pouring the legs just clung there, Refusing to let go. As did I.

The beer itself was black as some deep dark black thingy.

Smooth drink of coffee and chocolate, with a hint of fig with the malt mellowing the Jittery Joe’s coffee infused in this brew. Alcohols circulate and heads straight out the nose. I love that sensation. A slight aftertaste at the back of the throat be conned for more. Please sir.

Would be brilliant a year from now. Must start cellaring.

American Craft Beer week kicks off next week. An excellent occasion to sit back and marvel at how far the craft beer movement has come. I arrived here in South Carolina just as the old limits to beer alcohol levels were revised upwards, unleashing a torrent of new beer offerings, and lighting the spark to a craft beer culture that continues to spread. In addition to the already-established breweries, new brewers have begun to turn craft into business plan, launching a local beer movement. Throughout the south, perhaps bolstered by North Carolina’s east coast beer excellent bar none, craft beer is becoming a part of normal, everyday culture. Grocery stores of full of excellent offerings, even including a few local options.

A local beer movement would seem a natural outgrowth of the local food movement. If we eat locally and seasonally, why shouldn’t we drink the same?

That’s really the subtext I hope to establish with the beer sections of this blog over time. I’ll always look forward to tracking down beer from all over the country, but the beers of the South will always remain the foundation by which I judge all. My hope is that over time, other Southern beers will arrive in my local stores (I’m talking about you Lazy Magnolia and Cigar City) so we can begin to break down state barriers and present a united beer front with the cultural tenacity the south is famous for.

Wherever you are, buy local and support your own piece of the movement. Encourage your retailers, especially grocery stores, to carry local beers. If they don’t, then by god support the retailers that do. When dining, ask the restaurant if they serve local beer. If they don’t, ask them why not. There’s no reason they shouldn’t. The people that drink the beer are willing to support them after all.

So my plan for next week involves shopping for a plethora of local beers, from session ales to great big whopping barleywines. With a little luck, I can share them with friends and introduce the to the wonder of the beer in their backyard.