Monday, December 20, 2010

It's Day 20 -- Let's Thai one on.


Okay, here's one I bet you haven't tried. Westbrook Brewing Company is a brand new brewery in Mount Pleasant. In fact, as near as I can tell, their facility is still under construction. But they must have the important stuff in place already, because today at the Charleston Beer Exchange they had a tasting and growler fill event. They had three beers available for tasting -- Batch #1, which as the name might imply is the first batch they brewed, a Belgian pale ale (that's the one you'll want to try, Anonymous) and a White Thai. I sampled them all -- by the way, it was only a short time ago that a beer tasting like this would have been illegal in South Carolina, and it's evidently still heavily regulated, no more than 2 ounce samples, et cetera -- but I opted for the White Thai when it came time to fill my growler.
Edward Westbrook, the founder and CEO was on hand, and he seemed like a nice young man. Kind of low key, not a hard sell kind of guy at all, but friendly and knowledgeable.

Here we go:

APPEARANCE: Now that is a white head -- and I don't mean a blemish, it's beautiful and fluffy, like looking down on clouds from heaven. More lace than a Victoria's secret catalog. The color of the beer is pale and cloudy.

(Yes, I know I'm not pointing at the head. Give me a break, I just learned how to work the timer on my camera.)

AROMA: Spice -- but which spices other than ginger I couldn't say. I am going to research spices and at least learn what coriander and these other things taste like.

TASTE: Your tastebuds get a double tingle as the hops come in right after the ginger starts to fade. There is a lot of spice going on, but it's almost all undertones. Nothing overwhelming. There's something lemony in the finish too.

BURP TASTE: Nondescript.

DRINKABILITY: The warming effects of the ginger make it nice for a winter brew, and the lemony finish make it a possible summer ale as well. Westbrook, I am impressed.



(Look at that lace!)

By the way I also picked up a beer called Entire Butt which I hope to review in the next day or so. I know nothing about it but I couldn't resist the combination of white Thai and tails.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like good stuff..but more notable was the photo papa, I think you are starting to look Hemingway-esque.

Norrin2 said...

Thanks, Anonymous. That's a lot better than the other one people say I look like -- Kenny Rogers. I say "Have you seen Kenny lately? He's had so much botox and plastic surgery he looks like his own Madame Tusaud wax mannequin."