Had the chance to pass by The Tasting Room. It was not yet officially opened but Jim was there setting up so we passed by for a taste of some beer.
The concept is simple: this is an art gallery sort of converted into the tasting room of craft beer. No commercial mass beers here like SMB or even the Belgian beers. Just pure craft beer and sipirit made from the same suppliers that Glibal Beer Exchange carries: Rogue, Sputhern Tier, Gordon Biersch, Stone, etc...
They were on soft opening so Jim, the 'Beertender' or 'Truth Commisionet' as they call him was training his people the proper way to pour beer.
We started off with a Gordon Biersch Hefeweisen fr my friend, a very light Belgian type beer. I had a Southern Tier IPA, something a bit stronger with lost of hops and bitterness. I've tried a few IPA's before so this was not a surprise for me. Still medium intensity for mr with hops and a mid lever bitterness.
The next one we had was one of their top beers in terms of alcohol content, hops and IBU (bitter units?). Anyway this beer was the Stone Ruination. This I an Imperial/Double IPA with 7.7% alcohol It's called Ruination because this apparently 'ruins' your palate. Lots of hops here and a very intense bitter flavor. This is the type of beer that will grow hair on your chest but this is my type.
For our last beer we had to take it down a few notches since with Ruination was almost at the top of the list of strengh. Jim recommended the John John Hazelnut Ale, aged in spiced Rum Barrels. You can definitely smell and taste a bit of the Rum in this one. This was a medium strength ale but still very enjoyable.
This is a great place to just hangout and learn about craft beer, very well located in Prince Plaza building just right in front of Greenbelt 5. I assure you if you taste some of the beers, it will change how you look at SMB light forever.
Posts
