I Found Some Great Beer - In The South!!

Here's what I hope will be the beginning of an series of eclectic posts from your US traveler, The Wheelman. I may mention trains, I may not. That's OK - Debate Coach said so!!

Work has brought me to Atlanta this week, arguably the home of the saying "wrong side of the tracks". Tracks - busy ones - slice through Atlanta as subtly as do its famously clogged Interstates. I happen to be working in a location within earshot of where CSX and NS essentially merge in the shadow of the downtown skyscrapers. My day is punctuated by frequent toot-toot-ti-toots; alas, I can't tear myself away to have a look. That's just as well; some of these neighborhoods define "rough".

Since I can't chase trains during the week, I adapt by pursuing a noble goal - find the Local Brew. Many blog posters/readers have been know to tip a few, so here's my first Local Find:

Sweetwater Brewery

I found this brew in a supermarket east of Birmingham AL. Normally in the south, I'm disappointed to find the most exotic brew on the shelves to be a guaranteed-to-be-skunked Heinekin, or the ubiquitous Modelo or Tecata. Well imagine my surprise when I read the following on the Sweetwater carton: "Sweetwater Georgia Brown Ale - Smoother than a Bill Clinton apology". This had to be worth a taste! It was pretty good, as was their Sweetwater Blue, purchased at one of Smyrna GA's finer liquor stores.

Someday there'll be a slide show at HAPT headquarters, and with any luck the bottles I sneak into my checked baggage won't break (again...) so they'll be available to sample.

Until the next beer .. Wheelman out