Outer Banks Brewing Santa's Little Sledgehammer

Boy we got an interesting one today. Santa's Little Sledgehammer is a 10% ABV Christmas beer from Outer banks Brewing a few miles down the road from me in Kill Devil Hills. Now, a couple things. This stuff is 8 bucks for a bit more than a pint. I usually try to avoid beers that are this expensive, cause I wan't to focus on beer people actually drink. Power to the people! But if your'e here, you are probably on vacation, so you might splurge a little. Also' this is a real small brewery, so they don't have the economy of scale that others have. They have to charge more. Anyway, on to the beer.
Santa's is a pleasant medium brown with that tan head to it. The nose is striking, with a lot of clove, baking spice, and this underlying, almost saccharine, sugary sweetness. Wow, that's a very heavy, full-bodied beer. There's a lot going on here. Let's see, there's a lot of spice, mocha, licorice, smoky notes and more. It's overwhelming in a good way. There's also a lot of clove here which may significantly contribute to the the anise, sambuca like, finish. This is the kind of beer that seems to improve as you drink it, or maybe all that alcohol is going right to my brain. This is a first rate Christmas beer that would seem to be perfect for the season. Too bad I'm trying it in Spring, instead of when we had the 75 f-ing inches of snow. This stuff really has duration, the flavors linger for 5 minutes or more, that's how strong they are. And that could be a big problem for some people. If you dislike anise flavors this would not work for you, stay away. But, for me, this is a real good beer. Oh, love the name.

http://www.obbrewing.com/

Weeping Radish Corolla Gold

As a tonic for the fake Carolina beer I just suffered through, Carolina Blonde, we have a real North Carolina beer. Weeping Radish is the original Outer Banks micro-brewery, making German style beers and foods. Corolla Gold, named after the Northernmost town on the banks, is a classic German style lager. Corolla Gold pours out a slightly cloudy pale straw. It is really lively on the nose, with caramel sweetness and an apple bitterness, very nice. Let's put this to the lips, shall we. And yes, that at least begins to heal the wounds left by that Carolina Blonde. This a really smooth, flavorful lager with a mild hop note riding over top of the nice caramel apple and star fruit flavors. This is just a very solid, lovingly craft brewed beer. I have to say it's much dryer than I expected, and also has nice medium body. just a real nice classic lager. Feel free to get some and gleefully consume it.

A Brief Intermission: Carolina Blonde

The spring beer tournament is taking such a toll on me that I've been forced to recuse myself to the Outer Banks to recover. Luckily, while I'm here, there are a bevy of new beer options open to me. There are two breweries that were started right here on the banks, Weeping Radish, and Outer Banks Brewing. Weeping Radish has moved just over the bridge to the mainland, so they could have more room for their numerous undertakings http://www.weepingradish.com/. Outer Banks Brewing Station is a wind powered, i.e. f-ing cool http://www.obbrewing.com/, brewery in Kill Devil Hills. I'll be taking a look at their products as well as other North Carolina Breweries. One other brewery I will examine is the New Belgium Brewery, makers of the renowned Fat Tire Ale, out of Fort Collins, Colorado. Why you ask? Because oddly, this is the only place, currently, on the East Coast where this beer is available. Another good reason to head to the Outer Banks. But before we get in to all this North Carolina goodness, let's get this out of the way. Picture taken on the deck railing of the families beach house in Kitty Hawk.

The "beer" in question here is Carolina Blonde, made by the Carolina Beer ( note: beer, not brewing ) Company, of Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania? Last time I checked, not in North Carolina. Well let's pour some out and see what we have. Color: well there is a little bit of pale gold that slightly distinguishes it from water. Nose: Nope. Alright, you can smell a little bit of hop has been waved over this liquid. Taste: absolutely not. Again, I exaggerate, but let me tell you what it does taste like. It taste like Bud or any other Macrobrew, which of course, it is. Look, this beer isn't that bad, it's smooth and easy to drink, just like water. It would be nice on a hot day served very cold, to disguise the flavor, or lack thereof. But, I would be very disappointed if I came here on vacation and had one of these thinking I was having some quaint local microbrew. And instead, what I got was stuff drained from some huge vat into a bunch of bottles, with different labels, and sent all over the country as "local" beers. Don't waste your precious beer dollar on this when you can buy , Insert any canned macrobrew, much cheaper. I hope things take a drastic turn for the better when I try some actual local beers. Peace, Out.