40 Arpent - New Kid On the Block
So Tom and I had the opportunity to go investigate a brand spanking new brewery that is currently gathering resources and money and investors, etc. So the brewery, 40 Arpent, which right now is a guy named Michael, hosted this free tasting at a bar called The Rusty Nail, which I think is a really great idea. Got me excited about the stuff he's brewing. He had a lager that was really quite phenomenal and a "Red Beans & Rice" beer that he hopes can be his flagship beer, and with some refining, I think it can be. (The beer is actually called Keltic Kajun, but due to my irrational annoyance with spelling things unnecessarily with a "K" I will likely always refer to it as Red Beans & Rice beer.) His dunkleweizen and stout are also beers to be reckoned with.
Anyway, an unexpectedly fun and informative evening with unexpectedly delicious beer. Michael was very busy making the rounds but was a great sport in answering all my various questions and I just love watching a brewer describe his or her beer. (The whole face just lights up and then it makes sense to me about why their beer is so good. 'Cause of the love!)
I wrote a lot more about this on my new other blog sandbox I'm playing in, so go over there and check it out. But come back to me!
Anyway, an unexpectedly fun and informative evening with unexpectedly delicious beer. Michael was very busy making the rounds but was a great sport in answering all my various questions and I just love watching a brewer describe his or her beer. (The whole face just lights up and then it makes sense to me about why their beer is so good. 'Cause of the love!)
I wrote a lot more about this on my new other blog sandbox I'm playing in, so go over there and check it out. But come back to me!
Interesting take on several mediocre beers that the owner himself said he would never drink. Rather, his brewing strategy is driven almost solely by marketing and what his future distributor, the local Budweiser house, wants to see in the marketplace. I sincerely hope he worries less about brewing cost and marketing (i.e. R/B+R beer), and more about producing great hand crafted beers. We have enough so-so beer in the market and I would hate for someone to make a one-time purchase of what will amount to little more than a category killer in an already saturated local section. It's time someone steps up the game instead of playing bench warmer.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, man. I don't even know what to say. First of all, thanks for calling my palate out as sucking. Obviously I don't feel the same and while yes, Mike was certainly focused on how to sell the beer (I doubt one can get very far without such a plan) he was, in my presence, extremely excited about his beers. I'd like to see a confirmed cite for him saying he would never drink his own beers. Otherwise, I'll thank you to stop being so negative about someone trying to expand the scope of craft beer to the market, because it seems you have your own axe to grind with this guy.
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