The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Beer aged on baseball bat chips and other brews for this season
SunTrust Park and the adjacent restaurant and retail complex, The Battery, are big news. But some of the biggest, most unlikely buzz has been about a new beer from Terrapin, dubbed Chopsecutioner. Read about this and other crafty beers to sip this season.
Chopsecutioner Bat Wood Aged IPA
Terrapin Beer Co., Athens and Atlanta
Available on draft at the Terrapin Taproom at The Battery and SunTrust Park.
Profile: This new take on Terrapin’s best-selling Hopsecutioner IPA is aged on Mizuno wood baseball bat chips with wood spirals added. The hop profile is much the same as the original. But the alcohol by volume has been reduced from 7.3 to 5 percent, making it a ballpark-friendly sipper perfect for hopheads visiting the Terrapin Taproom at The Battery and SunTrust Park.
The result is all the things you’ve learned to love about classic American IPA, with citrus and pine aromas, and a malty center that displays the bold presence of a panoply of Warrior, Chinook, Centennial, Simcoe, Amarillo and Cascade hops. But to my palate, Chopsecutioner is smoother, with a more pleasant finish, and subtle, humidor-like notes of fresh wood.
Pair with: If you’re at the Terrapin Taproom, Chopsecutioner would do well with the smoked brisket or pork from Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q. But pairing it with the barbecue nachos, exclusive to the Taproom, or the famous Frito Pie could be a new favorite.
Cosmik Debris Double IPA
Creature Comforts Brewing Co., Athens
Available on draft and in 12-ounce cans in Athens and Atlanta.
Profile: Cosmik Debris, the spring seasonal double IPA from Creature Comforts, is a hefty 8 percent alcohol by volume, but it doesn’t drink like it. Inspired by a Frank Zappa song, it’s described rather psychedelically as creating “beautiful notes of starfruit and orange marmalade on the palate.”
Featuring a blend of Simcoe, Idaho 7, Mosaic, Cascade and Chinook hops, it’s a nicely balanced, bubbly, even refreshing big beer, with wonderfully fresh citrus and pine aromas, and an overarching but delicious bitterness that lingers among the fruit flavors.
Pair with: Generally, I’m not so sure that Double IPA is a very food-friendly beer style. But Cosmik Debris has enough fruitiness to match salty and spicy foods. I might be tempted to try it with some New Orleans favorites, such as a meaty muffuletta with olive salad, or a bowl of smoky chicken and andouille sausage gumbo splashed with Tabasco.
Daycation IPA
Highland Brewing Co., Asheville, N.C.
Available in six-pack bottles at metro beverage stores and on draft at metro beer bars. Look for cans this summer.
Profile: The newest hop-forward beer from Highland brewmaster Hollie Stephenson is a session IPA that joins a year-round lineup that includes Highland IPA and Mandarina IPA. At 4.9 percent alcohol by volume, it features six different malts, with small amounts of wheat, rye and flaked oats, and a blend of Mosaic, Citra, El Dorado and Azacca hops.
Altogether, it’s a light-bodied, bright and balanced beer, with a touch of residual sweetness, and a smooth hop bitterness displaying aromas and flavors of lemon peel, and the expected jolt of tropical fruit.
Pair with: Try bright, light Daycation with Vietnamese summer rolls, Indian chicken korma, fried fish tacos or guacamole and chips.
La Folie
New Belgium Brewing Co., Fort Collins, Colo.
Available in 24-ounce bottles at metro beverage stores and on draft at metro beer bars.
Profile: Nowadays, sour beers are everywhere. But La Folie (French for “the folly”) stands apart as an estimable U.S. example of a Flanders-style sour brown ale. It’s aged in traditional French oak barrels, known as foeders, and blended with a rare depth of knowledge and care.
The New Belgium team’s tasting notes remark that the 2017 La Folie is “a sharp, tart sour ale full of green apple, deep cherry, dark chocolate, and tannin-like plum skin notes.” During a recent tasting — on draft at the Liquid Center at New Belgium in Asheville — I got all that, except maybe the chocolate, plus some nice oaky aromatics.
Pair with: Molly Gunn and Nick Rutherford of the Porter Beer Bar in Atlanta recommend pairing La Folie with Epoisses, a soft cheese with a rind washed in brandy. “The flavor is earthy and strong, which you need to stand up to the sour La Folie,” they say. “Traditionally, this cheese is eaten with a glass of red Burgundy wine, but the oaky flavors along with dark fruits of the La Folie mimic the wet leaves flavor of French Burgundy and make it the perfect pick in the beer world.”