A Hipster in Kentucky

Don't even get me started!

I suppose I'll preface this with telling you I'm in Kentucky. You see, I'm a structural engineer. And my company is a power group. We design, engineer, and fabricate things that clean the air. Think of me as a modern day Captain Planet- Except I work at a desk, I don't have a team of multicultural teenagers getting into trouble, and I'm way more monochrome.

I'm going to break this post into two separate posts, because I was damned surprised at everything I was able to turn up while I spent the first half of my trip here. Week one and week two. Welcome to week one.

As you can imagine, the first thing I did when I found out I was going to Kentucky was hit the interwebs to find out what the hell is near me. A few breweries (Score!) and...no goddamned decent beer stores. Such is life. When I arrived at my hotel, there was a beacon of hope though, as there was a monstrous building next to me called "Beverage World." Surely, I MUST be able to find something there to satiate my cravings. And I did, kind of. Picture, if you will, a large warehouse style building. Open corrugated steel ceiling, exposed structural steel beams and bracing and 10' high steel shelves, packed full of all the liquor you could ever want. While you're imagining all of that, imagine one side of an aisle, with about...40' of space dedicated to things that aren't macro. Sounds pretty decent, right? Take a fucking gander at this:

This was bottled in two thousand goddamn eleven!

That's right. This place was home to a lot of good beer, which was ancient as shit. Aside from that though, there was Bells (Fuck yeah!), Schalfly, and lots of local Kentucky beer. It was already late when I got in, and at the height of the West Sixth vs Magic Hat controversy, that I had my choices. I got me some West Sixth IPA, Bluegrass Brewing Company Horse Piss Lager, and Bells motherfucking Two Hearted. Do you have any idea how happy I was?

Hint: I was very happy.

 I accounted for a LOT of dusty, dirty bottles. Many IPAs well past the date of enjoyment. But also things like Brooklyn  Black Chocolate Stout and Monster Ale, which benefit heavily from some age. I thought the best thing to do though, would be sticking to as local as possible. Just seems like the freshest idea.

So lets get down to it. I'm going to review some Kentucky beer, en masse.

First up, Horse Piss Beer. Sounds terrible right? It almost is. It's an unassuming lager. It was sweet,smooth, and malty, and I liked it. It's a lager, and very easy to put down. But to be honest, I only bought it for the name. Horse Piss Beer? That's funny, I don't care who you are. It was easily forgettable, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't enjoyable. The other couple times I've been back in the store, I was able to skip over it without a second thought. Horse Piss is brewed by Bluegrass Brewing Company, and most likely a tie in with the Kentucky Derby.

This better NOT be Kentucky's finest...

Speaking of Bluegrass Brewing Company...

I was able to take a trip to one of their many locations. I was excited, it only took me about 10 minutes to get to, located in downtown Louisville. I went in having zero preconceived notions, thank God.

Want to know what I thought? YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWN

The food was pretty good, I can not tell a lie. The service? Eh. I've had way better. The beer? Boring. I ordered the Summer Wheat, and was given a thin, watery beer, without much flavor. I was going to order a flight, but between this beer, and the HPB, I came to my own conclusion that Bluegrass can be written off without a moments hesitation. I could totally be wrong, though. I paid my tab and left, with zero guilt.

Lastly, my faithful readers. West Sixth. Now I remind you, this was during all the copyright bullshit that was going on between them and Magic Hat. So when I saw the cans on the shelf (and was not confused at all) I just HAD to get them. Their IPA was malty and hoppy. It was extremely well balanced, and just delicious. Probably the best IPA I had that day. I wish more people could have tried this beer, and then the whole stupid copyright issue could have been settled by "who has the best beer?" Because they would have won in in a second. Later, on a second trip back, I picked up their Amber Ale, and it was also a tasty beer! These guys really know what they are doing. In my travels, I have really only seen those two beers though. Id like to get down to Lexington one of these days and check them out. If history proves true, I imagine I'm going to be in Kentucky quite a bit in the future.

(Check out Part Two)

Bluegrass Brewing Company

Website: http://www.bbcbrew.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/BBCBrew

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BBCBEERPIMP

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West Sixth Brewing

Website: http://www.westsixth.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/westsixthbrewing

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WestSixth

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