NEW BREW MENU ON TAP AT LIBERTY
By Colin Burch
For Weekly Surge
Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery's venerable, outstanding beer menu will have new brews in the coming months.
Liberty, located at Broadway at the Beach, is the local beer drinker's institute. If you're new to the area and like beer, get over there, now.
To begin with, during the month of March, 50 cents of each pint of Irish Red will be donated to the American Red Cross.
Irish Red, which usually shows up during the month of Saint Patrick, has a tap date of March 1 this year. Pints are $3.75, or $2.50 during Happy Hour. Why not raise the first glass in a toast to the Red Cross?
Meanwhile, head brewer Eric Lamb has planned some changes on the beer menu.
Raspberry Wheat, which has been brewed with a raspberry extract in the past, will now be brewed with hundreds of pounds of raspberry puree. The new Raspberry Wheat will be released late spring or early summer.
Also on the horizon at Liberty: a Hefeweizen, and "more eclectic seasonals."
"We basically want to give people a broader spectrum of things to try when they're down here," Lamb said.
Liberty is part of the TBonz Restaurant Group, and Lamb told me that New South Brewing Co. is doing an Irish Stout for the local TBonz Gill and Grill locations at Barefoot Landing in North Myrtle Beach and Seaboard Commons in Myrtle Beach. The release date for the Irish Stout is probably going to be March 7 or March 14, he said.
A PEEK AT THE TAVERN
Last time I stuck my head in Tavern in the Forest, it was all gray and very much under construction.
Now the neighborhood pub, at the corner of River Oaks Drive and Carolina Forest Boulevard, is open and attracting a healthy bit of traffic. I didn't have time to drink a pint, because my two-year-old daughter accompanied me, but we took a quick peek together on a recent afternoon.
Tavern in the Forest is a little like Liberty Tap Room at 7651 N. Kings Highway in Myrtle Beach, because the tavern has a semi-opened space at the front, off to the right of the entrance. Once inside, the bar is immediately to the right and booths line the far wall. The copper-top bar and stained wood give it a feel that's equal parts sophisticated and cozy. I saw a variety of ages taking advantage of Happy Hour, and a small family eating an early dinner at one of the tables. I'll be back soon to imbibe, probably without the two-year-old.
YOU'RE BEING SHELLFISH
In Great Britain, a brewer has produced a beer with scallops. I thought I had heard it all.
The Shepherd Neame brewery's Scallop Stout is like Guinness, and made with traditional methods, except a handful of scallops are thrown in for an hour, according to the Web site Metro.co.uk.
"There's a hint of smokiness and a slight taste of the sea but no fishiness. I can find no scientific reason for why it works, but it does," brewer Stewart Main told the Web site.
Shepherd Neame, based in Kent, is planning to release a crab beer and a winkle beer, too.
- Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com.