Thursday, May. 21, 2009
Scouting out baseball brew
Picasa 3.0
Shock Top
It was Girl Scout night at the BB&T Coastal Field, and my wife has been leading Troop 95, in which I have two daughters, so I headed for the Myrtle Beach Pelicans game on Saturday and arrived just after the first pitch.
I discovered that the Girl Scouts had already made me designated driver, the little lushes.
But seriously, I assumed the evening would preclude beer, until another Girl Scout dad insisted he was buying. He’s an ex-cop, so how could I say no?
The Budweiser cart guy had stopped in front of us, offering 24-ounce cans of Budweiser, Bud Light, and Budweiser Select for $6 each. I got the Bud, he got the Select.
I’m usually dismissive of the big-name domestic beers, but whether it was the baseball pairing or the fact that I wasn’t paying for it, that Bud went pretty damn nicely with the Pelicans.
On my way into the stands earlier that evening, I had noticed a beer kiosk where the offerings included Shock Top white ale and Budweiser American Ale on draft, also 24-ounce servings for $6 each. I think both are exceptional, and apparently, the white ale continues to be a popular segment in the beer market: On a later trip to the playground with some of the younger kids, I noticed a cup over the top of the Shock Top tap, suggesting it had sold out for the evening.
During the first few innings, I saw Brock Kurtzman of New South Brewing Co. and Eric Lamb of Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery sitting nearby.
tbonz american pale ale
I shouted my congratulations to Kurtzman on the recent release of his recipe, the TBonz American Pale Ale.
The American Pale Ale is Kurtzman’s first recipe to be brewed at New South, which is owned and operated by Dave Epstein (with the help of only Kurtzman and a dog, making Epstein the hardest working man in the brewing business). New South makes the TBonz Gill and Grill brand beers.
The TBonz American Pale Ale turned out just as good as I had hoped. As a member of TBonz’s Mug Club, I received a 20-ounce glass for $4. If you’ve ever had Sierra Nevada Pale Ale or Santa Fe Pale Ale, you know some of the signatures: A pale ale tends to be citrusy, perhaps floral, and have a medium-light body with a tone that's copper or amber. In the case of Kurtzman’s pale ale, I thought the taste of grapefruit was undeniable. I think it’s the citrus notes that make pale ales so refreshing in warmer weather.
Try this spring seasonal while it lasts. American Pale Ale is available at TBonz locations at Barefoot Landing, 4732 U.S. 17 S., in North Myrtle Beach, and at Seaboard Commons, 1169 Seaboard St., in Myrtle Beach.
beach homebrew, rip
Ed Waldorf of the dearly departed Beach HomeBrew contacted me by e-mail last week. Waldorf had read my last column, in which I and some homebrew enthusiasts were wondering aloud what happened to him and the store that used to be located in The Galleria on Lake Arrowhead Read.
Waldorf said he closed right after Christmas following slow holiday sales and a “terrible” fall.
“Hobbies are one of the first things that get cut back when money is tight and several of my best customers moved away to try to find work,” Waldorf wrote. “I didn’t see the economy getting any better in the near future.”
He went on to say that he appreciated the customers, but didn’t think there is enough of a homebrew market in the area right now.
I wrote Waldorf back to tell him our hats are off to him for trying to make a homebrew shop work on the Grand Strand. I told him I know exactly what it’s like to run a shop based on one’s interests: The Living Room Coffee Bar and Used Books was based solely on my love for the kinds of coffeehouses and book stores that find more success in the bigger cities.
Contact Colin Burch - the Beerman - at beerpour@yahoo.com or visit his beer blog at http://maltyhops.blogspot.com
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