Jim H.
Yelp
This was our second stop at Skyland Ale Works since they moved to the new building. For anyone that hasn't been there before it's to the Far East side of the complex. (I notice that the Yelp app automatically capitalized "Far East" as if I'm talking about the Silk Road or something. No Yelp, it's just directions.)
Nice big tasting room but kinda a bit too sterile for me. They have a big outdoor patio area with plenty of seating.
Ok beers, since we hadn't been here in awhile we did a full double flight of eight beers. There are another four that we will decide if we are tasting today also. I'm writing this as I taste so I'm in just as much suspense as you are... (I know the tense of my reviews wanders from present to past. I can't help it. It's part of my charm!)
The Gaslamp IPA was a nice American IPA. Smooth with good hop flavor but not a hop bomb by any means.
La Vida Buena, this Mexican lager seemed perfect to go with the Mexican food we picked up from Miguel's Jr. For any Skyland noobs, like many breweries they have no food most of the time but are fine with you bringing your own in. Hey, I got sidetracked there. Mexican beer... The La Vida Buena was good but not outstanding for me. I would have liked a little more sweetness on this one.
The Cardinals Royale is a double red ale, which didn't really work for me. It had a little bit of a "bite" towards the end that I don't attribute to hops but can't really place.
"Get your motor runnin', Head on down the highway, Lookin' for adventure, Or whatever comes my way" Oh, sorry...I was channeling Steppenwolf. The Highway 31 Pale Ale is a good little pale. It's not as adventurous or memorable as Born To Be Wild but it's a solid little beer in my book.
The Agave Wheat didn't excite my wife or I but I think it is just the agave provides a slightly odd sweetness. The beer is good, the agave just isn't my style.
Ah, the Skirt Lifter! I was watching carefully when my wife tried this one but it failed to live up to its name. Of course the fact that she was wearing pants kind of negated the possibility of any excitement...sigh. Oh the beer, yes a fruit beer. I'm frankly not sure what fruit is in it. We are thinking cucumber and guava from the flavor but I'm going to have to check then update once I know for sure. Update: The fruit was honeydew melon. I'm not sure if that just showed how bad my palate is or not. At least it showed I'm not dishonest enough to go back and edit my tasting notes!
Circle City Saison. This was a dandy saison, it had that little funky fruity flavor you expect but finished pretty clean. I enjoyed this beer!
The Coro Pils is a Czech Pilsner. Good but had a bit of a funk that I could quite place. Might be the hops.
Day Spa is a saison with the cucumber flavor I thought was in the skirt lifter. Damn, where are those lifting skirts! Anyway, I could drink this beer. It was quite good with a lot of cucumber aroma and flavor.
The Honey Blonde was a nice tasty beer. Just a good example of a blonde ale without any foolishness.
Brut(ally) dry IPA is a decent IPA nothing brutal about it to me. Light on the hops with a low IBU. It had a bit of a fruity note though.
Last for us, as apparently they close at 9 tonight, was the Orange Cream Sik-le Ale. I had just bought a 6-pack of Garage Brewing creamsicle Ale a week or so before. That one tasted just like a creamsicle. This one just didn't have that sweetness that you need to make that flavor work. It tasted more orange peel to me. This one didn't work for me, but might for you.
Skyland had no dark beers, which if I recall correctly, and I rarely do, they were sparse on dark beers the last time we were here. The darkest they had was the double red. I would have liked to see a porter, stout, or a brown. I seem to recall that was the case when we were here before.
Skyland has some tasty beers but overall I wasn't super impressed with them. The location is great for bands, get togethers, etc. We will be back when they have a food truck and have a couple pints of the Day Spa saison.
Sorry but I took no pictures this time. I failed miserably and humbly beg the forgiveness of the Yelp gods...
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