6 month update

Reads 881 • Replies 9 • Started Monday, May 29, 2017 12:24:11 AM CT

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Message willisread beers 7331 º places 126 º 00:24 Mon 5/29/2017 Hey gang! Just wanted to say hey and see how things were going. Really miss all you guys and the beer scene in Japan (the grass is always greener lol). Anyway, wanted to let you guys know my wife’s green card came through and her and my daughter arrived safely in late February here in the states (Kentucky specifically). I just got a job in Nashville and will be moving there with the fam in July. Hoping to get back to Japan by the end of the year or possibly next spring. Depends on a few things. Anyway, just wanted to touch base and see how everyone was doing and throw in a little update. Peace, Will
Message KansaiBeerLvrs beers 8504 º places 567 º 10:48 Mon 5/29/2017 Best of luck in Nashville Will~!
Message willisread beers 7331 º places 126 º 15:44 Mon 5/29/2017 Thanks KBL!
Message TimE P beers 8459 º places 409 º 01:26 Tue 5/30/2017 Glad things are working out. I am cheering for the Predators, and I guess you are/will be too. Seems like KY is a bit more lively for craft beer than TN, correct? I heard Nashville is pretty mediocre for beer - some good beer available, but not a ton. What have been the beer highlights in the past six months? Find any new cool breweries? What you have missed here is 1. TDM (George’s brewery) and 2. Barbaric Works down in Chigasaki. Both are pretty damn tasty. Otherwise, no other big updates. BTW, how much are pints, in general, in KY? Looking forward to your return. Tim

Message jonno beers 2750 º places 211 º 01:32 Tue 5/30/2017 Good to hear from you mate - though I see a lot of your beer drinking escapades on Untappd. Cheers and might be over your way before the year is out.
Message willisread beers 7331 º places 126 º 00:02 Wed 5/31/2017 Originally posted by TimE Glad things are working out. I am cheering for the Predators, and I guess you are/will be too. Seems like KY is a bit more lively for craft beer than TN, correct? I heard Nashville is pretty mediocre for beer - some good beer available, but not a ton. What have been the beer highlights in the past six months? Find any new cool breweries? What you have missed here is 1. TDM (George’s brewery) and 2. Barbaric Works down in Chigasaki. Both are pretty damn tasty. Otherwise, no other big updates. BTW, how much are pints, in general, in KY? Looking forward to your return. Tim Hey Tim! Yeah I’m now a preds fan, I used to be a big NJ Devils fan when I was a kid, but it will be cool to actually live in a town with a hockey team. Nashville is pretty rad to be honest as far as beer goes. KY really doesn’t have a lot going on. Country Boy has had awful infection problems for the past 2 years and just a lot of amateurish beer that I’ve had. Stuff is probably better at the brewery I suppose. Overall I think the difference is TN breweries make way better beer but KY gets better beers distributed to the state from other places (specifically w/r/t Shelton Brothers). Louisville and Lexington KY both get a lot of great beers that can be hard to find in other cities in the US. Most breweries here are doing 90s brewpub, Sierra Nevada clone stuff, making infected beers and passing them off as part of their sour program. There really isn’t a stand out brewery that I have had. I’ve had some good to great beers from the main breweries here (Against the Grain: Bo & Luke and 70K, London Balling, West sixth Snake Eyes specifically) but the majority of beers are solid but mediocre. Tennessee on the other hand has Yazoo which has a great sour program, Bearded Iris (current NE haze darlings), Blackberry Farm (maybe the best Belgian styles in the US right now) and Southern Grist (imperial stouts, hazy IPAs, fruited sours). Kentucky doesn’t have one brewery that is as solid as any of these four. Shelton brothers just started distributing in the state of Tennessee again which is great. Nashville is doing some cool things and has some great bottle shops. Comparing the states is really not even comparable at this point. Actually I’ve consistently had better beers from other bordering states that are killing Kentucky in quality and relevance (Upland’s sour program is insane, Hoof Hearted and Jackie O’s in Ohio, even Rhinegeist make very west coast styled beers, while most KY brewers are focusing on the old Midwest balanced IPAs that are almost 3 generations old at this point since West Coast and NE haze styles have moved to the forefront. Anyway, that was way too long lol. Really wished I had been around to try some of George’s beers. I’m sure I would have been a fan. Also yeah, Barbaric Works seems great too, only seen solid ratings from all you guys. As for cool stuff I’ve discovered Probably Upland in Indiana. They make some amazing sours. I’ve got a few in the cellar right now. Central State out of Indiana has some fun Belgian styles and bretted beers. Going to the Shelton Brothers Festival was a big highlight right when I came back to the states. Blackberry Farm and Bearded Iris out of Tennessee have probably been my 2 favorite brewery discoveries since I’ve been back. There’s a small brewery that recently opened up in Louisville called Milewide and they are probably the best in the state pound for pound. Country Boy just doesn’t make their beer very accessible unfortunately and their special beers have all been infected it seems. West Sixth makes a few cool beers, but mostly forgettable stuff and Against the Grain make some solid drops and a bunch of mediocre stuff too.
Message willisread beers 7331 º places 126 º 00:05 Wed 5/31/2017 Originally posted by jonno Good to hear from you mate - though I see a lot of your beer drinking escapades on Untappd. Cheers and might be over your way before the year is out. Hey Jonno! Thanks man! Hope you guys are doing well. If you think you might be anywhere near Nashville hit me up and let me know if so :)
Message shoulderbroken beers 4258 º places 393 º 04:32 Wed 5/31/2017 Cheers! Other notable things you’ve missed is everyone and their brother making NE IPAs here as they probably are everywhere else in the world. Sankt Gallen, Spring Valley, Be Easy, Bkue Magic... everyone’s at it.

Message TimE P beers 8459 º places 409 º 19:46 Wed 5/31/2017 Damn that sucks to hear about Country Boys. I’ve been following them and I thought they were doing well and I know they just expanded their brewery. Good to hear TN is picking up, as I only knew of Yazoo which I heard was good, but other breweries in Nashville just so-so. Kaori brought back from some Hoof Hearted after visiting Jon over Golden Week. I joked that they must of run a competition at a local junior high school and asked students to name their new brewery and this was the most popular name.HH stuff was good, but not overly exceptional - I still think the best NE style IPAs are done in the NE, though Y Market recently made a very good example of the style. Enjoy your new city. Devils were/are my #3 team (if a person can have such a thing) - Scott Stevens was one of my favorite defensemen and Martin Broudeur one of my favorite goalies of all time. I don’t love the Predators (pretty neutral), but I really really don’t like the Penguins (least favorite team in NHL) and I really don’t want them to win another Stanley Cup. Tim
Message willisread beers 7331 º places 126 º 22:05 Thu 6/1/2017 Yeah, I mean their beers aren’t all bad, but really most of their stuff reminds me of Ise Kadoya (which isn’t a bad thing). It’s just the infection problem they had really seemed to set them back, then they are distributed by Budweiser here in the state and the bud reps don’t make their beer available, there are a few kegs that turn up from time to time but pretty rarely these days...and then when you do find something it’s mediocre to underwhelming and forgettable. They don’t really can or bottle much at all either (since the infection breakout it seems). Hoof Hearted are cool, but Bearded Iris are a lot better in my opinion. I agree with you on the NE IPAs being made best in NE...except for monkish, they might be my favorite, but bearded Iris is getting there, they are really under the radar still. When I make it back over to Japan I will definitely bring cans to crack with you guys! Yeah Broudeur and Stevens were awesome. I loved the Devils defense (and offense as well). They were a great team in the 90s. Anyway, looks like I’ll have a reason to get back into hockey then!

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