Unplanned Beer Adventure

So a work project machine build finally shipped last week to the customer, hoorah!  And I get to go with it hoorah not so much.  But you can do worse than Simpsonville, SC.  While in the area, I had a few good chances to try some local brewpub brews.

The first night was a quick decision to grab some food from Ruby Tuesday, yeah not so special but hey, they had Widmer Brothers Brewing Hefeweizen which was exactly what the 96 degree day called for.  I thought it was good, went well with the steak and was very refreshing and decently flavorful. 7/10.

The second night, we ventured to nearby Greenville, SC to hit up Blue Ridge Brewing Co. for dinner and brew.  The food was good, the beer was alright.  I first started off with the Total Eclipse Stout, which was touted as a very similar to Guinness beer.  I didn’t see that at all, except for stout being the common bond.  The beer was okay on its own, but I guess the Guinness comparison threw me off, maybe it’s for the beer noobs.  6/10.  Second I switched over to their Rainbow Trout ESB.  Now this was very tasty, in a style I am not too familiar with.  But the balance of sweet, bitter, and everything else was right on.  I like this one, 8/10.

The third night, we ventured further west down Greenville’s downtown to Liberty Tap Room & Grill for dinner and a few pints.  Had one of Liberty’s brews, an IPA, thought it was good not great, so 7/10.  I then had a Bear Republic Red Racer #5 IPA, which is a great beer.  I spotted it from across the dining room to behind the bar.  I could barely make out the red 5.