Mellow Mushroom Beers!

I have been to this Mellow Mushroom before, but besides that the only one I have been to was in Asheville, and I fell in love with that city and this restaurant. On this visit I did not get a picture of the pizza, I kind of just ate it but I did have a few beers. Were they good choices? Yes. Did I drink them in the right order? Probably not! But here they are.



Founders Dirty Bastard. The name alone was enough to make me get this beer. Sitting at 8.5%, probably a bad choice for the very first beer. Though, when I saw it labeled as a Scotch Ale, I had to do it. I thought this one was had a really rich, malty nose and a lot of that carried into your drinking experience. Dark fruits and a little pine and citrus in the finish. A nice full body and a little bit of a bite. Damn Good Beer. I gave this one a 5 out of 5.



Just as I was finishing that one up the pizza showed and I figured, hey, what else do you have? I asked for this taster of Strawberry Blonde by The Carolina Beer Company. I thought the Strawberry in this one seemed kind of artificial. I mean, I am sure it was but in the nose and the taste it was just kind of annoying. I think the base beer was pretty decent but it was hard to really determine that being, I had nothing to compare it to. Oh well.



Along with the taster they brought me a Gaelic Ale by Highland Brewing Company out in Asheville, NC. I had this beer once before, at the Twin City Taps Festival. It featured only North Carolina beer, and just like when I had it there, I was way too far palate dead to do much with this one. Here is a little information about it.

A deep amber-colored American ale, featuring a rich malty body. Cascade and Willamette hops add a complex hop flavor and aroma. This ale is exceptionally balanced between malty sweetness and delicate hop bitterness. It has a universal appeal and is our workhorse, accounting for about half of our total production.

This was our first beer and was originally named Celtic Ale in honor of the Scots and Irish who originally settled the Appalachian region. We had to change the name – unbeknownst to us, Bert Grant Brewery had trademarked “Celtic Ale." The term "Gaelic" more commonly refers to the language of the Celtic peoples in Scotland and Ireland and particularly to the Scottish Highlanders. The dark amber color is similar to a Scottish Ale but the flavor and body is more in the style of American Amber.

I remember it being good last time and I thought it was good this time as well. I just cannot go into detail. Lame. I should have thought about my first choice of beer a little more before I did it. Live and drink, right? Next time I find this one, I will have to be sure to have it FIRST! or if I had the Strawberry Blonde first, which sat at 4.5%, I should have this after that. It just makes way more sense.

Anyway, a night of great food, great beer, and great times.

Cheers!