It was a rainy December evening in Kentucky. We had road tripping for nearly six hours and I needed some good beer. With just a little Yelping, I was pleased to discover a lot of potential as we crossed the bridge into Louisville.

It was getting late and we had a long weekend ahead of us. With that in mind, we negotiated and settled on two breweries to check out: Against the Grain Brewing Company and Bluegrass Brewing Company.

AGAINST THE GRAIN BREWING

1. Atmosphere:

• An upscale mess hall and a large open space
• Abstract artwork and drawings of brewery supplies on painted brick walls
• Moderately crowded for a Friday night

2. What we ordered:

• Sampler of 6 beers, 4 oz each and two bonus seasonal beers
• $15 Growler of the Malt

3. Favorites:

• Whim – tastes like chips made with real vegetables; totally unique; light-bodied; spices of celery, carrots, and onions; would totally get again
• Malt – sweet from start to finish; 8.4% and strongest tried so far; acidic and almost like vinegar; like cider but darker in color; would get again

4. Failures:

• Session – skunky smell, but not every time; pretty standard; wouldn’t get again
• Smoke – the smokiest beer I’ve ever tasted; it’s unique but I can’t taste anything beyond the smoke; much lighter color than most smoke beers; couldn’t drink a whole pint of this
• Shart Pants – so hoppy I can’t even drink it; 9.1% but so not worth it; light in color

5. Meh:

• Hop – sweet and bitter at the same time; pitched as really hoppy but not that much; buttery finish
• Dark – more of a spiced ale than a pumpkin beer; nothing compared to the sweet malt of Pumpking; slight sweet pumpkin smell but not overwhelming

6. Grub:

• The Fun Guy (veggie burger with mushrooms, rice, walnuts, smoked Parmesan, fried egg, and apricot) – Definitely one of the best veggie burgers I’ve ever had, and believe me – I’ve had a ton of ’em. The mushrooms were tender and flavorful and the fried egg really made it work. The only downside was that it was completely messy and egg and sauce dripped all over myself.

BLUEGRASS BREWING

1. Atmosphere:

• Low key, sports bar feel with large TVs playing the local games
• Very empty for a Friday night
• Our table neighbors ordered some strange drink with 4 toppers that they lit on fire. it was called “pyro something” but I never did figure out the deal with it.

2. What we ordered:

• Sampler of 7 beers on tap
• $20 Growler of the bourbon barrel ale

3. Favorites:

• Dark Star Porter – Good amount of smokiness and better than most of the others here, but a pretty standard aroma
• Bourbon Barrel Stout – I love these beers pretty much everywhere I try them, so excuse my bias. This was my favorite at this brewery by a long shot. Not too far from the standard but a great aftertaste.

4. Failures:

• Alt Bier – totally bland and couldn’t come up with a single thing to write about it

5. Meh:

• Summer Wheat – so light it tasted like water, refreshing but not fulfilling
• Nut Brown – Not so nutty, again totally bland. What’s going on with this blandness?
• Christmas Ale – What makes a Christmas beer Christmassy? I don’t get it. This was a spiced ale with nutmeg, but nothing stood out about it. I didn’t smell or taste any cinnamon or anything complex.
• Raspberry Meade – sweet and very non-beer like; tastes like a Berry Weiss with no carbonation and less syrupy; Am I drinking juice?

6. Grub:

• Too full from that veggie burger to even consider eating anything for the rest of the day.

And the winner is…………..drum roll please…………………..Against the Grain Brewery!

P.S. – The growlers from each brewery were properly and promptly consumed and enjoyed. Cheers!