Oh look what time of the week it is, time for another Tuesday Tap Takeover at 381 Main. This week’s star of the show is none other than Terrapin, yup attack of the turtle. Terrapin is based out of Northern Georgia about an hour and a half outside of Atlanta. They do have some limited distribution up here to NJ, however the draft lineup at 381 was unique.
For this night’s event there were five Terrapin brews available, three on draft and two bottles. These included Oaked Big Hoppy Monster, Rye Pale Ale, Reunion Ale ’13, Tree Hugger, and Hopsecutioner. Of the five available I had previously only had one, so I was ready to dive on in and start tasting some new brews.
I started the night off with what ended up being my favorite, the Oaked Big Hoppy Monster. OK I lied. I actually started the night a little earlier with a Carton O’dub because I just can’t resist having one every time I see it, but let’s move forward and onto the Hoppy Monster. This is a huge one weighing in at 10.6%, but that didn’t stop me from having two of these by the end of the night. It’s listed as an American Amber, but it sure looked brown to me, with about half an inch of white head on it. When I first brought it up to my nose, the wet wood-chip aroma took over. This might not sound appealing but this actually was. By the end of the first sip, I was able to get a lot of woody, roasty flavors going on; however I knew it had to warm up to reach its full potential. So without hesitation or caring about what the people around me would think I ordered up the next beer on my list, the Rye Pale Ale as I let the monster warm up a bit. This was an excellent decision. After letting it warm up and mellow out the aromas and flavors multiplied making this one of the best things I have recently drank.
Now to the beer I downed while waiting for the monster to warm… The Rye Pale Ale was just that. It might of been the experience with this beer that made the monster taste 20 times better after I was done with it, because this one left me wanting a LOT more. The first thing I noticed was that there was absolutely no aroma whatsoever. The beer was a little lighter in color than most Rye Beer’s I’ve had so maybe the malt build on it altered its ability to produce any type of flavor or aroma. The biggest disappointment was that there was no rye spiciness coming through at all to give it the kick it needed to separate itself from a normal shelf rye.
This brings us up to the point of the night where I start to get hungry. I’m sure many of you who read this realize what that means by now, of course, ordering some pizzas. While 381 boasts a wide variety of menu items, it’s hard for me to steer away from the freshly made pizzas they offer. I try to live by the motto “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” and that is exactly why I keep turning to the pizzas each time I go to 381. Tonight we decided to get the classic BBQ Chicken Pizza, and a new combination that included fresh jalapenos, buffalo chicken, and pineapple. The latter of the two was the winner of the night. The jalapenos had a great heat to them, which might of been luck of the draw considering how vastly jalapenos can vary. The buffalo chicken and pineapple also combined perfectly, and I would definitely order this one again.
The next beer I attacked was the 2013 Reunion Ale. The thing that stood out the most to me with this one was the blast of coffee you get right at the beginning. Not overpowering, just enough to coat the tongue and let it know it’s there. This was followed up by what I eventually decided was a peppery taste as well. It was very roasty but still kept a really light and fluid mouth feel. Overall this brew was good, I’m not exactly a fan of coffee in my beer but it was worth having and I would be interested in trying 2014’s batch to see what changes in it.
To get to my last beer of the night I had to start cracking into the bottle list. I decided to go for the Tree Hugger over the Hopsecutioner, solely for the reason that I had never had Tree Hugger before and I can always get a Hopsecutioner. The Tree Hugger is an Altbier, not exactly one of my favorite styles but I’m a sucker for trying new beers I’ve never had so this was a must have. By the time this one came, my jalapeno pizza was almost gone, and thankfully this helped finish it up. It came off tasting very sweet, and had the feel of a standard Lager. Luckily enough, the sweet malt flavors it gave off helped cull the heat of the Jalapeno which at this point was coming on strong.
So this was the perfect ending to another tap takeover at 381. I had tried 4 new beers, talked with good friends, and left with a full stomach. Luckily for all of us, John has several more takeovers coming before the end of the year, so we can get our craft beer fix in on Tuesday nights again soon. The next event is Goose Island Night on November 12th. Rumor has it he has some heavy hitters coming in for this event including, Night Stalker, Big John, Illinois, and Naughty Goose. You’re gonna want to make sure you’re around for this one. Also coming up are nights for Southern Tier, and one more surprise before the holidays so stay tuned. Also don’t forget to follow both The Yeti and The Rager on Untappd! Check out what we are drinking, and leave us a comment.
Until we rage again.
Cheers