On Tap - Barleys, Part Deux

This is the second edition of 'On Tap', and in the first one I promised to occasionally post about what's pouring in local beer bars. Well, I haven't exactly gotten around to doing that yet, and I'm featuring the same bar that I posted about in the first one. I will eventually make it to another bar, but there were a couple of notable beers on tap at Barley's last night that I needed to share.

As I mentioned in the Brewgrass writeup, the Brooklyner-Schneider Hopfen-Weisse was scheduled to be tap at Barley's soon, and I am happy to report that it is pouring downstairs right now. It uses the Schneider Hefeweizen yeast, so it has some of the familiar banana and clove tastes that you would associate with a German hefe, but it is dry hopped with Amarillo and Palisades hops, giving it a citrusy aftertaste. This is bigger than your traditional hefe at 7.8% alcohol, but you can hardly tell it is there. If you are a fan of German hefeweizens I would suggest giving this unusual rendition a try. It will only be available for a limited time.

Closer to home, Pisgah's Fall seasonal, Equinox is now available upstairs. This one is not easy to classify, with Pisgah dubbing it a 'Harvest Ale'. It is amber in color, with a sweet lightly toasted malt flavor that is combined with an earthy, slightly spicy finish. A very interesting beer to say the least, which is no surprise coming from the brewers at Pisgah. Another big beer, this one clocks in at 7.5%.

Last but not least, one of my favorite regional breweries, Terrapin Beer Company out of Athens, Georgia, has brewed an 'India Brown Ale'. As the name suggests, this beer is a marriage between a hoppy IPA and a sweet brown ale, and the pairing seems to work. As with most browns, this one has a nice caramel/chocolaty sweetness, and the addition of 5 types of hops plays a wonderful contrast with its bitter finish. This will eventually find its way into bottles, but in the mean time you can head upstairs at Barley's to find it. Speaking of Terrapin bottled beer, we should also be seeing the fall release of this years version of the Big Hoppy Monster, a big, moderatley hopped 'red' ale that has some interesting malt characteristics that play well with the hops.