Upon a recommendation, Dave and I stopped at Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria during a recent stay in Asheville, North Carolina. It's a big space with wood floors and a large bar lined with tons of taps -- many of which are local. Upstairs is another bar and game room with pool tables, real dart boards and foosball. We ordered a cheese pizza with sun-dried tomatoes. The pizza arrived in good time and was noticeably thick. Upon first bite, the stringy cheese wanted to leave the rest of the pizza, but in good hands and a fork it's no problem. The crust was a bit on the sweet side, but otherwise relatively plain. They say it's sourdough crust, but you have to think about it to realize the "sour" in the "dough." The cheese became a bit much quickly -- there's a lot of it there and didn't have much of a flavor. The sun-dried tomatoes were small and chopped up, some of them a bit burnt to a crisp. It's filling and strangely satisfying, but not worth it... unless... you use this as a base for the wonderful beer selection here. With numerous taps from Fox Hill Meadery, French Broad Brewery, Pisgah Brewing Company, Highland Brewing Company, Catawba Valley Brewing Company, and numerous others, this is a fantastic place to explore North Carolina microbrews. It's nice to see places with dart lanes using proper dart boards and professional-grade pool tables. Fun place to hang out, and well, pizza goes well with beer. Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria 42 Biltmore Ave Asheville, NC 28801 828-255-0504

Duo Brewing Milk Stout, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

I'm friends with the folks with Duo Brewing and every so often I'm lucky enough to try out their latest tweaks on their recipes. I got six bottles of their Milk Stout, which is one of my favorite beers of all time.

It's a darker stout but it's surprisingly light and in some ways it almost hints at chocolate. It's a tad creamy but still a good bite. In some ways it's a perfect midwinter drink but it's also quite refreshing in the summer. I can't wait until they start producing this on a larger scale.

I'm making a concentrated effort to make sure they build their website with RSS so you can subscribe and be informed when you can taste it. Of course, I'll probably mention something here too. This beer is quite tasty.

Duo Brewing

Rett and Rebekah Martin, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Thanks to a heads up from Brew52 and MNBeer, I stopped down to the Ugly Mug for the Flat Earth Brewing Company Black Helicopter release party.

Black Helicopter is a darker stout that's mixed with a bit of coffee. At first glance the pints looked and smelled almost as if they were filled with coffee. Little to no head on this beer and we joked that we could get away with this at the office if we put it in a mug. It's about one part coffee for every twenty-five parts beer but honestly, it tastes like it's closer to one to one. The coffee comes through loud and clear but it's not too overpowering. It's a smooth beer but has what I'm starting to call the "Flat Earth Flat," the tenancy for Flat Earth beers to taste like they have little to almost no carbonation. It's tasty though -- and I don't generally drink coffee. A very drinkable beer overall and I went through three pints without really even noticing it. Well, I noticed it a lot when I was done.

We also took the opportunity to take photos with Flat Earth brewmaster Jeff Williamson who's a very personable and nice guy.

I'd like to have another pint of this soon.
Cross-posted on Brew52

August Schell Snow Storm, originally uploaded by Aaron Landry.

Lots of buzz this evening on Brew52, Rett Martin's new project. "Sampling a different Minnesota brew each week for an entire year. Oh for fun!"

Yes, for fun. Week one is August Schell's Snow Storm. Quite a yummy treat. This site could become a bad habit.