My husband and I both agreed that this beer should be called a “sour,” due to its delightfully tart pucker. However, it’s always cool to experience a surprise in your glass! Well, I guess I went and ruined that surprise, now didn’t I? Oh well, don’t let that stop you from ordering one alongside a fresh, wood-fired pizza (try the arugula, gorgonzola, and pear).
• ManRock Brewing Company’s Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout—About $5 a pint; 1750 El Camino Real, Grover Beach.
We all know that SLO Brew is leaving its long-beloved Garden Street locale at the end of this summer. That being said, now is the best time to drop by “the clubhouse,” the cute new tasting area located inside the ground-floor window. I say “cute” because there are pretty string-lights twinkling overhead and happy, yellow stools beckoning you to slow down and try something new. Purchase a beer flight or go big and experience a whiskey tasting. Brewed in-house and finished in French oak barrels at Re:Fined Distillery in Paso Robles, SLO Brew’s Rye Whiskey is spicy with notes of vanilla. Oh, and did I mention that the 140-proof amber-colored liquid is smooth as heck going down the ol’ gullet? While you’re there, be sure to check out the new mini-keg growlers in stock, too. Do as Food and Beverage Manager Sam Matthews suggests, and plop down with a drink during Farmers Market. The people watching is epic.
• SLO Brew’s Rye Whiskey—$9 a shot; 1119 Garden Street, SLO.
Bottom’s up! Send your drinky things to hthomas@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Apr 23-30, 2015.