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| IAN'S OUTER BANKS REVIEW SEPTEMBER 2004 |
The Outerbanks, September 2004.
The Autumn of 2004 brought Lady Roberts and myself back to our beloved Outerbanks in North Carolina. It's amazing how this 130-mile long
string of sandy barrier islands draws us back on a regular basis. With the Atlantic Ocean on the right, and (in descending order) Currituck
Sound, Albermarle Sound, Croatian Sound and Pamlico Sound on the left, this little strip is a seafaring delight with more than enough history
to keep people like yours truly as happy as a pig in shite.
As is the usual tradition of the Robertses on holiday, I have kept a list of the beers tasted with a review for your perusal. Let's begin at the
Outer Banks Brewing Station, a good enough reason in itself to head for North Carolina.
The Outer Banks Brewing Station, Kill Devil Hills. We first visited this Brewpub in 2003; this being the North Carolina version of Barley's,
except the food is considerably better at the Brewing Station. For that matter, the beers are better too.
1) Sunshower Pale Ale -- What a little ripper ! A delicious Pale Ale, it has the bite, body and richness of Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale
combined with the characterful hoppiness of Great Lakes Moondog Ale. No bitter aftertaste. Straight in at 10/10.
2) Pipeline Pale Ale -- What a little ripper II ! This has less bite, but a fruitier and more hoppy taste than Sunshower. A lovely little refresher.
Again, straight in at 10/10.
3) Olsch -- What a little ripper III, this is Debby's favourite. Olsch follows in the German Kolsch style mold, rather like a wheat beer without the
cloudiness -- a very, very pale gold in colour. Extremely light, but tasty, refreshing beer, coming in (yet again) at 10/10.
4) Brownie Point Brown Ale -- Well, it couldn't last ! This ale is brewed with Santian hops, and once poured in a glass looks exactly like a
pint of Haystack Porter. My fears were confirmed when it bloody tasted like a Porter. I tried to like it, but this was an uphill struggle, and I'm
afraid I couldn't finish the glass (I had to resort to taking a swig from Debby's Olsch to take away the bitter taste). Sometimes the roasty, burnt
taste can work for me -- especially in the winter months, but sadly not in the warm month of September. It had Liquid Plumber written all over it,
an easy 1/10.
5) Stormy Roses Stout -- A dry stout in the mode of Great Lakes Wolfhound Stout and such lesser luminaries as Guinness, Murphy's et al.
Quite tasty, with definite chocolate and caramel notes and an appealing creaminess. A bit on the heavy side, considering my current beer
tastes, but a nice change to nitro-keg Guinness. A respectable 7/10.
The Weeping Radish Brewery, Roanoke Island. Outerbanks history 101: Putting the Jamestown (1607) bullshit to one side, Roanoke
Island is where the original settlers landed in 1587. When one of the colonialists, John White, returned to England for supplies, his return to
Roanoke Island was delayed until 1590 thanks to the war with Spain. Once we'd finished giving the Spanish another bloody good hiding, John
White was able to return to North Carolina only to find the 110 men, women and children all vanished. Their disappearance remains to this day
a mystery, but still, it was the first colony to set up shop in the U.S. even if was only for a couple of years.
Anyway, I digress -- yes, The Weeping Radish Brewery. This is a Bavarian-style Brewhaus brewing its own German ales. The pub itself is a
dump: dark and dingy, and the Pierogies were shite. However, the beers...
1) Weeping Radish Weizen -- A very tasty wheat ale; hazy, cloudy with a slight floral bite to it. I was impressed at 8/10.
Debby had Weeping Radish Gold, which was a Munich-style lager. She gave it 2/10, describing it as "weedy".
In 2005, The Weeping Radish Brewery closed the pub on Roanoke Island and moved its brewing north of The Outerbanks --
can't think why.
Howard's Pub, Okracoke Island. Not a brewpub in itself, but a good old-fashioned pub with an excellent selection of beers on tap, plus over
250 bottled beers from all over the globe.
1) Highland Brewery Heather Ale -- The Highland Brewery hails from Asheville, North Carolina, and their Heather Ale was created to
celebrate their 10th anniversary. Rich and malty and on the mild side, a bit like Newcastle Brown Ale, or a weak Fuller's 1845. This is what
Bass Ale should taste like were it ever to get its bollocks back. 7/10.
Cheers !
The Autumn of 2004 brought Lady Roberts and myself back to our beloved Outerbanks in North Carolina. It's amazing how this 130-mile long
string of sandy barrier islands draws us back on a regular basis. With the Atlantic Ocean on the right, and (in descending order) Currituck
Sound, Albermarle Sound, Croatian Sound and Pamlico Sound on the left, this little strip is a seafaring delight with more than enough history
to keep people like yours truly as happy as a pig in shite.
As is the usual tradition of the Robertses on holiday, I have kept a list of the beers tasted with a review for your perusal. Let's begin at the
Outer Banks Brewing Station, a good enough reason in itself to head for North Carolina.
The Outer Banks Brewing Station, Kill Devil Hills. We first visited this Brewpub in 2003; this being the North Carolina version of Barley's,
except the food is considerably better at the Brewing Station. For that matter, the beers are better too.
1) Sunshower Pale Ale -- What a little ripper ! A delicious Pale Ale, it has the bite, body and richness of Great Lakes Burning River Pale Ale
combined with the characterful hoppiness of Great Lakes Moondog Ale. No bitter aftertaste. Straight in at 10/10.
2) Pipeline Pale Ale -- What a little ripper II ! This has less bite, but a fruitier and more hoppy taste than Sunshower. A lovely little refresher.
Again, straight in at 10/10.
3) Olsch -- What a little ripper III, this is Debby's favourite. Olsch follows in the German Kolsch style mold, rather like a wheat beer without the
cloudiness -- a very, very pale gold in colour. Extremely light, but tasty, refreshing beer, coming in (yet again) at 10/10.
4) Brownie Point Brown Ale -- Well, it couldn't last ! This ale is brewed with Santian hops, and once poured in a glass looks exactly like a
pint of Haystack Porter. My fears were confirmed when it bloody tasted like a Porter. I tried to like it, but this was an uphill struggle, and I'm
afraid I couldn't finish the glass (I had to resort to taking a swig from Debby's Olsch to take away the bitter taste). Sometimes the roasty, burnt
taste can work for me -- especially in the winter months, but sadly not in the warm month of September. It had Liquid Plumber written all over it,
an easy 1/10.
5) Stormy Roses Stout -- A dry stout in the mode of Great Lakes Wolfhound Stout and such lesser luminaries as Guinness, Murphy's et al.
Quite tasty, with definite chocolate and caramel notes and an appealing creaminess. A bit on the heavy side, considering my current beer
tastes, but a nice change to nitro-keg Guinness. A respectable 7/10.
The Weeping Radish Brewery, Roanoke Island. Outerbanks history 101: Putting the Jamestown (1607) bullshit to one side, Roanoke
Island is where the original settlers landed in 1587. When one of the colonialists, John White, returned to England for supplies, his return to
Roanoke Island was delayed until 1590 thanks to the war with Spain. Once we'd finished giving the Spanish another bloody good hiding, John
White was able to return to North Carolina only to find the 110 men, women and children all vanished. Their disappearance remains to this day
a mystery, but still, it was the first colony to set up shop in the U.S. even if was only for a couple of years.
Anyway, I digress -- yes, The Weeping Radish Brewery. This is a Bavarian-style Brewhaus brewing its own German ales. The pub itself is a
dump: dark and dingy, and the Pierogies were shite. However, the beers...
1) Weeping Radish Weizen -- A very tasty wheat ale; hazy, cloudy with a slight floral bite to it. I was impressed at 8/10.
Debby had Weeping Radish Gold, which was a Munich-style lager. She gave it 2/10, describing it as "weedy".
In 2005, The Weeping Radish Brewery closed the pub on Roanoke Island and moved its brewing north of The Outerbanks --
can't think why.
Howard's Pub, Okracoke Island. Not a brewpub in itself, but a good old-fashioned pub with an excellent selection of beers on tap, plus over
250 bottled beers from all over the globe.
1) Highland Brewery Heather Ale -- The Highland Brewery hails from Asheville, North Carolina, and their Heather Ale was created to
celebrate their 10th anniversary. Rich and malty and on the mild side, a bit like Newcastle Brown Ale, or a weak Fuller's 1845. This is what
Bass Ale should taste like were it ever to get its bollocks back. 7/10.
Cheers !
