Day 2: Knoxville, TN > Chattanooga, TN > Trussville, AL
We didn't have a very far drive to get to Knoxville on Saturday, so we had the luxury of sleeping in a bit. There are apparently a ton of breweries in Knoxville, and I'm glad we had the luxury of splitting them up over two visits. (We'd be hitting Knoxville again at the tail end of the trip.) First on the agenda was a visit to Balter Beerworks. I scoped out its web site prior to organizing our itinerary, and discovered that they opened earlier than most breweries and also served food. This is something I often tend to overlook when planning our trips. A man's gotta eat, Julian! So this seemed like a good place to start for our afternoon in Knoxville, TN.
Like many breweries, the impetus of Balter started with homebrewing in a garage. The hobby quickly turned into a passion and eventually a career choice. After rehabilitating an old service station in downtown Knoxville, Balter opened its doors in February 2016. Balter prides itself on crafting all its foods daily from scratch, using the freshest ingredients available. The brewery itself preserves the history of the service station while still managing to create a comfortable and inviting modern space for its customers to enjoy fresh beer and scratch-made food.
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| Pleeps doin' his thang! |
Since this was our first stop, why not begin the day with a coffee porter? That's just what I did with Bear Blend, an Oatmeal Porter brewed with local coffee from Three Bears Coffee Company. I mean, does any brewery use Folgers or Maxwell House in its coffee beers? God, I hope not. I guess Bud or Miller might, if they ever decided to brew a coffee beer.
I followed up the coffee porter with Firebelly, described as a Classic IPA. This feisty IPA boasted moderate bitterness with lots of grapefruity character courtesy of Cascade hops. Even though it drank more like a classic northwest pale ale, I ain't complainin'.
While we were at Balter, I discovered a bit of unfortunate news: I'd been given back the wrong credit card from our server at Elderbrew the night before. Once I discovered this, I racked my brain as to how this possibly could have happened. I quickly recalled that he asked me my name two or three times while he was looking through his carousel of cards. After a minute or two, he held up a card that looked exactly like one of mine and asked if it was mine. Since he was about 10 feet away, I said yes. He handed it back to me, I placed it firmly inside my wallet and didn't think twice about it. Eighteen hours and 120-odd miles later, I'd realized that I'd been handed the wrong credit card. To say I was irate is a bit of an understatement. I ended up spending about 30 minutes on the phone with my credit card company trying to cancel the card in the event that mine was given to some jackoff who might go on a spending spree. So unfortunately I didn't get to fully enjoy our time at Balter. It really is a cool place and, if I recall, the food was very good. From now on, I'm definitely going to make sure I get the right card back from bartenders when I close out a tab. Live and learn.
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| Outside Knoxville's Pretentious Beer Co. |
Our next stop was Pretentious Beer Co. With a name like "Pretentious," I must admit that I though this place was going to be pretty high on the douchebag spectrum. Like not even a little bit douchy; more like metric shit-tons of douchbaggery raining down upon me as I ordered my beer. Turns out I couldn't have been more wrong. This was easily one of the most memorable breweries of the entire trip.
Why is that, you ask? Survey says? Number one answer on the board... Pretentious Beer is actually the sister company of Pretentious Glass. Founded in 2018, Pretentious Glass Co. started with owner Matthew Cummings selling handcrafted glassware on Etsy to pay for his studio space as a side hustle. Eventually, the company blossomed into a full time gig. Surprisingly, he was able to open the glass company with no additional owners, investors, or bank loans. I must say that this was the first time I'd come across something so novel as a brewery that creates its own glassware by hand in an adjacent facility. It really added a sophisticated flair to the presentation and made for a totally unique, elevated experience. They even offer tours of the glass facility, which sadly we could not enjoy during our visit. If you'd like to go down a quick rabbit hole, you can read all about the intriguing process of glass blowing here.
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| Curio of glassware at Pretentious Beer Co. |
On the brewing side, Pretentious crafts one-off experimental brews served exclusively in its tap room, which - like its artisan glassware - was built by hand. Actually, pretty much everything at Pretentious is made by hand; not only the exquisite hand-blown glasses, but also the hardwood bar, the chairs, tap handles, etc. It's no wonder why this place has created a haven for fellow local community artisans.
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| Our view from the bar at Pretentious. |
So, let's move on to the beer, shall we? I started off with Good Times, a pilsner brewed with rye Crystal hops. I honestly can't recall if I'd ever encountered a pilsner brewed with rye before. It stands to reason that I must have, at some point, at one of the countless breweries we'd visited, somewhere, came across a pilsner with rye. However, I was drawing a blank. So let's say this was the first time. (I'm sure if I referred to my Untappd check-ins, I'd likely find that I had one about three months prior to this.) This beer came across as crisp and clean with a hint of dry spiciness, courtesy of the addition of rye to the grain bill. I enjoyed this beer quite a bit, and the glass in which it was served heighted the experience.
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| Pleeps loves him some Good Times! |
I decided to keep things light and opted for a pour of the humorously named Glassholes. This Pale Ale is smooth and fruity with a wash of peach and orange thanks to hopping with Galaxy, one of my favorite varieties. Like Good Times, this was served in a unique glass created by Pretentious Glass Co. and made for an enjoyable quaff. Overall, this was a great stop and I'm glad we had time to hit Knoxville twice on the trip. This town definitely has a lot to offer beer-wise. I'd love to take a tour of the glass facility next time we're in this neck of the woods.
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| Pleeps says: "Only Glassholes fling poop!" |
I had high hopes for our next stop. Xül, the new kid on the block in Knoxville, came with much praise from the bartender we'd just encountered the previous night at the Cascade Taproom in Bristol. It turns out that our visit to Cascade was a pivotal moment in our trip, because Xül was one of those rare places that completely blew me away on every level.
When we pulled into the parking lot, the first thing that struck me was the odd building in which the brewery is situated. It had a very "retro modern" look that reminded me of a car dealership you might have seen on an episode of The Jetsons. Turns out my assumption was correct, as the building used to house a Volkswagen dealership.
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| Outside Knoxville's Xül Beer Co. |
As a child of the 80's, this place was right up my alley. I immediately felt at home here. Given her vast - almost labyrinthine - depth of movie, TV and pop culture trivia knowledge, Brewslut called out the fact that Xül (pronounced like and actually spelled Zuul) was in fact the gatekeeper in the movie
Ghostbusters. While the beer is forward-thinking and of-the-moment, its tasting room hearkens back to the decade of my youth. Its merchandise dons iconic logos and characters from the era such as G.I. Joe and Robocop (I bought the Robocop T-shirt), and some of its beer names are steeped in nostalgia as well. (Side note: I later learned that Xül's quartz bar was inspired by a similar one found at Brooklyn's Tørst, a bar we'd visited several years ago with our beer bud, Nate, who we'd also be hanging out with in a few days in Texas.)
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| Out seat for the duration of our (first) visit. |
The bartender at Cascade mentioned that Xül had been "killing it" and were making world-class IPAs. Man, to think that I wouldn't have discovered this brewery had we not stopped into Cascade for a quick one makes me think that perhaps spontaneity yields the best results when traveling.
So with that in mind, I decided to make my first beer at Xül an IPA. After all, I owed it to the guy from Cascade, right? Enter If Lost, Please Return, a hazy IPA hopped with Citra, Citra Cryo and Mosaic. By now, you know about my love/hate relationship with hazies. Part of me just wishes that the style would disappear into oblivion, while the other part stumbles on an amazing one every once in a while, reaffirming my faith that perhaps hazies are here to stay. This was one of those times. The aroma, flavor, texture, mouthfeel, and finish were all spot-on. After a few sips, I began to understand the enthusiasm of my new friend from Cascade. Yes, kids... this brewery ain't fuckin' around.
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| If lost, please return... to my gullet! |
After an enjoyable IPA, it was time to travel to the opposite end of the spectrum and enter the dark side of Xül. The next beer I tried elicited one of those reactions for which I yearn with each and every brewery visit we make on a given trip. Beyond the Lines of Reason stirred my loins. Conditioned on mounds of fresh and toasted coconut across multiple additions, this decadent stout has the distinction of perhaps the greatest texture I've ever encountered with a stout. The mouthfeel was the stuff of legends. I didn't want to swallow this beer; I just wanted to swish and swirl it around my mouth and across my tastebuds until the end of time. I was excited to see bottles of this world-class beer available for take-out, and I bought one without hesitation (although I wish I'd bought more) because it was that good!
After an amazing experience at Xul, it was off to Chattanooga, TN, to hit a few places before landing in Alabama for the evening. First up was Hutton & Smith. I'd assumed this brewery was named after its two owners, but a quick perusal of its web site debunked that theory. Rather than paraphrasing, I'll simply provide a direct quote from the brewery's web site:
James Hutton and William "Strata" Smith are considered the fathers of modern geology, and rightly so. In "The Theory of the Earth", Hutton, a Scot from Edinburgh, illustrates the concept of deep time - the immense expanses of time over which geological changes occur. The Englishman Smith produced the first geological map of the earth, a revolutionary feat, detailing regional geology. Scots and Brits had been drinking beer for ages before any of these revelations came to mind, and it is rumored that our two friends sometimes strayed to focus on their love for tasty brews. Though we can only speculate, it is almost certain that at some point they imagined what it might be like to brew their own beer. We pay meager homage to these two beer drinking pioneers of their field by opening Hutton & Smith Brewing Co. in their names.
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| Plenty of beer to be had at Hutton & Smith. |
I rarely order a Doppelbock at a brewery - much less lead with one! - but I decided to give this one a shot. The beer itself, Taylor Doppelbock, gets its name from our server who helped brew it. Her name, obviously, is Taylor. Assuming she had brewed it, I inquired with her about the beer and asked if she was a brewer. Turns out that the brewers at Hutton & Smith let each employee come up with a concept for a new beer or a style they'd like the brewery to release, and they work with the employee to make it happen. So I suppose it's kind of like job shadowing. Pretty cool, eh? This beer in question is a classic interpretation of the German-style strong lager. Working at Troegs, I know all about doppelbocks ('Nator, anyone?) or the "double bock" as we call it. Malty with hints of toasted bread and crackers, Taylor finishes smooth with a subtle sweet, slightly fruity finish and hint of booze. Turns out I had some 'Nator in tow, and gave her a can since she was such a fan of the style. I hope she enjoyed it!
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| Pleeps looking picture perfect at Hutton & Smith. |
The other two beers weren't as memorable, but not because they were inferior; they just didn't have a story attached to either of them the way Taylor did. I opted for a pair of hoppy offerings after the doppelbock: Igneous IPA, a dry-hopped IPA with citrus and pine notes; and Elvis Legs, a DDH Double featuring Citra, Talus and Simcoe. This was the first of four different beer releases for the brewery's 6th anniversary. How could I not try a beer called Elvis Legs? Perhaps the next one would be named Elvis' Pelvis.
After Hutton & Smith, we had one more stop to make in Chattanooga. OddStory firmly believes that beer and storytelling go hand in hand, and this small brewery strives to embrace that notion by encouraging folks to gather together, share stories and make new ones over a beer. Oddly enough, this was the least memorable brewery of the day. While I don't recall its beers being flawed, I just don't have much of a recollection of the place itself or the two beers I sampled during our visit. Upon browsing through some photos on Google, I quickly remembered the tasting room being extremely packed. We managed to grab two vacant bar seats after sitting at a barrel-turned-table for about 15 minutes or so. Even the line for the food truck out back was ridiculous. I mean, good for OddStory for packing in the peeps. After all, it was late afternoon on a Saturday, which is prime time for any brewery worth anything. With so many people occupying the place, it was difficult to get a snapshot of the room or pick up on a particular vibe. Consequently, we spent much of our time people-watching while we sipped our beers.
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| Pleeps has got the Monkey's Heart. |
First up was yet another pilsner for me called Forgotten Fortress. This one is a classic German-style Pils brewed with 100% Pilsner Malts and Noble hops. Traditional to the "T". I followed up with a West Coast IPA called Monkey's Heart. Boasting seven varieties of hops, it's a bold, slightly bitter IPA reminiscent of the kind of IPAs we'd encounter 10 years ago while driving around San Diego. Pleeps made sure to get his share of this one, too. He's got a lot of heart already, our little Pleeps!
After a quick stop in Chattanooga, it was off to Alabama, another first state for us on this trip. On our way to our first stop in Trussville, which happened to actually be Ferus (more on them shortly), we noticed a brewery called Slag Heap on the opposite end of the sprawling parking lot as we pulled in to Ferus. Might as well stop in for one beer, right? I mean, who knows when we'll be back in Alabama.
Opened during Labor Day weekend 2018, Slag Heap is part of Trussville’s “Quad One” downtown center, which is part of the town's revitalization plans. One of its attractions is its large outdoor concert stage, which was in use when we arrived... by a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute band. I kid you not, folks. There's nothing like rolling into Alabama for the first time and hearing some good ol' Confederate flag-waiving, rifle-totin' southern rock blaring as you get out of the car.
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| Pubbin' it up with Pleeps! |
I decided to keep things traditional, so I opted for a nitro pour of Q's Moneypenny, an English-style pub ale (similar to Boddington's). The style itself is antiquated and therefore a pretty rare sight at craft breweries where everyone is trying to be the new Tree House. Malt forward with low hop bitterness and a light ABV, this nitrogen-poured ale was exceptionally smooth and delicious. I easily could have tossed another one of these down, but alas we had to get to our final destination of the evening, as we'd put on quite a few miles - somewhere around 350 - already.
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| Artwork inside Ferus Artisan Ales |
Our final stop of the day, Ferus Artisan Ales (also in Trussville), was one of a few breweries Uncle Jedi recommended. We'd try to meet up with UJ and his better half, Joan, as they live in Alabama, but they were also on the road doing some of their own beer traveling. (You think we go to a lot of breweries? These two should write their own beer travel blog!) With the Slag Heap audible we'd just called, I was hoping we'd get to Ferus before the band finished its set, as I assumed the majority of them would descent upon the brewery and we'd get shut out or have to wait a ridiculous amount of time to get seated or even served. Turns out we beat the crowd to the punch and were able to secure seats at the ample wrap-around bar that occupied the center of the fairly large tasting room.
Although its name implies beer that is "untamed, uncivilized, and rough," I found this place and its beers to be anything but. With that said, the term "ferus" also applies to the brewery's passion for adventure and all things wild and avante garde. I can certainly embrace that philosophy. From this sense of adventure stems everything from wild and sour beers, crisp pilsners, hop-forward IPAs, full-flavored stouts, and a variety of barrel-aged beers.
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| Pleeps says, "Enough with the pilsners. Gimme a stout!" |
I apparently neglected to check in my first beer, which was a delicious pilsner aptly named Pilsner. This one was a straight-up German-style pils brewed using 100% Pilsner malt and hopped with spicy Noble hop varietals. As I said before, this was the trip of the pilsner. I think I drank more pilsners and lagers on this trip than during any previous trip we'd taken. I enjoyed this one quite a bit and made sure I grabbed a 4-pack to enjoy at home.
Speaking of appropriate albeit unimaginative names for beers, I followed up with the IPA, an India Pale Ale showcasing big citrus hop aromas with subtle bitterness and a soft mouthfeel thanks to the use of oats and wheat in the malt bill.
We finished with a shared pour of a big Imperial Stout called Ursa Rex. After reading the laundry list of ingredients in this sucker - coffee, coconut, cocao nibs, roasted pecans, Tahitian vanilla beans, and lactose - I knew this was going to be the beer to cap off the evening. This was quite tasty, although I couldn't help comparing it to Beyond the Lines of Reason, the stout I'd had earlier at Xül. All in all, it was a fine visit and the perfect beer with which to end our second day.
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| Pleeps aka the Stout Whisperer. |
We're just getting started, kids! Aside from my credit card misfortune, it was a fantastic day, with Knoxville really knocking our socks off. Tune in next time as we head into to Birmingham, AL, and make our way into yet another new-to-us state, Mississippi. Until next time...
