My two favorite times of the day are morning and beer:30. Rich, bold, black coffee before a breakfast consisting of a muffin when I’m in a hurry or a bacon, egg, kale burrito when I have the time. And then a cold craft beer….the lunch beer. A great way to break up the day.
Lately, maybe because it’s warmer than usual in Bryson City, my go-to beers have been IPAs. People who know me well know that I started out as a dark-beer-only kind of drinker. Pounding stouts at 100lbs and keeping up with session IPA drinkers weighing in at over 175lbs was easier for me than you would imagine. Now with that being said, you can imagine how excited I am that so many brewers are bringing my favorite stout and porter flavors to the IPA. I know it’s not a new thing, but it hasn’t always appealed to me the way it does now. They also haven’t always been this well executed. I know there are a lot of great coffee IPAs out there so I’m only going to touch on a couple that I have enjoyed recently.
Let’s start with the Mocha IPA from Stone Brewing Company. I picked up a 6-pack of 12oz bottles in Sylva, NC at PJ’s BP. The bottle states that it is a “style-defying double India pale ale with cacao & coffee”. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s seeing a tasty description like this on a beer, getting excited about it, then never tasting any of the flavors they claimed I would taste. However, this one did not disappoint. Because it is a double IPA it was slightly similar to a white stout in mouthfeel and booziness, yet it was still crisp like a traditional IPA. The cacao and coffee aromas were strong but did not cover up the wonderful scent of hops. I was actually very surprised at how the coffee and hop flavors coexisted. My husband was quick to let me know that he had found a new favorite beer. I was with him when we first saw it, but he couldn’t bring himself to try it. Glad we finally did!
The next beer is a collaborative brew that was released last month. Appalachian Mountain Brewery
joined forces with Fonta Flora to bring us Baba Budan Coffee IPA. We purchased a 4-pack of 16oz cans from Ingles in Bryson City, NC. Baba Budan was a 16-century Sufi who is said to have smuggled the coffee bean to India from Yemen, making it available to the rest of the world. If that is true, we owe him a great deal of thanks. What better person to name a beer after? When I cracked open the first can, the aroma reminded me of my favorite part of a shot of espresso, the crema. The color was beautiful, slightly golden orange. The head was a creamy off-white. The IPA part of this beer is in true West-coast fashion and packs a citrusy punch. The combination of citrus and espresso notes made me think of the tropical places that both originated from. I expected all these flavors to give way to the bitterness of coffee and citrus, however the finish was dry and clean. It may be dangerous how drinkable this one is for me. Two of my favorite NC breweries combining two of my favorite things. Thanks, guys! We’ll be purchasing this one again….and again.
So my two loves have found each other in a way I never saw coming. Thanks to these brewers for realizing how many craft beer lovers are also coffee lovers. I can’t wait to explore more. I started strong, these two may be hard to follow. On my next off day, I may just have to skip the hot cup of joe and opt for a breakfast beer!
Appalachian Mountain Brewery is located at 163 Boone Creek Drive in Boone, NC. Fonta Flora Brewery is located at 317 N Green Street in Morganton, NC. The Mocha IPA was brewed at Stone Brewing’s World Bistro & Gardens in Escondido, CA.
Pj’s BP gas station is located at 237 Asheville Hwy in Sylva, NC. Though you wouldn’t guess it from the outside appearance, this place has one of the biggest and best beer selections in western NC!
All three breweries can be found on Facebook, Instagram, and all those other fun social media outlets, so check ’em out!