I was lost in Asheville, North Carolina. OK, well, maybe I wasn’t really lost. I had left the Wicked Weed brewpub not so long ago, you see, and was trying to find Wedge Brewing. Yes, my phone has a GPS built in, but smart phone batteries don’t last long, and mine was running low. As I descended Hilliard, I ran into…a brewery! Hi-Wire to be specific (more on them later), but I stopped in to sample the wares.

After sampling the wares, I was back on foot to find Wedge. Except, well, you see I took a wrong turn and ended up on Lexington Avenue. Remembering that that street has a brewery of the same name, I made my next stop Lexington Avenue Brewery. I was not disappointed.

Here I enjoyed a sampler of 8 brews (4 ounces each). They were:

·         Hop Burst Spring Ale

·         Waves of Grain Amber

·         LAB IPA

·         Eleanor's Rye

·         Three Threads Porter

·         LAB American Pale

·         Thumper Belgian Tripel

 

And one more, a very interesting beer called Buck Mild Experimental. Here’s what the brewery says about this brew that weighs in at 4.6% alcohol by volume and 23 IBUs:

Take a walk on the mild side with this English mild gone wild. Notes of roast and caramel from sweet English malts meld with toasted coconut to tantalize your senses. We spice up your drinking experience by aging this session beer on cayenne peppers to add a slightly smoky heat to keep you warm as we enter the last leg of winter.

My server was funny, she warned me this one was not for everyone and spicy with the cayenne. I had to advise her to bring it on, I thrive on such beers, and she did. The beer arrived a medium amber color with a light head formation on my sample and a surprising amount of coconut along with the pepper in the nose. The light malt underneath this one supported the rich toasted coconut wonderfully, though the spicy cayenne pepper was the dominant feature here. It permeated the beer wonderfully and left the beer finishing spicy and dry.

You can enjoy a pint of this beer when it’s on for about $5. The brewery runs specials with $10 pitchers at times, so be sure to check for that. As I mentioned earlier, my cell phone was running low but luckily I had my charger and Lexington Avenue Brewery has outlets next to some of the rear tables should you need to charge up as I did.

I was advised to order the pretzel here as a snack, and I’m glad I did. They’re called “Old World Pretzels” and you get two of these monsters for $8, a great snack for two in fact. Mine arrived hot and doughy with just the right amount of Kosher salt on top and cheese sauce and spicy mustard to dip in. The perfect match for a sampler of Lexington Avenue beers.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler

 

 

 



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