Well wasn’t that nice of Taco Mac here in Canton. They brought in a new beer (they do that all the time actually) from a relatively new brewery on the Georgia scene. The beer is called Devil’s Den IPA from the Grumpy Old Men Brewery in Blue Ridge, Georgia. This is the first beer I’ve had from this brewery, always something to be happy about. Grumpy Old Men was founded by a pair of retirees, hence the name.

I had my taste of Grumpy Old Men Devil’s Den IPA back in March, and thought it was pretty neat to have a beer from two Grumpy Old Men in Blue Ridge drunk by this grumpy old man in Canton. Since Blue Ridge is only an hour’s ride north of me, I decided to take a ride there one fine Friday during my April vacation week.

Blue Ridge actually has three breweries, which is saying something for a small town of only a few thousand residents. Sadly, Grumpy Old Men was closed when I got there (I knew there was a good risk of this going in), but I did get to visit the other two breweries, Fannin and Blue Ridge. By chance, I was buying a Grumpy Old Men beer glass in a local gift shop and ran into one of the owners, Steve. Steve told me that with the new changes coming to Georgia law, they’ll soon be able to sell growlers with a tour, and will therefore increase their hours of availability to the public. For now, they only offer tours about once a month.

Back to the Devil’s Den IPA I enjoyed at Taco Mac. It has an alcohol content of 6% listed on the company website, although Taco Mac had it pegged at 6.4%. The beer was served in an 11-ounce short pour glass, although that was a little easier to take with the $6.50 price tag. This is a nano-brewery after all, but the beer was very good and I would have preferred a full mug pour.

My glass of Grumpy Old Men Devils Den arrived a beautiful ornage to amber color with a moderate amount of creamy foam and a light herbal tea like hoppiness in the nose. Taking a sip, I got some very nice chewy caramel malt up front followed by bright lemony citrus, a bit of piney resin, and a long lingering dry herbal bitterness. It even had great hop burps, too.

This was a very nicely done IPA for me, classic American style with malt and hops nicely balanced. The motto at Grumpy Old Men is “If we don't like it, we don't drink it, if we don't drink it, we don't sell it.” Amen to that my good men!

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

 

 



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