Yay! It was my birthday, and the wife sprung a great little present on me. Knowing my love for pub crawls but aversion to drinking and driving (everyone should have an aversion to drinking and driving), my Beloved Barbara™ gave me a $100 gift card for a pub crawl and another $100 Lyft gift card to get there and back again (just like the book by Bilbo Baggins).

My first stop had been Abbey of The Holy Goats in Roswell, and that had set me back about $25 in Lyft fare (including tip, always tip your driver!). I knew just where I wanted to go next, and that was New Realm Brewing in Atlanta. Everybody was raving about it, and people from outside of Georgia were begging for their beers. New Realm was founded by Mitch Steele, he a former Stone brewmaster, and that seems to be what all the hype was about.

Anyway, the ride from Roswell down 400 to Atlanta and New Realm was 25 miles, and that set me back about $35 with tip. So far, I had spent $60 on Lyft fare, but that’s not a bad price at all to hit two breweries so far afield (and as we shall see another one on the way back).

New Realm and Abbey of the Holy Goats are very different indeed. The former is more of a store front in an office park, with brewing operations in the back and a small tasting room with bar, large table and assorted seats. New Realm is mammoth, with colossal grain silos, a full-service restaurant and several levels of dining areas (including the roof). There’s also a large patio area with many picnic tables and walk up window where you can order your beer. Beer to go, shirts and glasses are available from the gift shop.

It was a pleasant St. Patrick’s Day afternoon when I visited. Despite the crown I got a small table for one in no time, and my beers arrived in reasonable time. I got a sampler of 4 beers to start. These would not be the first New Realm beers for me since I had already enjoyed their Acca Dacca Ale at Taco Mac. New Realm prices each taser glass separately and my server advised I could choose up to 4, though curiously their taster tray carries 6.

The first beer that I tried here was Euphonia Pilsner, and it was excellent. A wonderful German style pils, New Realm says about it on their website:

A true brewer’s beer. Hop bursted with prolific hop aromatics and heightened levels of refreshment.

And on the draft menu:

Hop Bursted with Noble & new-school hop varieties. Crisp, dry with vibrant hop aroma.

A 4-ounce taster of Euphonia Pilsner runs $2, a 14-ounce schooner is $6. The beer has an alcohol content of 5% by volume and hops are listed as: Hersbrucker, Huell Melon, Saphir & Sterling. No mention of malts but one assumes German Pilsner malt.

My taster of New Realm Euphonia Pilsner arrived a pale golden color with a thick head of fluffy white foam and herbal, perfumey hops in the nose. Taking a sip, the beer offers crisp biscuit malt, dry earthy herbal hop character in the palate and a dry bitter hop finish.

Really an excellent German Pilsner, and I enjoyed it with a crock of their Euphonia Pilsner Onion Soup ($9), covered with a cap of gooey Gruyere and Parmesan cheese. Magnificent!

Update 7/26/2018: Euphonia Pils on tap at Taco Mac! I paid $6.12 for a beautiful 23-ounce mug of this crisp, hoppy pilsner. Delicious! It's in cans now, too.

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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