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 taster glass separately and my server advised I could choose up to 4, though curiously their taster tray carries 6.

The second beer that I tried here was Kikimora IPA, an imperial IPA. New Realm says about it on their website:

A dank IPA. Pronounced with peachy, floral, light citrus complexities and a strong, dry finish to the palate.

And on the draft menu:

Brewed with a blend of four modern hop varieties. Tropical and floral, with assertive bitterness.

A 4-ounce taster of Kikimora Imperial IPA runs $3, a 12-ounce glass is $7 (that's high). The beer has an alcohol content of 8.5% by volume and hops are listed as: Azacca, Mosaic, Loral & Citra. No mention of malts, but they were rather thin here. That still bothers me. Malt is the soul of beer.

What is a Kikimora? Let's ask Wikipedia: Kikimora is a legendary creature, a female house spirit in Slavic (especially Eastern) mythology. Her role in the house is usually juxtaposed with that of the domovoy, whereas one of them is considered a "bad" spirit, and the other, a "good" one.

My taster of New Realm Kikimora IPA arrived a very pale golden color with a light head of fluffy white foam and a stone fruity nose. Taking a sip the beer is thin malty, with tropical pineapples and mango and a grassy light bitter finish. Not as bitter as I expected for the style, either.

Would I buy it again? Yes to get a bigger sample, but the price is high enough to reduce the frequency on that option, and I'll knock off a half star for that, 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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