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 third beer that I tried here was Perun Pale Ale. New Realm says about it on their website:
An homage to the style that created craft beer. Nicely balanced, blend of new and classic hop varietals and caramel malt.
On the draft menu they mention citrus and pine, too. Hops listed are:
HOPS: Cascade, Idaho 7 & Chinook
A 4-ounce taster of Kikimora Imperial IPA runs $2, a 16-ounce glass is $6. The beer has an alcohol content of 5.5% by volume. I am again disturbed they don't list the malts used on their website.
Perun is named for the god of thunder and lightning in Slavic mythology. An eastern European Thor, if you will. This is the second New Realm beer that I have tried named for Slavic mythology (Kikimora Double IPA being the other).
My taster of Perun Pale Ale arrived a beautiful deep amber color with a moderate head and soft resin and pine in the nose. Taking a sip, I got light caramel malt with those same hop notes dancing across it leading into a balancing bitter finish. Like a gentler Sierra Nevada Pale Ale to me, and a pleasant beer indeed.
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