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.
My last beer here after my sampler was a full pint of New Realm Southern Brogue On Nitro. I was sorely tempted for a repeat of the wonderful Euphonia Pilsner, but hey, it was St. Patrick's Day, and I needed a stout. Better still an Irish Dry Stout on nitro.
New Realm says on the draft menu:
New realm Southern Brogue...but on NITRO. A super smooth, creamy experience brewed for St. Patrick's Day--get in the Irish state of mind right here in the South. A classic take on the Irish Dry Stout style, this black is crowned with a light tan head. Its aroma teems with roasted malt, coffee and hints of nuttiness and cocoa. Take a swig and find that its taste follows right along, but with some slight fruity esters from its yeast. Don't be intimidated, this beer may be dark as midnight in southern Ireland or southern Georgia, but it's smooth, clean and dangerously drinkable. Put down a few of these and you'll slip into a southern brogue of your own!
Sounds good, right? Although I do take issue with the fact they claim the beer has fruity esters from the yeast and is clean. That's a contradiction, New Realm people!
A 4-ounce taster of Southern Brogue on Nitro runs $2, a 16-ounce glass is $6. The beer has an alcohol content of 4.5% by volume.
My pint of New Realm Southern Brogue on Nitro arrived jet-black in color with a thick, very creamy tan head. The beer offered up a roasty chocolaty nose, and a sip revealed a smooth creamy body, with more roast and chocolate and light sourness into the dry roasty finish. This was an excellent Irish Dry, a dead ringer for a good pint of stout straight from the Emerald Isle.
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