"Hey Jude, don't let me down"
“Hey that’s a really nice Saison you have there”
--Said the liquor store stranger wearing a carhartt jacket and a toboggan in the heat of a Georgia spring that hadn’t even had a winter. “Do you like Belgians?”
“Yeah I like Belgians”, I replied with curious optimism. How many changes in life can you chalk up to a conversation with a stranger? In my line of work, it’s a fair amount.
“Have you tried reformation yet?” the stranger inquired with a gleeful anticipation. Liquor store proselytization holds a special place in my heart, and it seemed like kismet with me having just resumed blogging about beer again. Could he sense it in the air? Did it hang over me like the stink of desperation of a single man in a bar on friday night after last call? With all the grace of a high cultured Maitre’d he ushered me back to the cooler. Fluorescents blinking as they teetered on the verge of life and death. The stranger tapped the glass like a child inspecting the lobster tank at a grocery store. And with the smile of someone with a secret they couldn’t keep to themselves he spoke-
“There she is. Northwest Georgia’s newest brewery. It pours lighter then a Blue Moon but clocks in at 9%. This is the real deal. I redid their roof last september”
And with that he he scooped up a sixer and thrusted it into my trembling hands. I was sold. How much of your life boils down to a chance encounter with a stranger?
Reformation sprung for a love of great european beer. There moto is “Set beer free”, and the beer walks the walk the brewers talk. Located in the sleepy suburb of Woodstock, only a half hour outside of Atlanta proper, Reformation has set up shop in the heart of what Georgians refer to as OTP, or Outside the perimeter. If you’re a country mouse who wants to pretend they’re a city mouse you live OTP. It’s in this way that reformation has got out to ensure their own brand of craft beer Jihad; of holy war not waged with improvised explosives wielded by zealots, but instead of passion and vision of beers as delicate and balances as a Michelin star entree. The Georgian juggernauts of Sweetwater, Terrapin, and Red brick are certainly no slouches in the craft game, but to quote Action Bronson, “They ain’t rappin’ like this anymore”.
My first experience with reformation was Jude, a delightful Belgian Trippel. The stranger from before was right, it poured lighter than even the lightest hefeweizen, but there was a beautiful and strange haze to it. It was cloudy like the urine of a man on a 8 day Mt Dew bender. Beautiful out of the minimalist almost art deco style can into my glass. Pours good with maybe a finger or two of eggshell white head. I can’t get over how well it matches the design of the can. Clearly a lot of thought went into this. I held the glass to the georgia sun and marveled. It was a phosphorescent beauty of copper fading to straw. The head fades to nothing but the beer does not look as if it lacks for it. Jude is a 9.2% beer but it takes you by surprise, like someone who slips in through the side window with it’s shoes off and clubs you in the back of the head with a blackjack. It’s very refreshing, true to it’s style with a crisp citrus flavor, tart apple, fading to caramel with a touch of butter. It drinks so light but very full, very balanced. This would be a great beer to have with a picnic, or a stroll through a park, or going to the zoo to throw peanuts at monkeys.
In final summation, if you can find Jude in your neck of the woods, and appreciate the finer things in life like a delicious Tripel, then you would be doing yourself a disgrace disservice to pass over Jude
“Yeah I like Belgians”, I replied with curious optimism. How many changes in life can you chalk up to a conversation with a stranger? In my line of work, it’s a fair amount.
“Have you tried reformation yet?” the stranger inquired with a gleeful anticipation. Liquor store proselytization holds a special place in my heart, and it seemed like kismet with me having just resumed blogging about beer again. Could he sense it in the air? Did it hang over me like the stink of desperation of a single man in a bar on friday night after last call? With all the grace of a high cultured Maitre’d he ushered me back to the cooler. Fluorescents blinking as they teetered on the verge of life and death. The stranger tapped the glass like a child inspecting the lobster tank at a grocery store. And with the smile of someone with a secret they couldn’t keep to themselves he spoke-
“There she is. Northwest Georgia’s newest brewery. It pours lighter then a Blue Moon but clocks in at 9%. This is the real deal. I redid their roof last september”
And with that he he scooped up a sixer and thrusted it into my trembling hands. I was sold. How much of your life boils down to a chance encounter with a stranger?
#SetBeerFree
Reformation sprung for a love of great european beer. There moto is “Set beer free”, and the beer walks the walk the brewers talk. Located in the sleepy suburb of Woodstock, only a half hour outside of Atlanta proper, Reformation has set up shop in the heart of what Georgians refer to as OTP, or Outside the perimeter. If you’re a country mouse who wants to pretend they’re a city mouse you live OTP. It’s in this way that reformation has got out to ensure their own brand of craft beer Jihad; of holy war not waged with improvised explosives wielded by zealots, but instead of passion and vision of beers as delicate and balances as a Michelin star entree. The Georgian juggernauts of Sweetwater, Terrapin, and Red brick are certainly no slouches in the craft game, but to quote Action Bronson, “They ain’t rappin’ like this anymore”.
"Remember, to let her into your heart"
My first experience with reformation was Jude, a delightful Belgian Trippel. The stranger from before was right, it poured lighter than even the lightest hefeweizen, but there was a beautiful and strange haze to it. It was cloudy like the urine of a man on a 8 day Mt Dew bender. Beautiful out of the minimalist almost art deco style can into my glass. Pours good with maybe a finger or two of eggshell white head. I can’t get over how well it matches the design of the can. Clearly a lot of thought went into this. I held the glass to the georgia sun and marveled. It was a phosphorescent beauty of copper fading to straw. The head fades to nothing but the beer does not look as if it lacks for it. Jude is a 9.2% beer but it takes you by surprise, like someone who slips in through the side window with it’s shoes off and clubs you in the back of the head with a blackjack. It’s very refreshing, true to it’s style with a crisp citrus flavor, tart apple, fading to caramel with a touch of butter. It drinks so light but very full, very balanced. This would be a great beer to have with a picnic, or a stroll through a park, or going to the zoo to throw peanuts at monkeys.
In final summation, if you can find Jude in your neck of the woods, and appreciate the finer things in life like a delicious Tripel, then you would be doing yourself a disgrace disservice to pass over Jude
"Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude"
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