I'm going to be in Lexington this weekend. Anyone know if Country Boy still has any of their bottles still available or any other brewery releases in Lexington I should look for?
If they have anything, the selection will be Country Western V.2 cans, Nacho Bait bottles, and Rum Barrel Black Gold Porter. Make sure you ask the bartenders before you settle up. Ethereal just released a funky Belgian Pale Ale, and might still have their all-Brett APA, on tap only. West Sixth does crowler fills of all non-barreled beers, the Heller Heaven DIPA is great. If you visit on Friday or Saturday evening/night, the Barrel Room is open where they have their BA stuff on tap. Snakes in a Barrel is really something to try.
We will get to Lexington on Friday evening and leave Sunday morning. Staying at the Campbell house. I've been to Country Boy and West 6th...how is Ethereal? Kind of off topic question...the family we are visiting are talking about going to Keeneland on Saturday. I know some race tracks allow coolers, do they?
Ethereal is great. Right now, it's the hot brewery in town. The layout down in the Distillery complex is still developing, but will be great when finished. The Break Room that shares the parking lot is a nice little dive bar that serves better booze.
Went to Ethereal when they first opened on Saturday. Great location and tap room with solid beers. The porch is awesome. The folks running it were great also. Went back that night and was much busier obviously. Because of that the staff was pretty frazzled. While was busier, I think they were making it worse than it was. Like they needed to take a deep breath and relax. Lexington is full of "bros" but they weren't being too obnoxious. Still Ethereal is likely now my favorite stop in Lexington. Went to Country Boy Saturday night as well. Ended up going back to the porch area (new to me) because the guy I was with said that the bartender inside could be a bit of a "douche". So the tap selection outside wasn't as good outside as inside. One thing that really dissappointed me was getting my beer served to me in a plastic solo cup. Now not trying to be a snob but come on. I don't know if they are doing it for the "bros" or cost factor. I did get a couple of bottles of the rum barreled aged porter...the pepper infused blonde didn't sound that appealing to me. Country Boy is still really good brewery though.
They serve plastic on the back patio because they don't have a sink back there to clean the glasses, and if you noticed, getting into and out of the patio bar is a chore (poor design on their part) for the bartender. I don't know who was working inside that night, but that's not a new accusation towards a particular bartender. However, if you all chose to avoid the inside taps, it was also your choice to not be served in actual glasses. The back patio isn't for the beer geeks, really. Most of the local craft beer geeks stay home on Friday and Saturday nights, just because things get hectic and the scene changes drastically. Ethereal is currently bringing in new staff, and some of their ownership team was out of town because of #CBC last week.
I knew Ethereal had folks at CBC. I chalk it up for them not being open that long. As far as Country Boy's back patio, I had no idea that they didn't serve glass until I was handed my plastic cup. I was following the lead of my niece's husband who has had some "less than stellar" service from the inside bartender apparently. Obviously Lexington is a huge college town so Friday's and Saturday's those places are "bro" central, but unfortunately that was the only night I had. But make no mistake...these are minor. Country Boy is still great and if my companion would have not had to get home, I likely would have gone inside to try some of the more unusual offerings, regardless of the bartender Ethereal has the chance to become the best place in Lexington, bar none. Great set up, really solid beer (their Brett stuff was on point) and just overall good people. When I was there earlier in the day, the bartender was really good guy. I'm sure on Fridays and Saturdays these places have to put up with alot. Another question...Friday night we were going to go to Pints and Pies. Turns out was packed and no parking, so we went to Pazzo's...which was great as always (Gumball head on tap...win!). Anyway on the way to see if we could get into Pints and Pies, I looked on their website and they listed a couple of Fat Head beers. Are they distributed in Lexington because I was told they weren't at the Beer Trappe.
I think that might be the case, I'm looking at the Lexington brew list, and don't see any Fat Heads. However, that's the location to be on Apr. 29 if you like KBS and CBS. Just sayin'.
