CulturAle Press

Roanoke, So Far, So Good: Big Lick Resilience IPA, Roanoke, Va.

Date: May 9, 2019

The Story— We’re in Roanoke for the week (we wish — it was two days several weeks ago).  We reluctantly leave the Goats to head closer to downtown.

Big Lick is a big garage-type brewery with a good local following, a big range of beers, and a way above average way of serving you food that they don’t make. The Mexican restaurant across the street has a rep at the door– you order from him, he takes your card and rings you up, and the food appears for you soon after.

At peak times, the staff works hard to keep what could be discouragingly long lines moving well and, remarkably, still finds time to make you feel welcome.  They brew a good range of beers and all of them were fine.  If they have a style they do better than the others we didn’t find it, but didn’t regret any of the several beers we tried.   We picked their IPA for this post because it might have beer the beer we settled in with despite the risk of an evening’s romance with a 6.7% beer.

The Beer— Chewy and toasty caramel malt with just a bit of an edge to it.  Plentiful hops run to spicy and give along bitter with some metal.  This is what you’d expect from an IPA a few years ago, and what we’re grateful for in an IPA today.

Value — good.  Like the goats, they can’t stay in business without a pretty good price for the beer.  Other than a few hats, this is all the income they get.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

We’re kicking off May with some of the best beers we found on a recent trip to Roanoke, Virginia.  Roanoke is a haul from any of the population centers of the Mid Atlantic.  But Roanoke is a wonderful railroad center that still vibrates from rattling freights passing through all hours of the day and night, an d arich music  scene makes its own music.  National brewers are aware of its charms– Deschutes almost built a brewery here (and might still) and Deschutes as well as Virginia brewers Three Notch’d and Starr Hill have opened tap rooms.  The real charm of the city, however, lies in the trio of truly local breweries.   Combined, though, you can visit a half dozen breweries and brewery taps.  Most of them walkable and none are quite the same as any other; this city is a gift than the vast majority of Germans can only dream about anymore.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”