Beereviews Highlights: Voodoo Dog

Matt and I spend a fair amount of time drinking which means that we occasionally have to stop for a meal. We'd like to introduce a new feature to the blog where we highlight food establishments that we particularly enjoy. They will tend to feature beer, so don't you worry about us drying out.

Up first is the Tallahassee favorite Voodoo Dog. It's located in a purple garage, right off Gaines St (just a couple blocks from Grasslands!). Their signature menu item is the "Voodoo Dog," which is a hot dog wrapped in bacon, and topped however you'd like. The menu also features burgers and sides. Matt's love of hot dogs is well-documented (you wouldn't believe how many are in our refrigerator) and this is a place he's been talking up to me since I first started visiting Tallahassee.

We recently visited and got some dogs. As we sat down at the table, I couldn't help but notice the kitschy artwork all over the place. A lot of it is music-themed, however the velvet painting of Robocop is a solid addition. Along the walls on the way to the bathroom is a mural of hot dogs with various toppings, which I found strange, but excellent. I had a Voodoo Dog with cheese and Matt had a hot dog with guacamole, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and probably some kind of pepper. It was Happy Hour which, of course, is a new concept to me. In North Carolina, establishments are not permitted to offer specials on alcohol at any point if they don't offer them the whole day. So "Happy Hour" means half-priced appetizers where I'm from. Voodoo Dog's Happy Hour means $1 PBR 16-oz cans. They offer Happy Hour Mon-Sat from 3-7 and all day Sunday. For those of you who aren't down with the Pabst, they have a limited selection of craft beers as well as a soda fountain.

Matt enjoys his overloaded hot dog and somehow manages to get none of it into his moustache.

And boy were the hot dogs tasty. The bacon was tasty and cooked just right and the cheese completely covered the dog. Matt's hot dog was laden with delicious toppings, but they didn't skimp on a single one. There was consistent guac along the whole thing and quite a bit of it. The two hot dogs, fries, and beer cost us right around $15, which is a very reasonable price for a date night. On the way out, we noticed their side patio with picnic tables. It looks like a perfect place to enjoy some of the Tallahassee sunshine.

We highly recommend Voodoo Dog if you're going to be anywhere near Tallahassee. If you make a trip there, be sure to let us know!

Not-So Local Brewery: Grasslands Brewing

Rest assured, dear readers, that Matt Stache did not move back down to Tallahassee and give up drinking. He's been scoping out the local watering holes and he treated me to a few of his favorites when I was there earlier this year.

Florida has long been a craft beer desert, with Tallahassee absolutely in the midst of it. We visited one of Matt's favorite nearby establishments, Leon Pub. Their menu is small font and several pages, and contains the widest selection of domestic beers I've ever seen and a large number of imports as well. But craft beer? Hardly. This is a place you can get all 3 varieties of Genesee, but not a Terrapin in sight. And local brews? Fuhgeddaboutit.

In recent years, there have been a few newcomers to the Florida brewing scene. Tallahassee is home to both Proof, in the popular Railroad Square area, and Grasslands Brewing, located on Gaines Street. We had an opportunity to visit Grasslands and meet owner Scott Hall. He sat down with us to film an episode and knock back a few beers.

Grasslands is on Gaines Street, they currently occupy 5000 sq ft of a complex that's also home to Catalina Coffee, Warhorse Whiskey Bar, and Gaines Street Pies. It's a strip that feels plucked right out of NoDa or Brooklyn. The whole neighborhood is up and coming in a way that doesn't feel gentrified. It's a thriving spot for hip small business owners. Grasslands is ever improving their tap selection and their environment. They have a small patio that's perfect for sipping a beer while beating the sweltering sun that gives Florida its nickname.

Grasslands has a fairly large offering of beers, which is something I've noticed about mew breweries opening these days. Gone are the days when you can open a brewery with 3 flagship beers. The customers demand more. I recall seeing this when we visited the newly opened Legion. They had been open scarcely a week and had 11 of their own beers on tap. This has led to some interesting specialized brews. For examples, Grasslands had both an oyster gose and an award-winning pickle gose available. For a noted pickle hater such as myself, the pickle beer can be a challenge. On the other hand, Matt really enjoyed it. For those wanting something more universal, the G-Street Kolsch is a fine example of the style. They have some exciting things coming down the pipeline soon, including a Boiled Peanut Gose.

Scott and the crew at Grasslands have managed to create an environment that is friendly and welcoming, with events regularly and a dog-friendly taproom. They may be new to the craft beer scene, but I have a feeling they'll be around for a while.




Grasslands has recently acquired a larger production system so they can brew to match demand, however they will continue to brew small batches on their pilot system. They're beginning distribution soon, so look for a Grasslands brew near you soon!

Local Brewery: Legion Brewing

The building that used to use Brodt's Music on Commonwealth Ave sat unused for some time. Until one day, in the Summer of 2015, a sign advertising a new brewery went up. It was to be called Legion. As a frequenter of the Plaza Midwood spots, I was elated to say the least. A brewery in our own backyard! A brewery that would be easy to walk to! As with all breweries, the opening seemed a little delayed, but Matt and I had a chance to visit mid-December. And we've been back several times since.

The brewery itself has a long bar and plenty of booth and table seating around. They have a little outdoor space and even a little terrace overlooking the brewing equipment. There's flatscreen TVs showing the game of the week (of course, why would it be anything but the Panthers?!) and lots of games to be found. It appears to be very dog friendly, as there's always pups to be found.

I was also floored to see the wide variety of beers available. Most new breweries come out with a few beers initially and then expand as they go. But Legion offered 11 beers from the start. A flight is definitely the right way to go, with so many beers to choose from. I enjoyed the Cranbizzle Saison and the Sparkle Party Weisse. Matt is a fan of Daisy Chain White IPA and Freedom Park Pale Ale.

I'll interject for a moment and address my enjoyment of a saison. I typically do not like saisons, but the Legion brewmaster Phil says that saisons are, "Just seasonal beers, they don't have to use the saison yeast." So his interpretation of a saison is less farmhouse, more delicious.

And boy, do the beers go down easy. They all seem to be solid examples of their individual style and they drink quickly.

I look forward to what's to come from this brewery. I fully encourage everyone out there to check it out. Make it part of a Plaza Midwood bar crawl and enjoy a night out in the hood.

Local Brewery: Unknown Brewing

This time, I'm going to profile a brewery near and dear to my heart. The owner, Brad Shell, lives up the street from me, so I've been seeing his vehicles since they initially opened up. My mom and I visited their brewery as part of the St. Patrick's Day South End brewery crawl a few years ago, which was shortly after they opened. Brad led a tour of the brewing operation and I was struck by his charisma, his experience, and his passion. And I dug the concept essence of the brewery, "Step into the unknown," complete with wall of photos of people doing wacky stuff, but upon sampling their beer, I was unimpressed, to say the least.

I gave them another shot when the Charlotte Roller Girls were invited to an event held there, Craft Chicks Hustle Harder. It was a showcase of bands with female singers, female artisans and vendors, and some ladies on aerial silks. That was the day they were releasing No Shame Ginger Wheat. Given beer tickets, I was only too happy to sample what I thought would be a delightfully refreshing ale. And it wasn't. The ginger flavor was muddy and the underlying wheat beer was just ok. I did enjoy the Pregame Session Ale.

I kept trying their beers, because the idea of Unknown Brewing was just so good. I came across beers that were tolerable, but I hoped they would improve.

Flash forward to the Summer Beereviews Tour 2015 (I just titled it that), and we gave Unknown another chance. Matt and I talked to the charming Elizabeth, who seems to run the show. She greeted us warmly and liked the idea of our project. She joined us for a beer when she got off her shift and proceeded to tell us about how Brad had sent a letter shortly before their year anniversary and it confirmed what I'd been thinking. They were so thrilled to get the facility open and brewing that they didn't perfect their recipes before they distributed them. They let beers out that weren't top shelf. But he goes on to say that they'd spent some time readjusting and he encouraged everyone who'd been dissatisfied in the past to come back and try the new recipes.

They've hyperfocused on making their beers good. And it has paid off. They carry a life-changing IPA called Over the Edge. It was among the first IPAs that I genuinely liked. And the No Shame Ginger Wheat is a great balance of ginger flavor with a fine wheat ale. They also carry the inherently drinkable Pregame Session Ale.

But, with an ideology like theirs, they are always experimenting. They release limited editions of crazy beers all the time like "La Jordana del Escorpion en Fuego Hacia la Casa del Chupacabra Muerto," or the beer brewed with food-grade scorpions. They also took a note from Arnold Palmer when brewing Hospitali-Tea, which is made with sweet tea.

I'm going to echo Brad's sentiment and strongly urge you to let them wow you if you were previously underwhelmed by their brews. And if you've never sampled their wares, there's no time like the present to step into the Unknown.

Local Brewery: Free Range Brewing

It's time to spotlight another local brewery and this time, it's brand new to the game Free Range Brewing.

Free Range opened within the last couple of months, after a long and arduous process to acquire the necessary materials, approvals, and permits, chronicled here by Creative Loafing's Jeff Hahne. The article goes fairly in depth about just how difficult it is to open a brewery, between laws that make the potential owners jump through hoops and inspections that contradict approved proposals. Chris Goulet, President of Birdsong Brewing (who we wrote about here) weighed in on some of the problems he faced when they were moving into the new facility. The article really made it clear that beer making is no easy task, and it definitely gave me a greater appreciation for the breweries that are up and operating in town and made me want to support them.

When we visited Free Range, they had a wide variety of beers. They offered them in small glasses and half pints, with only a few available in a pint. We had a flight while we were there and were particularly impressed by the oyster stout.

The taproom itself is in an old warehouse on N. Davidson, also home to Time Out Youth and Different Roads Home. It has a lot of natural light and an area where kids can play with games and puzzles, while their parents relax. On a Saturday afternoon, the place was fairly full of families. The kids were having a great time, and they remained fairly quiet. The taproom has ample seating at both the bar and at booth-styled tables along the wall. The chairs are upcycled school bus seats.

We had a chance to speak with Jeff Alexander, one of the founders of the brewery (the other is his brother, Jason). They seem to have a wild imagination and I look forward to what will come from them in the future.

Free Range does not yet have a website, I'm sure they're more focused on getting their brews right at this time, but you can find them on Facebook.

Local Brewery: NoDa Brewing

We continued our brew-tour by heading down the street to NoDa Brewing Company. Located in the happening area that's also home to Amelie's, NoDa opened in 2011. They opened just a few months before Birdsong in the building next door. NoDa's taproom is fairly small, they might be due for a nice upgrade sometime in the near future as they're always crowded when I'm there.

NoDa's backbone is in their experimentation with IPAs and pale ales. Hop, Drop, N Roll, an American-style IPA, is perhaps their flagship, as it won a 2014 World Beer Cup award. Among their other notables are Woody and Wilcox, named for local radio personalities, Jam Session Pale Ale, and Coco Loco coconut porter.

NoDa does small batch releases, calling their NoDables, and releasing them on Tuesdays. When we were there, they were getting ready to debut their Cucumber Watermelon Blonde Ale. This week's release is Charity Tuesday Green Tea Ale.

I would be completely remiss if I were to talk about NoDa Brewing without mentioning their delicious Gordgeous pumpkin ale. I am a fan of pumpkin beers, when the weather is appropriate, and NoDa's is absolutely the best in town!

NoDa's website has fantastic info like where to find their beers, what food trucks will be there on a given night, and what the week's NoDable release will be.

Local Brewery: Birdsong Brewing

A few weeks ago, Matt and I took a little tour of Charlotte's breweries. We hit a few familiar spots and some new ones. Charlotte is a community rich in beer culture, with more spots opening every day. We're going to profile the breweries, so that you, the casual beer drinker, can get a better understanding of what Charlotte has to offer you.

We started out at Birdsong Brewing. Birdsong has been around since 2011, but until this year their taproom was tiny and tucked behind another facility in the NoDa neighborhood. Their new taproom is open and welcoming with lots of seating. There's a great covered outdoor patio where you can enjoy a fine brew and some eats from a local food truck. Or you can just fill up on peanuts, which is my jam.

Birdsong is very committed to the community, using as many local ingredients as possible. They also give their spent grain to farms to use as feed, and compost the peanut shells.

Birdsong's beers have found their way into many local establishments, a fact chronicled by a chalkboard behind the bar. I'd say they're best known for the Jalapeno Pale Ale and the Lazy Bird Brown Ale. The Jalapeno is a refreshing pale ale, with the flavor of jalapenos. Most of the time, the beer does not carry the spice of jalapenos, but every once in a while, you might catch a fresh keg at the brewery and wind up with some kick in your glass.

I prefer the MexiCali Stout myself, which is a coffee stout with a hint of chili. The chili is extremely mild and just serves to bring out the flavor of the cinnamon and other spices. Birdsong claims MexiCali is a seasonal beer, available in Fall and Winter (but I've seen it other times of the year). And when MexiCali isn't available, I enjoy a nice Doin' Thyme Witbier. Doin' Thyme is a Belgian wheat beer with thyme, coriander, and lemon. It's a delightfully refreshing beer that definitely staves off the Carolina heat in the Spring and Summer, which is when it's available.

Birdsong does a fun event every Thursday, called THURSty THURSday where brewmaster Conor Robinson debuts a limited release small batch of something special.

For information on finding Birdsong beers or visiting their brewery, check out their website.