The drive from home to New Orleans is about 14 hours in the best conditions, and I'm usually good for about 8 hours before I start going nuts, so it was a blessing to have the good folks at Tallulah Brewing in Jasper, AL have us in kinda last minute to help us break up the trip.
I had played Tallulah back on the winter tour, and knew it would be a fun place to stop, and even better to squeeze in another show rather than sit in a hotel room.
Tallulah Brewing Company - Jasper, AL
Beers are distributed in kegs regionally. Growlers and can 4-packs are available at the tap room. Wider can distribution soon coming after the brewery's expansion.
Played: 2/16/2019 ; 4/11/2019
The brewery is pretty new, and has an interesting story behind it's history and name, but I already covered that in the blog documenting my first visit, so I'd encourage you to check that out if you haven't already (see linked date above). Because that last visit was so recent there really wasn't much changed on the beer menu, so I did drink many of the same fine beers as last time, but I wanted to point out one new brew that was not only a new flavor for me, but seems to be rather popular right now in the Gulf Shore region (and maybe elsewhere, I don't know)... an Apricot Sour. Tallulah normally has an apricot blonde on the menu, but this sour variation is a seasonal rotation. It was quite refreshing, not too heavy on the apricot, and not too obnoxious with the sour.... it was just the right amount of tart, and just a delicate hint at the apricot floating over the top. I'm sure this one will be popular as the weather starts getting sticky in Alabama.
The other treat of the night was the Strawberry Milkshake IPA. Being a “milkshake” variety, it has a touch of lactose added to give it a little etra creaminess, which again was used very tastefully in this one.... just enough to make it a tad creamy, but not so much to make it thick. Same with the strawberry... a nice addition to the aroma, and just a hint of the fruit goodness to make it refreshing, but without being too fruity or sweet.
Musically the night (and the first half of this run) was rather different because my boy Brad joined me for the festivities, played a few tunes, and sat in with me for a few each night. On this particular night, at the very end of the night, a request was made for “Superman” (probably most popular for R.E.M.'s cover of it on “Life's Rich Pageant”)... a song that I knew well, but I think Brad and I had only every played once before, many moons ago, on a living room couch. Throwing caution to the wind, and knowing it was the last song, we gave it a shot and I have to say rather nailed the harmonies. In the wee hours of the morning, I think around 2am, on the road to New Orleans we discovered that video of this had made it online... so there is footage of us playing Superman for the first time (publicly) floating out there somewhere...
I want to say “thanks!” again to the folks at Tallulah for having us in on such short notice. It's always great to visit a fun family brewery, and it was an awesome way to break up the drive. Hope to be back again some time next year!
After the show we piled back into the van and pushed on for a few more hours towards New Orleans, for Friday night's show at Second Line Brewing....
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