Carolina Ale House to open first Georgia location in Augusta next week

Augustans have been staring over the last few months at the transformation of the old Tony Roma’s restaurant on Robert C. Daniel, Jr. Parkway into its new incarnation, Carolina Ale House. And this coming Wednesday, July 7th, onlookers should finally be able to get their first experience at the Ale House when the North Carolina-based chain opens its doors for the first time on Georgia soil.

Carolina Ale House is a sports-oriented restaurant/bar chain that first began in 1999 in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company has since expanded its number of North Carolina locations to thirteen (with one location in the Raleigh/Durham International Airport) and has moved out of the state with several locations in South Carolina and Florida, and the new Augusta restaurant will be its first Georgia location.

“Food. Sports. Fun.” That’s the motto at Carolina Ale House. And while the restaurant is primarily a sports-themed restaurant, with the Augusta location sporting (no pun intended) 50 flat-screen HDTVs (with some even located on the outdoor patio), all of the major sports packages including UFC, and a full appetizing menu is served daily from 11:00 am until 2:00 am, when Ale House is part of the name, beer is to be expected. And luckily for Augustans, there’s plenty to keep both beer geeks and die-hard light beer drinkers happy.

Though the number of TVs outweighs the number of draft lines, there is still an impressive selection 40 different beers available on-tap, spanning the range from American Light Lagers to American-style pale ales and IPAs to a variety of wheat ales and more. All three of Georgia’s microbreweries are represented, and some of their beers can only be found at the Ale House – Atlanta Brewing Company’s Red Brick Blonde Ale, and Sweetwater’s Georgia Brown and IPA (one of my all-time favorite IPAs) cannot be found on draft anywhere else in the CSRA. And what’s even more exciting is that the Augusta location will be one of the only locations outside of Atlanta to feature Sweetwater’s Dank Tank series of one-off beers in draught format beginning with Magnum I.P. The release of that beer will definitely be an event worth making. Other notable draft beers found nowhere else in the Augusta area include the fabulous Bell’s Oberon Ale, Abita TurboDog, and McSorley’s Irish Black Lager.

In addition to the forty draft beers, a somewhat lengthy bottle selection will also be available, and while it consists mostly of every version of light lager on the market, there are some gems to be had, including Chimay Blue and Chimay Red, Stone Arrogant Bastard Ale, and Unibroue’s Trois Pistoles and La Fin du Monde.

While the draft beer selection may be one of the better in the area, and while the prospect of enjoying Dank Tank beers on-tap in Augusta is almost enough to make a beer nerd living in the CSRA wet himself with glee, probably the most exciting—and arguably most important—aspect of Carolina Ale House’s beery persona is its dedication to educating its staff about beer in general and the bar’s selection in particular. Director of Operations Greg Garrans is a self-proclaimed hop-head and rightfully believes that education about one of the restaurant’s biggest draws is extremely important to both the betterment of the staff as well as the consumer, and he and Marketing Coordinator Lea Cooper have worked extensively to score relationships with breweries like Sweetwater in an effort to bring better beer to the restaurant and develop future beer-related festivals and other events for the Augusta area.

Yours truly has even been hired to help educate the staff about beer in addition to other duties.

One interesting technology implemented by the restaurant that will undoubtedly come as a plus to some beer drinkers, particularly those who have yet to fall into the grasp of full-flavored, independently brewed craft beer, is actually a detriment to those who wish to enjoy their beer to its fullest: Carolina Ale House stores its draft kegs at a low, low 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and a special glycol wrap system keeps the beer ultra-cold on its way to the tap, ultimately negating the need for a frosted glass. The negative? For beers meant to be enjoyed at higher temperatures (i.e. virtually all craft beers), the low temperature will subdue the most pleasant characteristics of the beer, meaning that to fully enjoy the full range of flavors and aromas, a bit of waiting will be necessary.

That shouldn’t be much of a problem, though. With a great menu, plenty of TVs and, undoubtedly, great conviviality to keep one occupied, waiting for a pint of Highland’s Oatmeal Porter to warm up shouldn’t be such a tedious undertaking. Especially if sitting at the bar on the large outdoor patio in the middle of this hot Georgia summer.

But if that’s the case, Oatmeal Porter probably won’t be the drink of choice. No frets, though. If your favorite local Craft Beer Examiner does his job properly, the bartender should be able to make the perfect suggestion for the hot weather from the row of outdoor taps.

Did I mention Sweetwater IPA and Bell’s Oberon are available on-tap? Take that, sweltering summer heat.