Fest by Weeping Radish

Weeping Radish Fest originally hails from the easternmost extremities of North Carolina and the great city of Manteo, on Roanoke Island.  That is the Outer Banks area for all those not familiar.  The brewery is Weeping Radish Farm Brewery and Butchery, and, yes, you read correctly.  Weeping Radish Farm Brewery and Butchery, which just so happens to also be North Carolina's oldest microbrewery.  In 2006, the original brewery was closed and a new location opened right across the Albemarle Sound at their twenty-four acre Eco Farm in Jarvisburg, which is just a few miles north of Kitty Hawk, Nags Head, and Duck.  Who knew? You can even order meat and beer directly from them via their website, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Fest is a European Amber Lager.  According to All About Beer Magazine, American brewers generally favor making their amber lagers a bit more hoppy than the Vienna lagers, on which they are loosely based.  Weeping Radish, however, quite aptly calls Fest "European."  The aroma is big, bold, fruity, and very tangy.  This lager pulls absolutely no punches, but tastes just like it smells: tangy and tart--extremely tart.  Sans any sweetness whatsoever, these tart and fruit flavors generate an almost lambicesque piquancy.  There is little else to round out the flavor, however, just this uncompromising zing.  Perhaps just the faintest of caramel notes, mostly in the aroma, and a mild maltiness.  All in all, it is the Sweet Tarts of lagers.

Weeping Radish Fest is 5.2% ABV and available in Winston-Salem at Total Wine & More, or from their website.  To read more about the obscure but very welcome Weeping Radish Farm Brewery and Butchery, click here.  The sojourn of sampling local brews from Murphy to Manteo is nearly complete...Bottoms up!