The Beast and the Brewhouse

So after much crying and gnashing of teeth the missus and I decided to take the mighty Beast on our tour of Southeastern breweries. The Beast is a 2005 Ural Gear Up. Now I have a certain love hate relationship with the Beast. I won’t go into all the details, but after a discussion or two it was decided; why have it if you’re not going to use it. So stick around and see if the Beast and I are still together at the end. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Anyway, the first bit of road was straighter than I would like to admit. But we didn’t get started until after work so we had some ground to cover. However in an effort to avoid the middle of Chattanooga I discovered hwy 27 over Signal Mountain. Wowzer! I am coming back to this on a real motorcycle someday. Great curves, great pavement and very little traffic. <o></o>
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So on to the reason for our tour. First stop McHale’s Pub and Brewery. A little dive on the North side of Chattanooga with some great beers. <o></o>
http://www.mchalesbrewhouse.com/<o></o>
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Next stop is the Nantahala Brewery in Bryson City, NC <o></o>
http://nantahalabrewing.wordpress.com/<o></o>

Nice to see some adventures in the backyard. Looking forward to more.

Most if not all of my rides center around breweries. I applaud your trip. Maybe by the end you'll get that "real" bike you seem to want!

A man can never have too many tools. You need at least one for every job.

On with the story.

Back to McHales Brewery and Pub. Or maybe it was pup and brewery. Things were already getting a bit fuzzy…. Anyway this is their beer.

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McHales is a small bar and grill, mostly bar. Ok, OK, it was a smoky little dive with a couple of pool tables. You have already seen their beer. This is a look at their production facility. <o></o>
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It mostly fit into a room the size of a large closet. But the results were excellent. So far I think I like the beer at McHales best. Not that the others were bad. But McHales brews were just chock full of flavor. The food was OK. The missus has the fish and chips, I had a jalapeno burger. Both were excellent. The burger was not my first choice though. They were out of the Irish stew and Cornish Pie. Oh well, maybe next time. <o></o>

The 4th of July found us heading towards Bryson City, via Tellico Plains and the Cherohala. On the way we made the required stop at the Tellico Motorcycle Outfitters. This guy has everything you could ask for, at pretty good prices as well. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Also it has been said that man cannot live by beer alone. He also needs ice cream. Found right across the street.
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Nantahala brewing company, Bryson city. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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The Nantahala Brewery Company in Bryson City was next. More yummy beer. But no stout which was very sad. The proprietor said they just didn’t sell enough of it in the summer. Shades of coors light, how sad. <o></o>
You have seen the outside and the beer. Here is what we could see of the production facility. It was behind the bar section with windows behind. The tasting room was large. About the size of a basket ball court. They also had a bluegrass band that night. The band was really good. The acoustics in the place not so much. But I had about five pints so you might not want to take my word for it. <o></o>
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This my friend is a little known oddity called "Suck Creek" or "The Suck". on occasion city squids from Chattanooga find themselves here and get into trouble but for the most part it is on the down low. Have left many a "darkie" across the mountain on my way to the valley.

In Bryson City we stayed down town at the Calhoun Country Inn. A B&B built back in 1904. Interesting place with a huge front porch. Not a Hilton by any stretch, but the bottom line is we liked it and would stay again. I didn’t hurt that it was a short walk to the brewery.
http://www.calhouncountryinn.com/
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Oh and did I mention they we so happy to have us stay that they arranged a firework show for us. <o></o>
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Fun report. Definitely looks like a good time.

A word about the Beast. She ran like a top on the open road. Not a hiccup. But a couple of time we were caught in heavy traffic and the ole girl did not enjoyed that, not even a little bit. She idled a bit rough and felt like she wanted to stall. I can’t blame her too much, I am not too happy in that situation either. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Oh, I almost forgot, near Bryson City is this thing called the road to nowhere. It seems that back during WWII the government wanted to build a dam for a power plant. The promised the locals they would build a new road so they could access their family cemeteries. Well surprise, surprise. The road never got finished. They did get it about half done however along with a really nifty tunnel. The road down to the tunnel is quite nice, good pavement and lots of curves. It’s an out and back sort of thing being that it ends at the tunnel. But it might be a nice ride, especially since I believe traffic enforcement along it might be very light. Google it to find directions. Or just ask in Bryson City. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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The disgruntled local sign just outside the road. Plus a couple of pics of the tunnel.
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Nice find on McHales. I'll have to go there.

I hit the Terminal in Chatty all the time, and the Nanny when I'm over that way paddling. Looking forward to more of your finds.

The next stop on the list was the French Broad Brewer. But we decided to make an unscheduled stop along the way. At the Highland Brewing company.

http://www.highlandbrewing.com/
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They are getting a bit big for their britches and are no longer considered a “microbrewery”. But they did give a nice tour of the facility. And they also gave away free samples. <o></o>
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After the Highland tour we continued on to the Asheville HoJo. Nothing to talk about or take a picture of. But it was clean, cheap and within walking distance of our final destination. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
The French Broad Brewery. A very small place, which is good since that is what we were looking for mostly. They had a little three piece bluegrass band going. A good time was had by all.
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http://frenchbroadbrewery.com/
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This theme ride of yours is making me thirsty!

Nice reporting. Keep it up.

So on to Knoxville. We took Hwy 63 out of Asheville. Very nice road with lots of twisties and good pavement. If you can help it, don’t stop in Leicester. Neither of the two gas stations there will let you use their bathrooms. Which I did not find out until AFTER I had pumped my gas. And which can be somewhat uncomfortable after you have just had breakfast along with a basic load of coffee. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Anyway. Shortly after we turned north on 209 we turned west again. I have no idea the names of all the roads, but they turned to gravel after a while and stayed gravel all the way to the freeway and past to the other side. If fact, we were on gravel from there until we reached Hwy 32 at the Tennessee line. <o></o>
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32 beginning at the TN line was a really fine road. Very twisty and brand new pavement. However, be prepared to turn around at the state line unless you are on a dual sport (or a Ural) and don’t mind gravel.<o></o>
Pic from the gravel from the missis' iPhone while she is not looking<o></o>
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I have always liked Highland, but have never made it to the brewery . Looks Like a fun time maybe someday I will make it down that way.

Sawworks brewing company. Knoxville. Good beer but only two flavors on the menu. I think I'm getting spoiled<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
http://sawworksbrewing.com/
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We move on from Sawworks. I had a hankering for a stout. So we walked over to a local pizza joint. Barleys<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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The front one is a Belgium 1554. The back is a Rogue chocolate stout. <o></o>
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Life is good