Intense Brews and Innertubes

By Ian Guevara

“Dudes, we can whitewater in a tube!”

My excitement soared higher than the mountains surrounding us. Western North Carolina was surprisingly busy for lte june 2020 despite the 100th or so wave of Covid running through the country. After a week sleeping in hammocks, and one night in a mildew infested hotel room, Jonathan, Louis, Homelessman and myself rented a tidy little AirBnB in Bryson City, North Carolina.

There's more to do in these small mountain towns than you would think even if you remove such riveting options like flea markets, Santa’s Playland, and beef jerky shops. Hiking to stunning overlooks, rafting down intense rivers, and of course breweries offer endless options for fun. However, it was whitewater tubing that caught my attention.

Less than a 10 minute drive from our AirBnB sat Deep Creek Campground. Filled along Deep Creek Road are various little private campgrounds, cabins, farms, general stores, and tube rental shacks. They cover every inch of the road from Bryson City to the National Park. The road twists and through cleared lands for capitalism, allowing for a full and stunning view of the Smoky Mountains and its misty domains.

Equally stunning is the transition from the gauntlet of outdoor capitalism to public use land. Shop, farm, cabin, general store, tube rental, farm, cabin, tube rental, ice cream… then BOOM deep forested canopies and the splendor of nature.

We were unaware and unprepared for this type of tubing. Back in Louisiana, tubing is an endurance sport. Full days, four to six hours spent searing in the south Louisiana sun, trudging through brown and murky water, unaware of what lies beneath its depths. Professionals rented extra tubes for large speakers and coolers. Cases of beers consumed, the only hydration and defense against the pesky alligator gar, snapping turtles, and unrelenting sun.

In addition, and slightly to the contrary, tubing in Louisiana is also a laid back enterprise. Many participants find that they can only recall the first hour or two of tubing, passing out after shotgunning crispy Natty Lites, and floating down the iver like a line of bloated corpses. They revel in their debauchery, wearing their sun blistered skin as badges of honor.

This is not the case for Deep Creek tubing. No hours spent lazily passing through existence. No deep and turbid water. No worries about toe nipping fauna. And no massive coolers of beer and jumbo sized speaker systems.

Conversely, this tubing requires agility and hand paddling skills. Deep Creek possesses chilly and clear water, no gar of snapping turtles (although a crawfish may pinch you), and no massive coolers… just small ones… you have to have some libations on the river.

Earlier in the day, before setting off for tubing, we hustled over to the thrift store in search of wet-suits. A wet-suit is a thrift store bought suit: shirt, jacket, pants, tie, and all down to the shoes. We didn't all wear a wet-suit. Only Louis was classy enough to traverse the creek in style.

It’s about a mile long traverse uphill to set the tubes in the creek. The first third of the creek is the roughest with three waterfalls and a multitude of rapids all loaded with potential to throw a rider from their tubes and into the icy depths. Most riders will pull out of the creek after the first set of waterfalls and repeat the short walk up the hill on multiple occasions, filling in the void for thrill seekers. We must have run that section five or six times.

As we walked up the trail to the put-in, Louis walked confidently in his brown suit.

“I’m late for a meeting up river,” Louis would say to the chuckles of bystanders looking on inquisitively.

“I’m a traveling cigarette salesman,” he would quickly follow, causing more laughter.

I did not ride without my own accessory. Tied around my neck like I was a member of Public Enemy was a small “waterproof” bluetooth speaker. My cell phone and keys remained in an equally “waterproof” stuff bag. Needless to say, after the first waterfall where I found out what the rocks at the bottom of the creek looked like, the speaker stopped working and my phone would eventually find itself in a jar of rice.

After a couple of runs on the upper portion, we rode the whole route back down to the parking lot for a quick break, a couple of beers, and a snack. Louis immediately toweled off and removed the wet-suit.

“This thing is too heavy. I’m retired from this business.” Louis dryly stated.

One more trip down the river made way for all of our collective retirements from the creek. We retired the tubes to their caged homes and drove back into town stopping at BC Outdoors. The little outdoor shop on the corner of Main Street and Everett Street offered a tap room for us to end our enjoyable day tubing. When we stepped through the doors we discovered not only a quaint tap room, but a massive selection of locally crafted beers from all corners of Western North Carolina.

“What’s this? Innertube Lager!” I excitedly pronounced, thinking that it was an appropriate occasion to drink a beer called “Innertube” after tubing down Deep Creek.

That was my first introduction to Burial Beer Company despite not realizing it off the bat. I did not bother inspecting the can and researching the brewery from where Innertube hailed. How fascinated was I to discover that beer again when I walked through the doors of Burial and studied its tap list.

Deep in the heart of the South Slope Brewery District on Collier Avenue, Burial Beer Company is a trip into that existential world of deep thought and exploration through not just their beers, but the titles of those beers. The brewery rests upon a sizable indoor and outdoor complex with seating inside near the bar or outside among the scores of picnic tables or a van converted into a shaded table and benches.

Opened in 2013 and quickly becoming a favorite among locals, Burial provides over 20 different wonderfully crafted brews with trippy names. You can simply enjoy the company of friends or soak up those suds with an enticing menu from its kitchen. I ordered some fresh trout tacos and almost fell into gluttony considering ordering more, but logic prevailed over my gullet.

Burial does not provide sets of flights, but does allow for customers to partake in their potions in five ounce servings. I’ll still set this up in two sets of four, but I was only able to order two at a time. My first set consisted of “Innertube”, “Billows”, “The Wretched Exile of the Unrepentant”, and “A Functional Assessment of Morality”. Innetube showcases a straw color with excellent clarity and a yeasty smell. It’s light, crispy, airy and biscuit and bready to the end making it a perfect beer to guzzle while floating aimlessly down a creek. Billows is a Kolsch displaying a butter color and a sweet malt and hop aroma. It’s crispy and light, starting with a malt and hop balance and ending with a muted bitterness.

There’s a role playing board game called “Kingdom Death'' where players are born into a world of darkness and survival is only achieved through cooperation and savage barbaric violence. Burial Beer’s beer names reminded me of the Interesting names populating the Kingdom Death, names like Vocal Spidicules, Dung Beetle Baron, Gorm, and Gigalion

The Wretched Exile of the Unrepentant is a coffee, fig, orange zest and Madagascar vanilla bean infused Imperial Stout appearing with a dark mocha color and a sweet chocolate and coffee smell. It's super sweet from start to finish and very rich making this beer more like a desert than a beer. A Functional Assessment of Morality is a West Coast IPA possessing a hazy mellow yellow color with classic citra hop smell. It's bitter from start to end with a delicate tropical flavor hiding in the background.

My second set of beers included “Imperceptible Everything”, “Fall of the Damned”, “Bolo Nitro”, and “Perspectives from the 9th Sense”. Imperceptible Everything exhibits a lovely daffodil color and a pungent floral fragrance. Infused with honey, grains of paradise, and cocoa pulp, this Saison is light and crispy with a sweet honey start, finishing citrus and earthy.

Fall of the Damned is a Bourbon barrel-aged Sour brewed with marionberries and blackberries manifesting a dark ruby color and a smoky sweet berry scent. This beer is absolutely puckering! Its smoky berry flavors hit first followed by that powerful sour punch. Bolo Nitro is a coconut flavored Brown Ale expressing a lovely caramel color with a sweet coconut aroma. It starts sweet with a malty sweetness and finishes with a muted coconut topper.

The star of my selections was far and away Perspectives from the 9th Sense. A supremely delicious Pilsner parading an old gold color and a hoppy fragrance. It’s melon and tropical to start, making for an incredible Pilsner. I’ve never had one like this. Perspective’s bitter finish is minute, being balanced by the citrus. An exceptional Pilsner, this brew just screams to be drunk outside. Kick back, the outside recliner, prop up those feet, and swig down Perspectives and enjoy.

Burial Beer Company is open from Sunday through Thursday from noon to 11pm and Friday and Saturday from noon to 12pm. The brewery offers an excellent and cozy domain to drink beer and down a tasty meal while guzzling some brews. On Saturdays and Sundays, patrons can take a brewery tour that includes educational and beer drinking opportunities.