Love, Beer, and Self-Discovery

By Ian Guevara

You always remember your first love. The image of that person is forever seared into your mind. The location you met her, the day, the temperature, the smell of the air, and the sounds of the environment. Lasting images. The first time you met in an elevator, unloading your meager possessions in a cramped college dorm. The first kiss under the stars on a cool night on the Lake Pontchartrain levee. The awkward car ride returning home, barely able to look at each other because their sight would lead to laughter and tears. The first fight. The first heartbreak.

We’ve all felt these emotions in some form or another for someone, and if you haven't it will come. The emotions will be real and scary. And if you’re like me, you’ll run from them because being outside that emotional comfort zone is a terrifying thought. But you persevere, ever ready to try new and different forms of love. Each one gives you a better understanding of yourself and of humanity.

What in the hell does this have anything to do with beer and breweries?

Well, a lot. Beer is an allegory for life. Each glass, each pour, each sud, each taste, each smell, even the condensation forming on the outside of the glass creates a direct parallel to the human condition. A microcosm of the emotional rollercoaster that life provides.

You can be in a relationship with someone and realize you have no real love for them but you stay with them because you’re comfortable. That happens with beer! How many times have you opened your “go-to” commercial beer and said, “I love this”? Never I imagine. Only psychopaths and sociopaths have the ability to consistently lie and say they “love” the list of commercial lite beer. Most of us just drink it because we’re most familiar with it. We know that it will always remain the same.

You can go out on a date with someone and know it will lead to disaster, but you stick it out because the meal hasn't yet hit the table. That happens with beer! I’ve lost count of the beers I’ve drunk over the past five years that were terrible. Awful flavors that were not unique in any way. You finish drinking it because you ordered it and dont want to waste time trying to order another… then you go back to the comfort beer like a late-night booty-call.

But sometimes you give that person another try, another date, and you find out that they’re growing on you. Have you not been paying attention to my growing appreciation of IPAs? Beer Gods help me, I might be falling “in like” with them.

And sometimes it’s love at first sight. The sparks fly, the meal is inconsequential, plans are made, and you can't wait to be with that person as much as you can. That most definitely happens with beer! We’ve all had that love at first taste moment. Your eyes light up on the first sip and you can't stop going back. Over and over again you drink it, trying to find faults in it, but you’re unsuccessful. You order it again, maybe because that first glass was tainted or something. No? It is this good.

And now you have your beer for life. There may come other beers, but your first beer love will always be with you. Always a cherished memory of happiness and discovery.

Lazy Hiker Brewing Company’s Margarita Gose is my first beer love. I didn't find it until late in my beer drinking life, already well into my 30s! But that was it. It was the beer that truly changed my perspective on beer and that it was ok to try things that weren’t ales, lagers, pilsners, wheat beers, ect. The comfort beers.

Today I’m at the Lazy Hiker Brewing Company in Franklin, North Carolina. And it’s a special occasion: I’m approaching 100 beers tasted on this journey! How fitting that this milestone happens to be at the brewery that served as the conception of this adventure. I didn't plan it this way which makes it even more special! It just fell in place. Like all special things in life, they happen not from sheer will or planning, but from improvisation and inspiration.

Lazy Hiker is located on a busy corner on Main Street of downtown Franklin with its now iconic silver silo greeting newcomers and regulars alike. Opened in 2015, Lazy Hike’s explosion in popularity is due to its incredible consistency and exploration of beer flavors that is not rivaled by any brewery in the area. The brewery opens up to a large tap room and a homely decor. Pictures of the Appalachian trail, posters of all the beers brewed, and used hiking boots hang from the rafters as trophies of journeys started and completed.

Lazy Hiker Brewing Company - Franklin, NC

Yes, I have a biased opinion. Yes, I have been to Lazy Hiker the most out of all the breweries being reviewed, even the ones around my region! But I think my tastes and ability to judge a beer has changed tremendously over the past couple of years. So I’m diving into this with a fresh perspective and a drive to be fair… yeah… that ain't happening.

With 19 beers on tap, I’m at a crossroads as to what to do. These lips have tasted the regular beers brewed by the fine establishment. “Trail Mate Golden Ale”, “Springer Fever Pilsner”, “Trail Candy IPA”, “Wesser Evil Porter”, “Slack Pack IPA”, these are the standard beers provided by Lazy Hiker. They’re all killer beers, but I have to stay to the eight flight format for consistency and for my liver.

Decision time. I will make multiple reviews of Lazy Hiker! Yup! I’ll visit the tap room and clear out the ones that I miss today. I do this not because I want to, but because I have a responsibility to drink these beers for you. I am the hero you don't deserve, but need right now.

The bartender, Danielle, assists me in my decision. She suggests that I stick to the beers that are only served at the Franklin location so that I can leave the other beers for my review of the Sylva tap room. I didn't plan on having to strategize so much, but it's worth it, the beer is tasty either way.

My first flight glowed with “Lazy Session”, “Mt Katahdin Vol II”, “Ales for ALS”, and “Nitro Night Hike”. Lazy Session is an English Pale Ale showing a buttery color with a slight bready smell. It starts light and soft with a malty savor and subtle hop aftertaste. Mt Katahdin Vol II is a New England-style Hazy IPA displaying a beautiful cloudy daffodil color with that signature Hazy IPA citrus and hop smell. Crispy, sweet, and light, the brew starts with a citrus flavor balanced by the bitter undertone.

The man got a little excited. Maybe you can just imagine what those beers looked like.

Providing a dollar for every beer poured for ALS research and treatment, Ales for ALS is a Double IPA exhibiting a funky yellow color with a strong and sweet hoppy smell. It punches you with that hoppy bitterness from beginning to end but leaves a little mango aftertaste. Nitro Night Hike presents a deep, dark, chocolate brown with a coffee and chocolate smell. It's rich, creamy, smooth, and starts off sweet and chocolatey, finishing with that roasted coffee flavor and a hint of fruit.

My second flight flowed with “Slack Pack”, “Amblin Amber”, “Cherry Orange Saison”, and “Darkening”. Slack Pack is a standard IPA unveiling a smooth bumblebee color with a hoppy bouquet. Hopps all around with this brew, starting with a sweet and floral hint followed by a precise bitterness. Amblin Amber flaunts a stunning tangerine color with a malty scent. It's malty from start to finish with a caramel tone and understated hoppiness to the end.

Cherry Orange is a Saison parading a grapefruit color and a wild, fruity, and earthy perfume. The orange and cherry hit first yielding a lovely refreshing yeast finish. Darkening stunningly arrays a dark and mysterious umber color with a roasty malt and cherry fragrance. SOUR to the nth power!! It’s crispy, light, chocolaty, and malty from the beginning, racing to a sour and sweet cherry finish. EXCELLENT.

The 100th beer tasted could be nothing else. The “Margarita Gose”. This Gose manifests a sultry lemon color that's hazy and comforting with a salty and sour smell! Light, crispy, airy, salty, sweet, sour, you name it! It has it all! You never forget your first love, the one who started it all for you. This is it! Perfect for the summer, looking over the beach or finishing a long day of work. It's there for you, always dependable and always comforting.

Lazy Hiker Brewing Company is open Sunday through Thursday from 11:30am to 10pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 11:30am to 11pm. The brewery provides a comforting environment to sick back and relax away the troubles of a hard day. Outside is a delectable food truck called the “Hiker’s Kitchen” where you can grab some tasty morsels to balance out the 19 house beers provided by Lazy Hiker. The brewery also delivers a litany of evening events to keep you entertained and looking forward to your next stop. From trivia night to open mic nights to live music on Friday and Saturday nights, there’s always a beer and a good time to be had.