At noon on Inauguration Day, as Barack Obama was poised to take the oath of office, brewer Kevin McNerney sat at the bar at Five Seasons Brewing Co. in Sandy Springs watching the historic event unfold on TV.
Not content to be a passive observer, McNerney ceremoniously raised a glass of the beer, dubbed InaugurAle, he'd specially brewed to commemorate the occasion, and led brewpub regulars in several toasts.
"We wanted to celebrate," McNerney said. "No matter what side you were on in the election, as a country we unite, and we support the new administration. Our expression of that is as a community of local folks. We show up at our pub with our friends and we drink some beer."
InaugurAle is McNerney's take on a classic American beer known variously as California common or steam beer (the most popular example is Anchor Steam). Though he'd never brewed the style, McNerney said he chose the fruity, ale-lager hybrid because it was historic and uniquely American. It's proved so popular that he plans to brew it again. You can look for it on draft now, and it will be part of a Five Seasons salute to Presidents Day on Monday.
In addition to thinking about the election and its aftermath, McNerney said he had been taking some time to reflect on some important events in his life, including the January birth of his second daughter, and his October 2008 move to Five Seasons — something he knows still surprises people.
As the brewmaster at Sweetwater Brewing Co., Georgia's biggest and most successful craft brewery, it appeared McNerney was in an enviable position. But in August 2008 he left the company he'd help found, deciding he'd had enough of the relentless, "work, work, work" pace required to keep up with the rapidly growing demand for Sweetwater beer.
McNerney, who lives in Sandy Springs, said he never intended to quit brewing. He just wanted to take a break. He explains his quick transition from a large regional brewery to a small local brewpub as the search for a better quality of life. Early in his career, McNerney worked at a brewpub in California, and he's been enjoying a return to the flexibility and conviviality of that kind of atmosphere at Five Seasons, where he often eats lunch with his wife or drinks a few beers after work.
"It's like I've come full circle in my career," McNerney said. "I'm looking at things a second time in a different way. It's rekindled my passion, and helped me remember why I got into brewing to begin with."
While he's been busy making the full array of Five Seasons signature beers, McNerney is excited to be slowly introducing his own recipes into the mix.
The first was HopGasm, a bold India pale ale, with five different hops, that's proved to be a beer geek favorite. More recently, McNerney resurrected an experimental recipe from his days at Colorado's Avery Brewing Co. Called Raspberry TruffAle, it's brewed with 25 pounds of unsweetened chocolate and 120 pounds of fresh raspberries, giving it a distinctively dry, bitter-tart flavor. It will be a featured selection on Valentine's Day.
• On Monday, spend an evening sampling unique and special beers paired with a multicourse gourmet dinner. 7 p.m. $99. Summits Wayside Tavern, Cumming. 770-886-4374, www.summits
-online.com.
• On Feb. 25, Kevin McNerney hosts a bourbon barrel-aged Scotch ale tasting and five-course beer dinner at Five Seasons. $75, including tax and gratuity. 404-255-5911 for more information. www.5seasonsbrewing.com.
Bob Townsend is editor of Southern Brew News, a bimonthly beer publication distributed throughout the Southeast.
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