Let’s start with the name of the new beer by Grammy-nominated Nappy Roots.
Kentucky Mud.
The moniker comes from a hit single from the group’s debut album, “Watermelon, Chicken & Gritz” and they hope beer drinkers will have”nothing but love” for their latest concoction.
Nappy Roots and Arches Brewing are joining up for a one-day, limited-edition run of the beer that will only be available from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday at the brewery, 3361 Dogwood Drive in Hapeville.
“I wanted to do a milk stout and pretty much adding lactose gives the beer a smooth taste,” said Skinny DeVille, one of the co-founders. The name “takes it back to the very beginning.”
The craft beer flavor is a nitro chocolate milk stout with an ABV of 6.6 percent. Its foundation is rich and chocolaty, accompanied by sweet nutty flavors and it’s capped off by a dose of cocoa nibs and bourbon soaked vanilla beans.
“It’s a memorable beer,” said Nappy Roots member 808 Blake. “People say this is the best one we’ve done.”
Meanwhile, the group just got off the road for its “Great American Beer Run Tour” during which they visited craft brewers around the nation and captured footage for a reality show they have in the works.
“It’s good to be off the road, at least for a while,” said 808 Blake. He was impressed by what he found from Blue Moon Brewing Co. in Colorado, “which was really cool” to Junkhead Brewing Co. in Moorhead, Minn., which was also “really cool.”
“There are some interesting trends and styles that are happening, especially on the West Coast.”
The group’s goal is to have its own brewery in Georgia.
![Watermelon Chiquen and Grits[cq] and The Humdinger are two of the craft beers created by members of the Nappy Roots hip-hop group at Monday Night Brewing in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta, Tuesday, June 19, 2018. ALYSSA POINTER/ALYSSA.POINTER@AJC.COM](https://www.ajc.com/resizer/v2/ZCGCRUVBAF7HJIBTQPHTAZHIKU.jpg?auth=c3029330cfe7448daf89bc85235f544bb8a5f00c7ed509e65e139dee7d155b80&width=1000&smart=true)
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
In 2017, the group, which also has a successful podcase, made jumped into the expanding craft beer business with the release of “Front Porch,” a pale ale, with Atlanta-based Monday Night Brewing.
Since then Nappy Roots has released “Watermelon, Chiquen and Gritz,” a golden ale with watermelon, which is named after the group’s 2002 hit album; and the “Humdinger.”
The group has named its company Atlantucky, which blends its love of Atlanta and Kentucky.
“We started off in college partying and beer has always been part of our operations,” Skinny DeVille said in a previous interview.
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