Eat & Swig

I was sitting around playing on Twitter the other night, and after thinking about all the yummy regional beers I'd had the opportunity to try recently, sent out a tweet that we might be trumping Tobacco Road with a newly forming Hop Road.  A few weeks ago my girlfriend and I rode down to Nashville to visit some of her friends and I was turned on to Yazoo Brewing Company.  While down there I had a chance to try their Dos Perros, Pale Ale, Rye Saison, and brought home a 4-pack of their Sue, a smoked imperial porter.  All in all, I didn't have a bad beer in the group, and the Sue is right up there with my all-time favorite porters.  

This past weekend I got to try a can of West Sixth Brewing Company's IPA.  These guys are out of Lexington, and if you haven't noticed, there are more and more good beers popping up out of that area, including the guys over at Country Boy Brewing who brew a jalapeno smoked porter that you have to try to believe.  The West Sixth IPA was terrific, it had a nice hop bite but without being overwhelming, which to me means that the flavor got to really shine through.  

I know there are plenty that I'm leaving off, but these are just the ones I've had the chance to try recently.  You combine what Louisville and Indiana are adding to this mix, and I think you have yourself a hot bed of great craft brewing.  I propose we start calling the Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee corridor Hop Road.  T-shirts would be awesome, somebody take the idea and run, just make sure I get a free one.