Coastal Empire and Copperpoint

[John Sand]

I'm just back from Florida, drove both ways. Of course, I found opportunities to drink local beer. We stopped in two breweries, Coastal Empire in Savannah and Copperpoint in Boynton Beach Florida. We loved both. At Coastal Empire I particularly enjoyed some styles that I generally don't seek. Their brown is very good, Midnight in the Garden, an Imperial Chocolate Stout aged in red wine barrels was excellent. Complex but still easy to drink. It was also very reasonable to visit. They were having a sale, $10 each got us each a flight and a growler fill. Iirc, the flight was 9 samples!
Copperpoint was great too, a little nicer than most industrial brewery pubs. I drank a pilsner and three IPAs. The IPAs all had a resemblance, maybe the same hops, but they were very good. There was a Caribbean food truck in front, we had a great dinner too. They had a Red IPA and an IIPA that aren't listed on the website. I brought home a swingtop quart of the RIPA.
If you are in Raleigh, a good stop is the Raleigh Beer Garden. I think they have over 300 taps at three bars. They actually lend you IPADs, or you can use their app to peruse the menu. (I hate that part, don't like IPAD or Apps, unless they are appetizers)
While in NC, I bought a couple of sixes of Natty Greene's Dry Hopped Southern Pale Ale, and I still have two bottles. One of the very best PAs in my view.
A great trip, great beers. And I'm happy to be home drinking my own IPA.