420 Extra Pale Ale from Sweetwater Brewing
Now this is what I’m talking about! Nothing fancy. Just a good, solid pale ale. I guess they do call it “Extra” but it really isn’t by today’s standards. There’s no big-dick drum-beating hop-machismo here. It’s just a clean, drinkable beer; something that has been surprisingly hard to find over the past five years (like, why is it sooo hard to find Dogfish Shelter Pale?) It certainly doesn’t hurt that this was my jam whenever I visited Atlanta during the past decade. And until recently it wasn’t available here in Richmond. But now it is, and that makes me smile.
My brother used to live in Atlanta and the first time I went to visit him as an adult (read: nineteen year old scumbag intent on painting graffiti) he took me and my two dirtball friends to Felini’s on Ponce and got a pitcher of 420. We drank it out on the patio out of styrofoam cups and then spent the night writing our names on other peoples’ property. It was a fantastic night and sealed the deal for me on this beautiful beer.
The last time I was in Atlanta, my wife Brionna and I decided to relive the past and eat pizza at Felini’s. This time I didn’t share the pitcher. I drank it in 45 minutes while we ate a pizza. It made for yet another great night courtesy of 420. I still don’t like smoking weed though.
And here is a picture of my buddy Chris Mahonski AKA Christmas Honkey (IG @chrismahonski) catching a giant catfish (or at least he was about to)!!
