In this story, my job led me to Charlotte, and I ended up staying overnight. I was staying in a Holiday Inn Express near Belmont and my Google searching led me to a place called the String Bean Market & Deli. This store has a little bit of everything. Wine and beer store, boasting a wide selection of craft beers. I found the selection to be slightly lacking, but I did appreciate the effort. Inside, they sell meat and seafood and cheese, AND there's a restaurant inside too. It has it all! I ordered a burger to-go and thought I'd take a beer with me too. Since I lacked a bottle opener, I opted to get something canned, and the Catawba Valley was there for the taking.
Bringing it back to the hotel, I ended up pouring it into a small plastic cup. Lame, but it was all I had to go with. Had a nice burnt siena color with a white head that managed to have solid retention and even left lacing on the sides of the plastic cup. I wasn't expecting that, but color me impressed. Faint aromas of citrus and malt didn't give me the greatest hope that this was something special.
The taste was your atypical American IPA. The grapefruit/lemon bitterness was a little more pronounced and was a little off with the balance, but it didn't really charge through until the end. Some of the caramel sweetness was on the front end, but it typically didn't last long. The beer was light to average carbonation, medium bodied. This one failed to impress, and I probably wouldn't try again with all the other IPAs that I've enjoyed lately.
Grade: C-
Price Paid: $1.99 (12 oz can)
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