Spring is in the air. The birds are singing, trees are budding, and that, unfortunately, means here in the Triangle, the pollen is coming.
That also means it’s time to plant flowers, get the lawnmower cleaned up from the previous year and get out your favorite pair of gardening gloves.
And when you’re ready to grab an ice-cold beer after hours of yard work, you want something that has flavor but won’t bog you down. That’s why many beer drinkers will reach for a session IPA. These beers are basically a take on the standard hop-forward IPA ranging from around 3.0 to 5.5% ABV (alcohol by volume). You don’t lose any of that hoppy goodness with the session IPA.
Triangle breweries produce many session IPAs, but this one features an excellent hop-dominant profile while having a more petite body than a standard IPA — and that comes from Raleigh’s Neuse River Brewing & Brasserie.
Co-owners Ryan and Jennifer Kolarov opened the brewery back in 2015, focusing on Belgium-style beers. Neuse River Brewing has grown to feature everything from farmhouse ales, stouts, sours and IPAs — and one of its most popular beers is the Saturday Morning hazy session IPA.
Saturday Morning, which comes in at 5.4% ABV, is brewed with El Dorado, German Mandarina Bavaria, and Mosaic hops. The tropical notes in both its aroma and taste make it a beer brewer Ryan Kolarov deems uber-drinkable.
“I was starting to put the grain bill together, and the beer just sounded like something I wanted to drink now,” said Kolarov, which just happened to be on a Saturday morning. “The sun was out, and it was nice outside, and I thought this would be a good morning beer. So it just turned into what we have now.”
And that is currently one of the brewery’s flagship beers you can almost always find at the brewery. “We get in trouble when we have a gap in the beer,” Kolarov said.
Neuse River Brewing & Brasserie is located in the Five Points neighborhood in Raleigh and is open five days a week (closed on Monday and Tuesday). The Brasserie serves European-style plates such as duck poutine, fish and chips, roast chicken, steak frites, and Sunday brunch.
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