Friday, February 22, 2013

Hill Billy's for Beer and BBQ



The White Mountains of New Hampshire, specifically the Mount Washington Valley, has something for just about everybody.  Aside from the plethora of amazing outdoor activities there is shopping and good food and craft beer.  

One night while visiting, we were thinking about what we wanted for dinner.  We wanted a restaurant with a good selection of beer and excellent barbecue.  You might think some place as far north as the White Mountains couldn't possible have great barbecue.  You'd be wrong.  While I can think of a few places that meet that criteria, we opted for Hill Billy's Southern BBQ.

I got St. Louis style pork ribs and hubby went with the beef ribs.  The portions were big.  In fact, each the beef ribs were the size of a chubby squirrel.  The ribs were tender and delicious.  The sauce?  Mmmm, finger lickin' good.



There were a couple of Shock Top seasonals on tap that I'd never had so that's what I went with. Shock Top is brewed by Anheuser-Busch.  I'm of the opinion that mega brewers don't do craft style brews well, but it was worth a go.  

End Of The World Midnight Wheat (6% ABV) sounded interesting.  Frankly, it was the name that made the choice for me.  It is a Belgian-style wheat ale and was served in a shaker pint.  It was a cloudy brown with a small but dense head that left behind decent lacing.  The aroma as sour and a touch skunky.  My first impression of the taste was "this is an odd tasting beer".  Yes, I literally said that.  End of the World is slightly sweet and, well, odd.  I'm guessing the oddness was the chili spice.  It just didn't go.  That being said, I did not finish the glass of beer.  That's very telling.  Overall - blah.

Raspberry Wheat (5.2% ABV) is a fruit beer.  It was served in a shaker pint.  It was a cloudy honey color with a thin head.  The aroma was all raspberry.  The taste was all raspberry.  The mouth feel was light and bubbly.  The raspberry wheat was good and good flavor up front.  Unfortunately, the finish left a soapy taste in my mouth and that ruined it for me.  Overall - meh.

A bad beer night for me but the barbecue was super good.  So, next time I skip the Shock Top.  No big loss, there are plenty of other beers on tap at Hill Billy's and I know the food is excellent.

Check out this review from a previous visit to Hill Billy's where I had a beerific experience.

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