Beering near Georgia Tech: 5 Seasons Westside

I'm finally back to the blogging. I had a great time travelling in the ATL and Buffalo/Toronto. We were in Atlanta for my family reunion and the wife came along this time. I wanted to catch up with a couple of old GA Tech friends after we settled in, so the wife and I made our way over to the 5 Seasons Westside location.

I wrote in this blog that the 5 Seasons in Alpharetta (northern Atlanta) and was GREATLY looking forward to seeing what the 5 bills were up to at this location. Basically the 5 Seasons in Alpharetta is the best brewpub I've been to EVER. We sat down outside (the weather was a good 20 degrees cooler than Houston) and ordered a flight, some lime shrimp and went for it. First thing I noticed is that these beers are completely different than the ones at the other location. Oh boy...

Re-session Draught Pub Ale

Bready and malty nose. Orange "beer color", if that's makes sense. Musty bready flavor comes out first with a moderate citrus. There is a filling mouthfeel but I found this one pretty boring. 2 Stars out of 5.

BR 549 Pale Ale

Cistrusy , grassy hop and malty nose. Now we're talking. Strong citrus hop flavor, almost slightly hop heavy. quick finishing bitter aftertaste. 3 Stars.

Alt-Alt

Cloudy orange color. No real scent. Sour white grapey taste with some strong bitterness. It's hard to put my finger on which spice that is. But whatever it is, it gets a low 3 Stars.

Decadent Brown Ale

Cloudy brown. Looks like brown apple cider. Nose is fruit. Lots of malts and hops, but the slight sourness ruins the party. I like how the bitterness tries to shine through. Low 3 Stars.

Dark Star Stout

Tastes like "dark". A touch of roast and chocolate, not overpowering though. It has a chewy full body with a black color. Low hops with a quick finish. Again, it seems like they are taking it easy. Low 3 Stars.

Octane Espresso Stout

Lost of coffee smell followed by a bitter coffee flavor. The citrus is coming through but it's not working for me, even with the grilled elk steak. Low 3 Star.

With nothing above a basic 3 Star on their whole menu, I decided against re-ordering a full glass of any of them and got their:

All Grain Barley Martini

Amazing how that works out. I don't want a beer, but they have a vodka martini with barley steeped in it. The wife has the picture on her phone which means I'll never see that picture again, but imagine a martini glass with a vodka, about 30 grains in it. The martini tasted like a smooth martini with a pinch of vermouth. I'm assuming it was stirred, not shaken. The grains congregated at the bottom of the glass, but turned the drink brown and gave it a malty flavor as you drank it down. Very creative. I've give that 3 out of 4 tiny umbrellas.

Overall, I'll have to say I was disappointed with this 5 Seasons as I was thinking of the other 5 Seasons. Not a bad experience, but only a couple steps above what we have around here. The food was fantastic and worth the experience. Definitely something akin to those fusion restaurants where they meld a lot of style from around the world.