On one Saturday in mid-February, I donned not one, but two funky tie-dye shirts, a leather jacket that would rival Sandy’s in Grease, green retro sunnies, and black flares that upon a mirror “fit check” were beyond prepared to shake their groove thang down a soul train line.
Damn, I love a good theme.
And that day’s theme was disco, baby! What was the special occasion for my disco fever? Glad you (or I) asked. I was off to Town Brewing Company’s “Disco Hop” IPA beer release party.
I’m no stranger to the west side of Charlotte. In a past life, Saturday nights started at The Scorpio and ended in the drive-thru line of Cook Out at 3 a.m. But until recently, the west side and I have been little more than a summer fling. And despite my reluctance to travel further than I wanted to, I found myself looking forward to catching another sunset on the patio of Town Brewing hopefully curled up next to a heater and puppies.
I pulled up to the now familiar Wesley Heights parking lot shared between Town and Rhino Market Deli as the inner dialogue of whether or not I should secure the late-night food bag before or after meeting my friends began. “Aerin, you just ate Pad Thai and you know you don’t wanna share.” You right.
At any given time, the Town patio is the temporary home to at least five golden retrievers. If that doesn’t excite the dog-crazy craft beer lover, I don’t know what will. Though I’m not obsessed with either, there’s nothing I can do to keep a goofy grin from spreading across my face when I see a golden mosey up to someone’s leg in expectation to be pat. Then, in robotic fashion, the human rubs the top of their head fully accepting the fact that they’ve entered into a non-verbal contract that rubbing will continue until said dog decides otherwise.
That’s why it was only fitting to be welcomed into the disco party by none other than Rosie, my bestie girl’s bestest girl, a curvy golden with lots of sass.
Quick hellos proved successful as Rosie moseyed back to her parents and I was free to get my groove on inside. Gold streamers clung to my face as I entered the taproom and it took everything in me to not immediately pop one finger outstretched in the air and do “the point” dance jig as I bobbed toward the register.
A Town Brewing Co. keg decked out in mirrored squares like a disco ball suspended from the rafters. It quietly twinkled but made a hell of an imprint on my mental Pinterest board while “Flash Light” by Parliament played over the speakers. I looked over my shoulder to throw a nod of approval or shimmy toward the DJ but then felt like a “turning into your parents” Progressive Insurance commercial IRL, so I opted against giving unsolicited praise.
I didn’t let the fact that very few others acknowledged the “disco attire recommended” memo as I deliberated over trying the new beer or old faithful: the crisp, lightweight peach green tea from the brewed-in-house line of Loose Leaf Hard Teas that are low calorie and gluten free. *Gun and a wink sales pitch*
I may have opted for the ready-for-summer and perfect-for-the-person-who-doesn’t-like-how-heavy-craft-beer-makes-them-feel 4.9% ABV peach seltzer-ish refresher, but I still got the “tea” on the new release. The Disco Hop, the latest core beer to join the Town Brewing fam, is a clean, crisp and clear IPA that delivers both nostalgia for throwback IPAs that were hop-forward and light-bodied and a new school “flare” (get what I did there?) featuring new-age hops that bring out a bright and shiny tone.
One peach green tea devolved into three, and then I heard myself exclaiming, “I know I just closed but I need to try the Arnold Palmer-like tea” in a high-pitched voice. By the time my girlfriend brought their Buff Bagwell flatbread to the table in an effort to delay the inevitable return home, I was humming, “The party’s here on the west side…” (Different era but you catch my drift!)
And bruh, the food is actually good. I’ve always been a brewery food hater, but next time, if it’s still on the menu, my exit strategy will involve getting “The Warchild” to go. A crab Rangoon dip base topped with mozz, bacon, sweet chili sauce, and chives?! Shut the front door, now that’s groovy, baby.
This work by Queen City Nerve is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
