SweetWater Keep on Rolling

As suggested by the title, the subject of this post are two brews by Atlanta, Georgia-based SweetWater Brewery. Of course, the title is a take on the famous song "Black Water" by The Doobie Brothers. I like the song which is an ode to the Mississippi River. A few years back, I saw Hootie and the Blowfish do a great cover of "Black Water" when they played at Koka Booth Amphitheatre over in Cary. But I digress.

The first SweetWater brew that I tried was not their more famous 420 pale ale, but their Blue which is a fruity wheat beer. While I like regular wheat beers, I don't care as much for fruit-flavored wheat beers, and Blue has a strong blueberry flavor. I didn't like the fruity flavor nor the strong aftertaste.

After the pint of the Blue, I then tried a pint of their 420 which is a pale ale, particularly an extra pale ale according to the full name. I am not sure what makes a beer an extra pale ale or how that differs from other pale ales. The Internet tells me that extra pale ale is another term for American pale ale. The 420 seems to be a standard example of a pale ale which I preferred over the more fruity Blue.

I just noticed that between a reference to the Doobies and a brew called 420, this post may seem to have an underlying theme. I am apathetic on that particular subject and any theme was unintended (but humorous).