Toby Sells
When Sleep Out Louie’s opens Saturday, its draft towers will carry beers “imported from the Delta.”
Mighty Miss Brewing Co. opened “just blocks” from the Mississippi River in Greenville, Miss., last year, claiming it’s ”proud to be the first and only brewery in the Mississippi Delta.”
The company — billed as ”Mississippi forward and Delta proud” — is now entering the Memphis market with beers in cans at Cash Saver, Miss Cordelia’s, and elsewhere. It’s also on tap at draft houses like the Casual Pint, Hammer & Ale, and others.
Melia Christensen, with Mighty Miss, says the company tries to brew in the “middle of the spectrum,” somewhere between macro-brewed stuff from the likes of Bud, Miller, and Coors, and the independent craft stuff flowing from your neighborhood taproom.
“The Mississippi craft beer culture is not as developed as it is in Memphis,” Christensen says. “I like to say it’s kind of like craft beer with training wheels. So, we’re trying to encourage mainstream drinkers to the craft side.”
[pullquote-1] For proof, look no further than its Pace porter. (Every Mighty Miss beer is named for a Mississippi town. Pace has a population of 294.) Porters are famously dark and thick-bodied with plenty of room for those sweet, chocolatey, vanilla-y, and roasty notes to flow.
They flow in Pace, too. But it’s light, simple, and low-alcohol (clocking in at 5 percent). Christensen said it’s a “porter you can enjoy in the summertime.” Pace is perfect for anyone who has ever said, “I don’t like dark beers.”
Mighty Miss is offering up its Mighty Miss American Pale Ale, Kinlock Kolsch, and Arcola Amber at restaurants and bars around Memphis. But only at Sleep Out Louie’s can you get its Onward Amber Ale (and you’ll want to, trust me).
Sleep Out Louie’s (How do we shorten that? Just Louie’s? Sleep Out’s?) offered up a few menu items at a tasting Thursday.
Toby Sells
The spinach-and-artichoke dip is second to none. The soft pretzels may seem standard but the dips raise it well above. (A tip I got from the Sleep Out Louie’s team: dip a pretzel in the gouda first and then in the caramel. I know. I know. Do it once. Thank me later.)
Toby Sells
