Tag: Cash Saver

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Fall Back, Drink Forward

Photos: Chris McCoy

Temperatures roller-coaster dipped into the cool stuff last weekend promising no more 80-degree days until Memphis in May and the exact right conditions to bend an arm under a dark, toasty/roasty fall beer.

For this, Memphians, you are in luck. New beers keep pouring into new Memphis-area taprooms. When Cooper House Project opens in Cooper-Young (hopefully soon!), Memphis will be home to 12 craft breweries. It’ll join Ghost River, Beale Street, Boscos, Crosstown, Grind City, Soul & Spirits, Hampline, High Cotton, Wiseacre, Memphis Made, and Meddlesome. Consider that only two craft breweries — Ghost River and Boscos — operated here nine years ago.

New beers are pouring into Memphis-area stores, too. Craft breweries from other markets are expanding their distribution circles, and new stuff is showing up on our shelves. Think of all the Nashville beers we can get here like Bearded Iris and Southern Grist, Urban South from New Orleans, and Deschutes from Bend, Oregon. This now also includes several non-alcoholic beers from brewers who want craft flavors without the hangover.

Toby Sells (left) with Soul & Spirits owner and master brewer Ryan Allen.

For this year’s fall beer guide, we rounded up a bunch of beers you can find around Memphis. This includes some from other markets and does not include every local brewery. Some breweries just didn’t have anything new that we’ve not written about already. We found our beers at Cash Saver and South Point Grocery (thank you, Taylor James!), both known for their wide selections. But you can find most of the beers in our tasting most anywhere.

Some brewers haven’t liked all of our staff comments in past beer guides. But our crew was asked to be honest. We taste and take notes, not as beer experts, but as typical Memphis craft beer consumers. (I mean, we don’t even have Untappd accounts.)

But we did have expert help. As in years past, we had a guide to help us understand the different styles and pick out flavors. This year, Ryan Allen, co-owner and master brewer at Soul & Spirits, shined a light on our path forward. He joined us in an undisclosed Midtown backyard as a few Flyer staffers drank beers from a cooler and wrote about them for work. Hell yeah.

There are plenty of beers to love on this list — and we did love some. But don’t take our word for it. Go grab a light jacket and a dark beer for yourself. — Toby Sells

Athletic

Athletic Lite, light lager, 0 percent ABV

Ever leave a sixer in a hot car, discover it later, then put it back in the fridge? This reminds me of that — like a flat, forgotten Miller Lite. Not much flavor, but an easy drinker if you like playing pretend. — Shara Clark

It’s a light beer with no alcohol. Which I guess is like chewing on a candy cigarette in a cigar club. But to be fair, some people really like candy cigarettes. — Samuel X. Cicci

A non-alcoholic beverage that seems sort of pointless. Slightly fizzy, like LaCroix water. Yellowish color, like water that’s been, er, used. I’d prefer a LaCroix. — Bruce VanWyngarden

There’s nothing there and I guess that’s the point. It’s barely-beer-flavored fizzy water. — Toby Sells

The recent technological advances that have made decent-tasting NA beer possible are welcome. There’s a lot of good brews out there that won’t mess with your sobriety. Unfortunately, this is not one of them. Why make an NA beer taste like the lite beer designed to make 4.2 percent alcohol content more palatable? This beer makes me long for the bold flavors of tap water. — Chris McCoy

This non-alcoholic beverage is like drinking Holy Water from church, except the wrong fingers have been dipped in the font — fingers that have been in places God doesn’t approve of — so there’s a tinge of something that shouldn’t be there, making you question if this thing that’s supposed to be “good” for you is actually worth the way it goes down so smoothly. — Abigail Morici

Meddlesome

Memphis Style Lager, light lager, 4.5 percent ABV

The can art reminds me of a ’90s-style Mead folder, but the beverage itself gives strong shower beer vibes. Lather up the shampoo, crack one open, and throw it back while the water washes the day away. This one’s a winner. — SC

It’s a nice, lighter malty lager. If you like lagers, go for it. But you’re gonna buy it anyway since the can is so fun with its minty-party-shenanigan-chic aesthetic. — SXC

This 4.5-percenter is right down the middle of my comfort zone. Tastes like beer, friendly and non-aggressive. I could see myself sitting down with a few of these. — BV

It tastes great. Now with that out of the way, let’s talk about the can. To holler at the ’80s Memphis design group on a beer can will delight any who appreciate obscure Memphiana. If you think it looks like Saved by the Bell, well, that’s fun, too. — TS

This beer is what you think you want when you order a domestic light beer. Because of Memphis’ great water, and being fresher than your average corporate beer product, it’s got a sharper and better flavor. — CM

The Memphis Style has the vibe of a crouton. We like croutons. But do we love croutons — that’s the question. — AM

Southern Grist

Parallel Fruited Sour, sour, 0 percent ABV

This is another NA, which is good because you’ve got to be sober to say its name three times fast. Flavor- and texture-wise, this seems like nothing more than a fruit puree — or what you get in one of those bottles of daiquiri mixer. — SC

It’s bursting with passion fruit and raspberry, but not super sour, which I want in my beers. Also, it has no alcohol. Which I guess is like choosing to inhale a fruity candle in a hookah bar. — SXC

Another non-alcoholic brew that is in no way reminiscent of, well, beer. It’s pleasant tasting, but to me, this is a soda. — BV

This is one of the best NA beers I’ve ever tasted. It’s got the mouthfeel of a regular beer, and the flavors are tasty but not overwhelming. Most importantly, it’s not too sweet. — CM

The best snack when you’re in kindergarten is that cherry chapstick that you sneak a little nibble of, and this drink will take you back to those naughty moments — as if the chapstick-eating folk at Southern Grist melted down the worst chapstick, plastic tube and all, to find a new evil way to capitalize on nostalgia. — AM

Doc’s Cider

Sour Cherry Cider, sour, 6 percent ABV

This tastes like an Alabama Slammer Clubtails (those cheap, gas-station, 10-percent malt beverages) or a Black Cherry Four Loko. And if you’ve got more than two bucks to spend on booze, this is not a good thing. — SC

This sour-cherry concoction tested my gag reflex. Never bring this near my face again. — BV

This is the opposite of thin. It covers your tongue and palate with a sort of cherry medicine film. Do not recommend. — TS

UhhhlllllAAAAHHHHCHHA [yucky sound]! — CM

It’s like drinking the weirdly pink liquid that drips from a teeny tiny hole in a Febreze-scented garbage bag filled with rotting fruit and used Kleenex as you drag it to your garbage bins. — AM

Urban South

Red Nose ReinBeer, fruited wheat, 5.4 percent ABV

The first sip gave me a little “Oh!” — light with a warm, spiced aftertaste. Subsequent sips sorta felt like peeling back the wrapping paper on a Christmas gift then settling into disappointment once you realize it’s just a pair of socks. — SC

Grandma got run over by a reinbeer while walkin’ home from our house on Christmas Eve. The suspect was a fruity wheat, with notes of cranberry, cinnamon, and brown sugar, but witnesses reported that the spices overwhelm any fruity taste. — SXC

I didn’t want to like this. But it’s Christmas in a can, really. Light on the cranberry flavor, heavy on the cinnamon and brown sugar. The taste turns flatter the more you drink, though. — TS

Urban Artifact

Xmas Pickle, sour, 4.3 percent ABV

What’s the dill with all these odd new beer types, eh? It’s a smooth, light, pickle-based gose. Little bit of salt, a nice clean pickle scent, a bit of tartness, but overall it doesn’t go too heavy on any of the strange flavor mixes. — SXC

It’s much like I’d imagine drinking the brine from a pickle jar would be, only with bubbles. It’s got some salt, as well. Might go well with a cheeseburger or something, but I would not drink this sans food. — BV

Ryan [Allen from Soul & Spirits] said pickle beers are on the rise. I ain’t tryna drink this all afternoon, but it’s crazy different and fun to explore. I bet it’s great with fried chicken. — TS

I wasn’t aware of the pickle beer trend before this tasting, and I’m not sure I’m on board with it. This one smells like a pickle more than tastes like one, and it’s by far the saltiest beer I’ve ever had. Bottom line: It’s not as bad as it sounds. — CM

Soul & Spirits

Polk Salad, fresh-hopped IPA, 6.1 percent ABV

The vibe: You’re sitting in a field, breeze blowing against your face, sipping a cold, carbonated herbal tea. Fresh hops here really gave this a crisp, clean drinking experience. Best IPA I’ve ever tried. — SC

This is a better IPA, made from fresh hops (grown in Memphis!) and packed with fresh greens. Not bad. And that’s coming from an IPA-hater. — SXC

This is the freshest beer I’ve ever had. Maybe I would not have described it that way if Ryan hadn’t told us about the fresh-hop process, but dang if I can’t taste it. My notes say “just so fucking good.” — TS

It starts with a great nose. The initial taste is light and crisp, with a bold finish. The fresh hops linger longer and add more complexity than you get with your average West Coast face-melter. This is one of the best IPAs I’ve ever tasted. — CM

Ghost River

Dunkelweizen Ale, Dunkelweizen, 8 percent ABV

It’s got a bit of a clovy taste. A lot of Ghost Rivers have a sameness to their taste, but this one breaks the mold. Kudos to the brewer. — SXC

This has a dark, caramel-ish initial taste. The texture is soft, almost melted buttery. A hint of dough. Not for every taste, but will hit the spot for many. — BV

Ryan de-mystified Dunkels for me, saying they’re basically Hefeweizens with darker malts (and that “Dunkelweizen” literally translates to “dark wheat”). This one has those banana flavors and lots of suds. Fun to drink, and extra points for crop circles on the can! — TS

This new “dark wheat” is one of the better offerings from the venerable Ghost River label. It goes down smooth, but be warned: It’s got an exceptionally high alcohol content. You can get yourself into trouble with this one. — CM

Have you ever licked the cracked side of a plastic Mardi Gras bead that’s lost its shine and sits in a puddle of spilled beer? Well, now, you don’t have to; this drink will do the trick instead. — AM

Wiseacre

Strizzle Bier, IPA, 6.2 percent ABV

Yipes. Bye-bye, taste buds. I think they were burned off by the bitterness. — SC

Wiseacre makes so many good beers that I don’t feel bad saying I don’t like this. It’s a weird fusion of IPA and brown ale, and I’m not sure those two styles ever truly reconcile. — SXC

Solid brew with a clean slight bitterness that isn’t off-putting. This one suits the season just right. — BV

IPA bros like myself (self-burn), rejoice! Your fall beer is here. It’s bitter, even a little fruity, and definitely all IPA. — TS

Not much nose, followed by a weird, muddled taste profile. It’s bitterness without context. Strizzle is a rare miss from Wiseacre. — CM

This tastes the way sliding a finger along a freshly Pledged table feels but without the pleasant lemon scent. — AM

High Cotton

Chocolate Rye Porter, porter, 5.5 percent ABV

This is just begging to be made into a beer float. Is that even a thing? Well, it is now. Gimme a mug and a scoop of vanilla, please. — SC

As a kid I used to go to my grandmother’s and attack the bowl of 85-percent Ghirardelli chocolate squares. This beer reminds me of those, a bitter and oh-so-slightly-sweet meld of chocolate flavor swirling softly amidst the dark porter. Truly heavenly, and the perfect fall/winter beer. — SXC

It smells just like coffee as I bring it up for a sip. It tastes like the holidays. If ReinBeer above is the fun, gaudy Christmas party with lil smokies and Dirty Santa, this beer is the classier sit-down, roast beef dinner with your well-to-do cousins. — TS

This is the kind of beer I’m in the mood for when the leaves are falling. It’s well-balanced, not too sweet, with a complex set of flavors. This is one of my favorite beers from a Memphis brewery. — CM

Tailgate

Peanut Butter Milk Stout, sweet/milk stout, 5.8 percent ABV

Yum! Nutter Butters in a cup. This would make a great boozy milkshake. — SC

My notes, verbatim: “Fuck it. I love the shit out of this beer.” I couldn’t help it, even though I don’t usually like these beers and wanted not to like this one. I can’t explain the magic that converted me, but it was there. — TS

It’s got a great nose, it pours like motor oil, and the flavor is deep and satisfying — somewhere between a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup and a pecan pie. Those brewers up there in Nashville are making great beer. — CM

Hi-Wire

Chocolate Coconut Bar 10W-40 Imperial Stout, stout, 8 percent ABV

It’s a silky, creamy chocolate imperial stout with a bit of lingering coconut. I expected more of a Mounds bar-esque taste. Not quite as good as the chocolate rye porter, but solid if you’re a stout fan. — SXC

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. The coconut goes way over the top here and turns the candy bar flavor into suntan lotion. — TS

As a fan of stouts, chocolate cake, and coconuts, this sounds like it should be right up my alley. But it’s just chewy and thick and not much else. I’m not sure I even tasted the coconut. Meh. — CM

Soul & Spirits

Smoke Stack, smoked dark lager, 5.7 percent ABV

Ever played musical chairs around a campfire to avoid the smoke blowing in your eyes? But every time you move, it follows, permeating your hair and clothes and your entire respiratory system? That usually sucks, but while this tastes like inhaling a smoke cloud, it’s a bold beer, and I’m here for it. — SC

The smoke hits you right up front, like when the wind from a fire pit wafts your way. It’s meant to emulate Memphis barbecue, and like Memphis barbecue, it’s a slow burn. Not a beer to crush, but could go well with a rack of ribs. — BV

Ever had a beer that’s smoky like a good scotch? Made with Tennessee barley roasted over mixed hardwoods intended to evoke the flavors of Memphis barbecue, this one was a new experience for me. Not sure I could have more than one at a sitting, but this is an excellent beer. — CM

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We Recommend We Recommend

International Park(ing) Day

(Credit: MidtownMemphis.org)

If you drive past Midtown’s Cash Saver on Friday, you might be tempted to rubber-neck at an unusual spectacle in the street parking spaces, since, in honor of International Park(ing) Day, those spots will be converted into tiny parks. 

Park(ing) Day is a global, public, participatory art project, explains Emily Bishop, board member of MidtownMemphis.org, the organization spearheading the event in Memphis. “That’s a mouthful,” she says, “but it’s where you temporarily repurpose street parking spaces into places for art, play, and activism. What we’re trying to do is get people to reimagine that area of Midtown.”

When the area around Cash Saver, Pho Binh, Crumpy’s Hot Wings, and the like was restriped to add bike lanes, the city added parking lanes, too. “Nobody uses them,” Bishop says. “They kinda get used as an inappropriate passing lane or turning lane. I mean, I see it all the time going to Home Depot.”

As such, safety is one of the points of awareness for this Park(ing) Day Project, the other point being to bring greenery to the space. The plan, Bishop says, is to plant black gum and maple trees along the sidewalk that runs east of Cash Saver on Angelus. “The sidewalk is 10-feet wide, and it has no power lines overhead, so it’s the perfect place for street trees,” she says, adding that under a tree’s shade it can be 10-15 degrees cooler, a much needed benefit during Memphis’ hot summer months. “We’re already working with Cash Saver and the City Engineer’s Office, and if all goes well, we hope to plant those trees in early November.”

Rendering of plans for tree-planting along Angelus (Credit: MidtownMemphis.org)

In the meantime, Friday will be MidtownMemphis.org’s second Park(ing) Day in front of Cash Saver. This year, the group has partnered with Memphis City Beautiful, Clean Memphis, Evergreen, Central Gardens, Neighborhood Preservation Inc. (NPI), The Works Inc., and The Home Depot. 

“We’ll have some green carpet out there to make it feel like grass,” Bishop says. “There’ll be some games. We’ll have plants and bushes that’ll give you a feel of what that would be like. We’ll just see what the creativity of each of our partners is and what they do with their spaces.”

Giveaways and free snow cones will also be available, and attendees will have a chance to meet with the various groups to learn about upcoming projects and ways to volunteer. 

Already, MidtownMemphis.org has planted native trees, bushes, and flowering plants on Avalon, behind Murphy’s and next to Crumpy’s. 

“We were really inspired by the Medical District, the improvements they made, and, of course, Overton Square is so beautiful now,” Bishop says. “We just want this area in between to continue the good work and spread it on down. Everybody travels up and down that section of Madison.”

International Park(ing) Day, Madison Avenue in front of Cash Saver, Friday, September 16th, 3-7 pm. 

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News News Blog News Feature

Supply Chain Issues Delay South Point Grocery Open Date

Credit: Toby Sells

Work continues on South Point Grocery, a new grocery store on South Main, but Covid has pushed the opening schedule back to early 2022, its owners said. 

Castle Retail Group, parent company of Cash Saver and High Point Grocery stores, will bring a new store to South Main at 136 Webster sometime early next year. The store, to be called South Point Grocery, is sandwiched between Central Station on the west and the U.S. Postal Service facility on the east. 

Work began on the store in late spring this year and, at the time, owners believed they could open the store this year. Construction labor has not been an issue on the build; crews have worked on the store even through holidays, company officials said. But Covid has disrupted supply chains, delayed the delivery of supplies and equipment, and that has pushed back the store’s opening. 

“Any job of this magnitude, you come onto stumbling blocks,” said Rick James, owner and CEO of Castle Retail Group. “Covid introduced a different set of stumbling blocks and that was time factors of getting equipment and getting supplies.”

Still, James said “we’re trying like heck” to get the store open in early 2022. 

The once dusty, dark space has already been transformed since April. Bright, clean light illuminates the store’s 9,000 square feet of retail space. Floors are even and clean. Sleek coolers line the walls and floor freezers outline what will be some of South Point’s aisles. The store is taking shape. 

Credit: Toby Sells

Paul Young, president and CEO of the Downtown Memphis Commission, walked the store’s floor last week and met with James and others with the company. Young said Downtowners have been talking about the need for a new grocery store since he began work in planning in 2003 and he’s sure that conversation goes back further than that.

For many Downtowners, Young said, Danny Thomas Avenue forms a sort of “soft boundary where Downtown stops.”

“[That idea] just comes from conversations with Downtowners about where they would like to see the type of amenities they want to access,” Young said. “They want to access [amenities] in the heart of Downtown and Danny Thomas feels like a soft boundary for where Downtown stops.”

Community response to South Point Grocery has been overwhelmingly positive, James said. It might also serve as a major building block to further development. He said grocery stores are anchors and they’re usually first on the list for suburban shopping-center developers establishing new sites. 

“So, it’s kind of like you’ve got Downtown as its own little city and it’s never had that anchor, and we’re going to provide that,” James said. “For those Downtown residents who’ve been here a long time, it’s been a long time coming. Then, you’ve got new Downtown residents who’ve come and realized there’s no place to buy groceries. They’re excited about it, too.” 

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News The Fly-By

MEMernet: Says Who?, MemphisGiving, and the Cash Saver Hawk

Posted to Twitter by @KatrinaLColeman

Memphis on the internet.

Says Who?

The MEMernet was on fire last week with responses to Nike’s “Says Who?” ad featuring Memphis and Ja Morant.

Makes Sense

Posted to Reddit by u/dontcallmejimorjimmy

“After finding this ancient painting it makes more sense now,” wrote Reddit user dontcallmejimorjimmy.

MemphGiving

Posted to Reddit by u/B1gR1g

“Wishing r/Memphis a very happy, smooth and safe Thanksgiving,” wrote Reddit user B1gR1g.

Cash Saver Hawk

Posted to Reddit by u/Hungry-Influence3108

Reddit user Hungry-Influence3108 caught this hawk posted above the eggs at the Midtown Cash Saver last week.

The best comment, by triple_rectum_fryer, read, “I’m sure he’ll get jumped by Cash Saver pigeons.” Other users identified the bird as either a red-shouldered hawk, a Cooper’s hawk, a sharp-shinned hawk, or a big ass hawk.

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News Blog News Feature

South Point Grocery Store Headed to South Main

From left: Vera Stanfield and Tom Archer of Archer Custom Builders and Taylor James and Rick James of Castle Retail Group.

Fresh foods will be the focal point of a new grocery store planned for Downtown Memphis. 

Castle Retail Group, parent company of Cash Saver and High Point Grocery stores, will bring a new store to South Main at 136 Webster sometime this year. The store, to be called South Point Grocery, is sandwiched between Central Station on the west and the U.S. Postal Service facility on the east. 

Tom Archer, owner and president of Archer Custom Builders, bought the building in 2017 with visions to bring a grocery store to Downtown Memphis. The store will be small — with a sales floor of about 8,000 square feet — compared to other stores. Its size and the neighborhood pushed the focus on fresh foods, said Rick James, owner and CEO of Castle Retail Group. 

“We know in a space of this size, we’re not going to have 48-roll toilet paper; it just won’t work,” James said. “But we can handle high-end, fresh produce, deli, bakery, and a butcher shop. Quality and freshness would be two of the key words.”

We can handle high-end, fresh produce, deli, bakery, and a butcher shop. Quality and freshness would be two of the key words.

Rick James, owner and CEO Castle Retail Group

Another grocery store has been on the Downtown to-do list for more than a decade, as some have said Miss Cordelia’s feels far away and disconnected from Downtown’s Central Business District. For years, Downtowners have have told surveyors that another grocery store is a missing gap for the neighborhood. James said many now drive five miles to Midtown stores, like Cash Saver or Kroger, to stores in West Memphis, Arkansas, or to big-box stores like Costco on Germantown Parkway. 

South Point Grocery will fulfill a years-long desire Downtowners have had for another grocery store.

James and Archer said South Point Grocery makes sense now with Downtown’s new population density. Nearly 26,000 people lived Downtown last year, according to the latest numbers from the Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC), up slightly from the nearly 25,000 people who lived there in 2010.  DMC data says nearly 88,000 occupy Downtown during the day.

“We’ve been down here all these years and South Main has been kind of on the edge of busting wide open,” said Archer, whose company is headquartered on South Main. “We wanted to get ahead of that but it beat us. It’s been crazy down here the last couple of years. So, this is perfect timing.”

South Point Grocery was, in part, inspired by Castle’s success at High Point Grocery. James said before buying the beloved community grocery store, his company had not really done a small-format store. Without it, “we wouldn’t have had the confidence that we can” run a smaller store Downtown. Archer said he’d been looking for a partner for his Downtown grocery building, saw James talking about High Point Grocery on the news, and walked away impressed when he went to see it for himself.  

The building features a parking deck on the east side with plenty of public parking available on Webster. A covered patio with ceiling fans front the street, which James said will be used for dining and, perhaps, live music. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Madison Growler Filling Station to Close in Cash Saver

CREDIT: Madison Growler and Bottle Shop/Facebook

Madison Growler and Bottle Shop/Facebook

Taylor James at the Madison Growler filling station in 2014.

The Madison Growler and Bottle Shop, the craft beer space inside Cash Saver on Madison, will close its growler filing station after the last keg has been tapped, a store official said Thursday.

Taylor James, vice president of sales and merchandising for Castle Retail Group, the company that owns Cash Saver, said the store will continue carrying a wide selection of craft beer but will focus on packaged beer (cans and bottles) instead of growlers. The beer space inside the store will now be called Madison Bottle Shop.

James said the discussion to close the growler station has been ongoing and the decision is “not out of the blue.” The decision was made, he said, as craft beer trends have changed.

Most all of the city’s craft breweries are now canning their beers, not the case when the Growler opened in December 2013. That year, three breweries — Wiseacre, High Cotton, and Memphis Made — opened within months of one another. At the time, not much of that beer was being packaged, and the easiest way to get it was at a bar or restaurant. If you wanted to take it home, the growler — the stumpy glass jug — was the only way.

James said that has changed and “growlers aren’t what they used to be.” If packaging trends weren’t enough to doom the growler, COVID-19 stepped in.

“The growler is a very sociable beer package,” James said. “You get one and share it with your friends. We don’t really do that right now. So the sales just aren’t there as much because you can get [craft beer] in cans.”

James said all growler fills at the store are now $3 until his supply runs out. He wasn’t precisely sure when that might be but said if it lasts until Super Bowl Sunday (February 7th), he may go in and work one last shift behind the bar at the Madison Growler. The Growler’s first Sunday open was Super Bowl Sunday.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

High Point Grocery Bought by Cash Saver Owner Rick James

CREDIT: Taylor James

Taylor James

Rick James, CEO and owner of the local Castle Retail Group, chats outside High Point Grocery.

High Point Grocery has been purchased by Rick James, CEO and owner of the local Castle Retail Group, the company behind Cash Saver grocery stores.

The High Point Terrace store closed in April because of the coronavirus virus pandemic. Longtime operator C.D. Shirley decided to sell the store.

“We are excited to continue serving the High Point Terrace neighborhood and
community in the coming weeks after minor renovations are made,” James said in a statement.

James plans to have the store cleaned, stocked, and reopened by mid-August. A company official said Monday morning no major changes will be made. James said he hopes the former High Point Grocery employees will return to work at the store.

James has a connection to the High Point Grocery form early in his career. Shirley’s father, Charles, bought the store in 1971, and James became the wholesale
representative for the store and other many others in the 1980s.
[pullquote-1] “This store is similar to the store in which I started my career,” James said. “High Point Grocery is a treasure of the neighborhood, and we’re thrilled that C.D. is willing to allow us to continue its legacy,” James said.

James’ Castle Retail Group operates three Cash Saver grocery stores in the Memphis area. James has been in the grocery business for nearly 50 years, and he serves as the chairman of the Tennessee Grocers & Convenience Store Association and vice chairman for the Mid-South Food Bank.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Sampling a Couple Brews From Beale Street Brewing

In these harrowing times, even something as innocuous as a trip to the grocery store has taken on an air of danger and adventure. We pad down the aisles like masked ninjas — keeping our distance from other humans, eyeballing the paper goods. On-the-fly tabulations are turning us into mathematical savants as we calculate toilet paper usage rates. Heady stuff, people.

I suited up and headed to the Madison Growler Shop for quarantine supplies — which included some Bud Light for Mrs. M because she’s never really supported my career choices. But just because something is possibly dangerous, that does not mean it shouldn’t be pleasant. I had a nice chat with the guy manning the taps, which, due to social distancing, was done nearly at the top of our lungs. “So what’s new?” I bellowed.

“Have you ever had Beale Street Brewing?” he called.

“No,” I hollered. You really do have to enunciate with a handkerchief tied around your face.

“That’s okay, no one has,” he yodeled back. And so it was then that your intrepid beer reporter jumped into action. Setting down my clean, COVID-19-free growler on the counter, I ordered it filled with something Beale Street Brewing calls Hop Ale and which I was assured is not an IPA. Actually, it’s exactly what it claims to be — an ale that’s been hopped to hell and back. It’s good, hoppy to be sure, but somehow (and how the people at Beale Street Brewing Company managed this is a mystery) not overwhelming.

What is a bit overwhelming about the Hop Ale is the ABV, which is 7.5 percent. I told Mrs. M that if I’m sitting on the patio in the sun with a beer, it means that I’m working and I am not to be disturbed. So she instantly showed up on the patio with one of the aforementioned Bud Lights in hand. I’ve always had the piddling fear that she doesn’t take me entirely seriously, but the more immediate issue was that I was on the hook for all 32 ounces. Because I was working.

What the hell? It’s not like we were supposed to be going anywhere, at least not if we could help it. I’m a reasonably law-abiding citizen — so I drank an entire growler of Hop Ale late on a Tuesday morning. Driving wasn’t really the danger for me, I’ve worked at home — and written about booze — for over a decade. I wasn’t going anywhere, except to my desk, where I’m frantically trying to finish a non-booze related manuscript, because writers don’t make squat. You try to negotiate the logistics of a first-rate coup d’état with 32 ounces of 7.5 percent ABV coursing through your system. With nonfiction you can’t just make stuff up, and mysteries of foreign policy only get more mysterious. I needed a nap.

Two days later we picked up a couple of cheeseburgers from Huey’s curbside and I tried another Beale Street Brewing sample — Space Age Sippin’ Hazy IPA. It clocks in at a marginally lighter 6.5 percent ABV, which I’d bought in cans, so I wasn’t obligated to drink the entire haul in one sitting. This hazy IPA — and I should have started with this one — is one of the best new beers I’ve had in a long time. It is hazy, but light and refreshing. It leans on some groovy hops I can’t name that give it a great citrusy floral nose and taste. I’d get into more technical details about the beer and the company, but I can’t. Their website, while pretty to look at, is more or less useless.

And to the fun-haters, I know that I could have written this column with a four-ounce pour of each, but that’s just wasteful and these are dire times. A certain trust between correspondent and reader is essential. Besides, what sort of geopolitical analysis would you get out of a glass of lemonade?

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Keeping the Free Press Free

A few weeks ago in this space, I wrote about the likelihood that our readers would soon be unable to find the Flyer at local Kroger stores. It was the result of a decision made at Kroger’s corporate headquarters in Cincinnati that no free publications would be allowed in any of its stores after October 15th.

The Kroger company claimed that the decision was made because “more publications continue to shift to digital formats, resulting in less customers using the products.” (Let’s forgive them their use of “less” when they meant “fewer”; there probably aren’t many English majors in the Kroger corporate food chain.) But the fact is that while it’s true that paid print circulation is declining at many daily newspapers, it’s actually increasing at free publications.

The Flyer is a member of the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN), a national organization of around 100 alternative newsweeklies, many of which are in cities where Kroger is the dominant grocery retailer. AAN has started a nationwide campaign called “Don’t Lose Local News,” but frankly, it doesn’t appear to be having much effect.

Colorado Springs Independent founder John Weiss said last week that the pickup number for his publication in that city’s Krogers had grown to 17,000 in recent years. Berl Schwartz, publisher of the Lansing City Pulse, said his paper’s pickup rate in Kroger had almost tripled since 2012.

“The price of daily papers has increased steeply while content has declined just as sharply,” said Schwartz. “As a result, many readers have stopped buying print dailies. In market after market, free alternative weeklies have filled a big hole in local news.”

Weiss has launched an “un-boycott” in Colorado Springs. “Keep shopping at the stores,” he says, “but while there, ask to speak to the manager on duty to request that they keep our paper available.” In Lansing last week, the city council passed a resolution asking Kroger corporate leaders to reconsider their decision.

Similar actions are happening in other alt-weekly cities, including Cincinnati, Omaha, Salt Lake City, Oakland, and elsewhere. But barring an unlikely last-minute corporate change of mind, readers in those cities — and in Memphis — will have to start picking up their local alt-weekly at other locations.

In Memphis, 9,000 copies of the Flyer are (or were) picked up in Kroger stores each week, nearly a quarter of our circulation. The Kroger pickup rate was around 95 percent, meaning there weren’t many papers left at the end of the week — and that lots of Memphians relied on Kroger for access to the paper.

I was manning a Flyer booth at an event a couple weeks back, one of those deals where companies set up informational tables and hand out keychains and pens and other tchotchkes. We had a stack of Flyers on the table, and they went like hotcakes. I was surprised and gratified at how many folks, many of them older African Americans, told me how much they appreciated the Flyer. And many of them added, “I pick it up at Kroger every week.”

So, what are we going to do with those 9,000 papers? We’re working on it. We’re increasing the draw at many of our other locations, especially those in Midtown and Downtown. We’re currently at all locations of Cash Saver, Superlo, Huey’s, Jack Pirtle’s, Central BBQ, and any public library. We’re also adding new locations, including (as of October 15th) all CVS pharmacies and Exxon stations — with more to come.

We’ll keep you apprised as other distribution agreements are made. (Walgreens, are you listening?) If you have a suggestion or a question about locations, email our distribution manager Carrie O’Guin (oguin@memphisflyer.com).

We are also in the process of creating a pickup location guide/map that will be printed in the paper on occasion and put online permanently. In a city like Memphis, a free publication like the Flyer is a valuable source of news and information, and we intend to keep getting it into the hands of those who want to read it — Kroger or no Kroger.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Good People: ‘Bama’s Best Beer

Any beer nerd will tell you that one of the great things about the whole craft beer scene is traveling someplace and discovering some new and fantastic brewery while you are away from your hometown go-to. The downside of this hyper-local arrangement is that when you go home, you’re out of luck if you crave that beer you found while traveling. Like so much else in life, craft beer nerdery cuts both ways.

I have some friends, real baseball geeks, who will not return from their spring training trip in the droopy end of Florida without a couple of cases of Pulp Friction Grapefruit IPA from Motorworks Brewing. So, passing through the Madison Growler shop the other day, I was pleased to see two selections from Good People Brewing out of Birmingham, Alabama. Good People have been making beer, legally at any rate, since 2008. I dropped in on them a few years ago, unannounced, for an interview. They were strictly local then, but were kind enough to show me around and talk beer. Alabama was pretty early — by Southern standards — in adopting laws friendly to craft brewers. It shows. If you can’t get out to North Carolina, you could do a lot worse than drinking your way around northern Alabama. They also pointed out that said changes were recent enough to make all the “Murffbrau” I brewed up in my room at the University of Alabama entirely illegal.

If you can’t get to Alabama, at least you can get to Midtown, where two Good People beers are currently on tap at the Cash Saver. What is interesting about their Muchacho is that most craft brewers like to harken back to the great beer brewing cultures of Europe for their inspiration. Good People looked south of the … wall, steel slats, questionable logic? … (Well let’s just call it the border for now) to make a drinkable Mexican-style lager. It’s light and crisp and doesn’t linger very long on the palate. It will pair beautifully with the sort of tacos you get on Summer Avenue. Or for that matter, fried chicken or catfish. With an ABV of 4.8 percent, you can drink enough to battle the spice.

The theory that we put lime in Mexican beer because it inherently needs help is simply not true. Muchacho is the cosmic ideal of either Corona or Dos Equis, wonderful on its own without any assist. Still, a squeeze of lime gave it a little pop. Don’t be a beer racist: If it’s okay for the Belgians to do it with oranges, it’s okay for the Mexicans to do it with limes.

The other selection was a Winter Ale called Denim Downhiller. According to the Urban Dictionary, the term describs a skier of the Appalachian alps who wears jeans instead of snow pants, is rockin’ a mullet, and almost certainly a denim jacket. This ale is a tribute to that guy. Budweiser may be the king and Miller the champagne, but Denim Downhiller is the mustache of beers. It’s earthy and toasty, but I’m not entirely sure why it’s called a Winter Ale. It tastes like a nut brown to me, and fans of the brown/red ales will feel right at home. Perhaps the season to which the Good People are referring is the one in LA (read: Lower Alabama). They really don’t have anything we’d call a winter down there.

Denim Downhiller was a little sweet for my tastes, not quite syrupy. At 5.6 percent ABV, it is higher in alcohol than the Muchacho, but nothing that’s going to knock you off the slopes, as it were. At 18 IBU, it has got a lot more hops to it as well, but a toasted malt counterweight balances this beer out.

Speaking as an alum — and a former resident and unintentional bootlegger from the great state of Alabama — I would advise you to hurry. After Clemson managed to out “Bama” Alabama the other night, the state might just drink itself dry.