Aviator Smokehouse partners craft brews with food, including barbecue

Anytime I come across a partnering of beer and barbecue, my mind often drifts to the 1990s, when I attended several annual summer "Blues, Brew and Barbecue" festivals sponsored by the former Indiana Blues Society.

The IBS did a nice job, I thought, of finding local blues talent -- and a national act to fill the headliner bill -- to provide music entertainment throughout the day. There was also brew and barbecue to satisfy the pallet.

And so it happened that's where my mind transformed when I learned that Aviator Brewing Co. of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., owned a sister enterprise called Aviator Smokehouse, 525 E. Broad St., which is across Broad Street from the brewery's Taphouse, 600 E. Broad St., yet another sister enterprise (and not the last ... more about that a little below). OK, so maybe the live music aspect was lacking, but still ...  beer and barbecue!

Aviator Smokehouse is a pub specializing in barbecue, but as I fully expected, it is equipped with the full compliment of Aviator beers. I had just finished lunch elsewhere, so I went to Broad Street to sample the Aviator brews.

You might think I should have gone to the taphouse if I wasn't looking for food, and you probably would be right. But I didn't know at the time that the building across the street from the restaurant was the taphouse; I thought it was the brewery, and I knew from researching online that the brewery didn't open until 4 p.m. (Turns out the brewery is actually a mile or so away at 209 Technology Park Lane).

So ... I went to the smokehouse, which had almost two dozen Aviator brews on tap. I asked the server about sampling a flight. The server quoted me an $8 price to try six brews. She said to add $2 more for each additional pair I would like to sample.

I decided to limit my sampling to six, and I tried (above, left to right) Transatlantic IPA, MacBawBag Scotch Ale, 3Bones Kolsch Style Ale, Crackpot Pilsner, Wide Open Red Ale and another IPA, the Hog Wild. A closeup of the pilsner is at left; a closeup of the red ale is at the right.

My favorites in the batch were the first two I sampled -- the pilsner and red ale. I found a curious carbonated texture to the kolsch and scotch, and I found the two IPAs more hoppy than I ordinarily like. But ... I run hot and cold with IPAs; when I visited Carolina Brewery a few weeks ago, that beer-maker's Wiggo IPA hit the spot, and I bought a six-pack. Every Wiggo I consumed after that ... also hit the spot. I was happy again.

I did not leave Aviator with that sensation after tasting the Transatlantic or Hog Wild.

Among the handful of photos I took of the smokehouse interior, I liked the one above the best. Below is a look at almost the full bar area, where I sat. A closeup of the tap handles is shown in the second photo below.  

Above: A look at the full beer menu at the restaurant. 

Red brick is a popular facade of this section of the town's merchants' district. Above is the front of Aviator Beer Shop, yet another enterprise of the Aviator brand. The beer shop, across Stewart Street from the Smokehouse at 601 E. Broad St., sells not only Aviator products, but other brews from elsewhere in the state and across the country. Below is a long look at the building where the smokehouse is located, with the entrance being at the far end. I'm going to presume the shops in this section of Broad Street were part of the original Varina town between it merged with Fuquay. 

Above: The front of the taphouse, which I originally thought was the actual brewery. 

Above and below: Aviator has appealing art work with its brand -- both on the beers and its facility signage. Another example is the artwork shown in the photo leading off the post. 

Above: Inside Aviator Smokehouse, I'm looking through a tall, vertical window across Stewart Street to Aviator Beer Shop.  

Gatlinburg trip, Part VI: One last look ...

Based only on my experience on this trip to Gatlinburg, one doesn't have to travel deep into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to appreciate what a spectacle -- and treasure -- those mountains are.

In the first installment of this series, I presented a bevy of photos from our trip inside the park. It was extraordinarily memorable. But in the four days we were in Gatlinburg prior to venturing inside the national park, we had a vivid taste of what we would behold once we got there. Even in town, anytime you looked up ... there were mountains.

On the first evening in Gatlinburg, and even on a couple other days, I strolled the grounds of our resort and captured the pictures you see in this post. None of these was taken inside the national park; they were all from some point on the resort grounds. And even better, some of them were from the balcony of our room, and we had a ground-level room. Of course, our "ground level" room was in a building on a pretty steep hill to begin with. So that helped. But our building had four floors above us, so I a couple times I climbed up there to enhanced the perspective.

The photos you see below with golden or amber hues in the sky or even on the mountains were taken late in the afternoon or early evening. You might call it sundown. The others, including the one leading off the post, were taken in the mid-to late afternoon. At the bottom of the lead-off photo, you can see the rooftops of a couple villas on the grounds of our resort. We were not in a villa; we were in a condo building.

That pretty much sets up this "last look" Gatlinburg series post. I don't think any of the photos below requires further captioning. I hope you enjoy the view(s) as as well as the pictures. I will note that in the fourth image below -- the one with the very orange sunset background and tree on the right side of the composition -- I didn't tinker with the saturation level at all after the image went through HDR processing (this process is explained two paragraphs below).

As always, if you'd like to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful if you access the blog from a mobile device.

Photo geek stuff: All of the images in this post were taken with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens. For most of the images, the lens was equipped with a B+W polarizing filter. I took three exposures of each composition with the 6D, which I later melded the three into one image per composition using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software.

End of the series

Previously in this series:

 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ripley's Aquarium

Downtown Gatlinburg

Mynatt Park

Moonshine (legal) and whiskey

Gatlinburg trip, Part V: Moonshine and whiskey (both legal)

When the resort where you're staying hosts not just one, but two different moonshine "tastings" on separate days of the week for its guests, it just seems (pick one) ... A) proper; B) respectful; C) obvious; D) all of the previous ... to check it out, don't you think?

Keep in mind, in Tennessee, moonshine is legal -- and regulated (despite the legalization, as you might expect, there is still a bit of illegal moonshine being cooked in the rural areas). Our resort invited two of the local moonshine retailers to bring their products to the community house so guests could sample them. In fact, the samplings (on separate days, of course) were scheduled on the resort's daily "activities" calendar for the week. Matt, Lea and I signed up for both samplings, although we made it only to the first. It happened to be one featuring Doc Collier Moonshine, a legal distillery (its downtown Gatlinburg shop window is pictured below).

Doing a moonshine "tasting" was a first for all three of us, and each of us downed everything that Trey from Doc Collier put in front of us. That probably isn't such a great accomplishment, considering the size of the samples (see the receptacle in the photo leading off the post, although that pour is from a whiskey sampling we did at a downtown shop the next day. But they use the same sample receptacle).

Trey started us off with the strongest straight moonshine that Doc Collier' distillery has in stock. He called it the store's "black label" moonshine -- and said it was "120 proof." When we asked the significance of a liquor's "proof," Trey told us that you usually halve a liquor's "proof" to gauge its percentage of alcohol content, which meant that "black label" was (gulp) 60 percent alcohol. Thankfully, we had just a small sample of it; I distinctly remember that it cleared the nostrils.

From that point on, the samples were either flavored or a fruit. For example, Doc Collier sells jars of cherries drenched with moonshine, apparently so people can drop them as a slight "kick" into mixed drinks (or, if you're really daring, consume them solo ... straight out of the bottle).

In addition to the actual cherry, there was a cherry juice moonshine, and moonshines or green briar apple (not bad), root beer float (delicious), banana (ditto), white oak (so-so), and a chocolate peanut butter combo called buckeye (I didn't taste the peanut butter, and was disappointed), watermelon (pretty good) and blackberry (very good). Then Trey started to mix and match at guests' suggestions, and I suggested the root beer float and banana, and ... well, I'll just toss there word "divine" in here. It was my favorite, with the root beer float runnerup.

Matt and I ran into Trey later that day at Doc Collier's shop in downtown Gatlinburg. Trey had promised tours of the distillery's moonshine operation to any resort guests who dropped in on the shop, and he was true to his word. He showed us the modest operation.

The next day, instead of attending the second moonshine tasting at the resort, we returned downtown to visit the Ole Smoke Tennessee Whiskey shop (its outside facade is pictured above) and do a whiskey tasting. Matt and I, particularly, had a sort of vested (if that's the right word) interest in this place. Here's the story behind that.

Lee Ann and I were at Matt and Mindy's house in Fishers a couple years ago (I can't remember for sure if this was before or after the move to North Carolina in 2017), and Matt and I made a run to a nearby liquor store. When we walked into the store, a couple representatives of Ole Smoky Tennessee Whiskey were offering customers samples of a couple of their products. I've forgotten what one of them was, but I distinctly remember the other one -- salted caramel. I was very impressed and decided to buy a couple bottles of it. Matt liked it, too, and it's kind of become a thing with us when we get together ... downing a shot of Ole Smoky salted caramel.

Neither Matt nor I was aware there would be an Old Smoky shop in Gatlinburg before the trip, so ... we were pleasantly surprised when we came upon it during our stroll through downtown early in our stay in town. We didn't stop in that day, but we came back two days later. I didn't take detailed notes (like I did at the Doc Collier tastings) about the Ole Smoky samples I tried. The ones I remember sticking out in my mind were the amaretto, salted watermelon and apple pie.

Ole Smoky also had a moonshine store in Gatlinburg (separate from the whiskey shop), and Matt's wife had asked that he pick up (and bring home) a couple of jars of moonshine pickles from there. Matt complied. 

As always, if you'd like to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful if you access the blog from a mobile device.

Photo geek stuff: Most of the images in this post were taken with my iPhone. A few (those outdoors) were taken with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens. I took three exposures of each shot with the DSLR, which I later melded into one image using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software.

A portion of Doc's main store area is shown above. In the first two photos below, Trey walks us through the distillery operation. The two photos below that are shots of the store decor. 

Above and below: Shots of inventory from inside the Ole Smoky Tennessee Whiskey store in downtown Gatlinburg.

Our lineup of whiskies to be sampled (above), and a closeup of one of the sample pours (below). 

Both Doc's and Ole Smoky offered store logo apparel and other products for sale. Above is a perspective shot of the Ole Smoky merchandise. Below, is a closeup of one of the caps, which I happened to buy that day.

Next up: A final look at the Great Smokies

Previously in this series:

 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ripley's Aquarium

Downtown Gatlinburg

Mynatt Park

Gatlinburg trip, Part IV: Mynatt Park

While preparing our itinerary for Gatlinburg, we were mindful of two major factors: budget and amusements for 3-year-old Jaxson. So we searched out a kid-friendly park that we thought would be of interest to all of us -- aesthetics for the adults, and entertainment for Jaxson.

That's how we landed at Mynatt Park, named for W.W. "Judd" Mynatt, a town manager who in the early 1970s was credited with steering the community to long-term economic sustainability by developing itself as a tourist destination.

The park is off Cherokee Orchard Road on the south side of town, laid out along Le Conte Creek just north of the start of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The creek itself is fascinating -- certainly to a 3-year-old. Jaxson spent a total of about 45 minutes wading along the creek shore and tossing rocks of various sizes from one place in the creek to another.

The park also has a community center, lots of concrete picnic benches scattered along the creek, a baseball diamond, a full outdoor basketball court, two tennis courts on each of three height levels (for a total of six courts) and a playground. Jaxson enjoyed the playground, but we didn't spend a lot of time there because it was unprotected from the sun, and on the day we were there, anyone would have become uncomfortable within 5-10 minutes without any cover. Which is why we made a second stop at the creek for Jaxson to enjoy before leaving.

The creek also enabled me to indulge a pursuit that I got to explore a lot on this trip -- experimenting with various shutter speeds on rapids, waterfalls and any other forms of moving stream water. The photo leading off the post was taken at Le Conte Creek. It's a high-dynamic range (HDR) rendering, and when I shoot HDR, the shutter speed is the variable I use to allow different exposures, which I later meld into one for exploiting and optimizing detail in a composition. In this particular shot, the average shutter speed was 1/50, with the f/stop constant at f/8.0 and ISO 640.

As always, if you'd like to view a larger, sharper version of a photo, simply click on the image. This is particularly helpful if you access the blog from a mobile device. To view a full gallery of images from my visit to Mynatt Park, follow the link in this sentence.

Photo geek stuff: Most of the images in this post were taken with my iPhone camera. A few (those outdoors) were taken with my Canon 6D and Tamron 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD lens. With the Canon 6D shots, I made three exposures of each composition, some of which I later melded into one image using Photomatix high-dynamic range (HDR) software.

Above and below: In a shaded area near the creek, the park has this relaxation area that contains a plaque dedicated to W.W. "Judd" Mynatt and explaining his import to the community. 

 

Above and below: Views of how the picnic tables are scattered about. In the photo above, the creek is behind me and to my left. In the one below, it is just below the green area to the right.

At one end of the park is this pedestrian bridge (above) over Le Conte Creek, on which one has the view below looking back toward the main entrance. 

Above and next three below: An overview of the recreational facilities, beginning with the baseball diamond (above), multi-tiered tennis courts (you see the first two tiers below ... the third tier is much farther below in the distance and not in the photo) and the basketball court. A pavilion (with traditional wooden picnic benches) and the community building are in the third photo below. 

Two more creek shots ... I wouldn't argue that the one above is of high quality, but I decided to present it because the pixelized bokeh circles in the foreground left me intrigued. I wonder if I could make an argument that they comprise an important secondary element in the composition. Perhaps if I cropped a little off on the bottom? I don't know. I'd understand if one feels they are too annoying to qualify as art. The shot below is another favorite from my experimentation with slow shutters with water shots. Notice the sharp moss in the center of the focal point rock as a constant amid a swirl of movement. This also is an HDR rendering, with an average shutter speed of 1/40. The other settings were f/8 and ISO 320.

Above: In the pursuit of something a little different, this rusted out and rusty-colored grill. Use at your own risk?  

Above is the playground area, where there is little cover from the sun and heat. 

Above and below: Lee Ann's daughter alerted me to this tree bear the creek not far from the pedestrian bridge. It appears to be a tradition for visitors to etch proof of their presence in the park into the trunk. The images show different sides of the trunk. 

Next up: Moonshine and whiskey

Previously in this series: 

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Ripley's Aquarium

Downtown Gatlinburg