I heard once that when Nikita Kruschev visited a San Francisco supermarket during his bizarre US visit in 1959, he believed that the shelves had been "salted" with merchandise as a propaganda ploy, that such abundance and choice was not possible.
No doubt Kruschev would have felt the same way on a pub crawl of Decatur, Georgia. How else to explain the 100 taps at Taco Mac, and the 100-plus bottles of Belgian and Belgian-style ales at the Brick Store Pub? Around the corner, Leon's Full Service has only 14 taps, but 13 different styles are represented and most of the selections could be considered among the top 10 in the category. The well-selected list, ample bar area, and creative food makes it a great alternative to the Brick Store, at least during the week. Weekends are reportedly very crowded.
I had a hard time choosing from this ridiculously appealing list:
Saison Dupont (saison)
St Bernardus Prior 8 (dubbel)
Oude Beersel Framboise (lambic)
Goudon Carolus Noel (Belgian Strong Dark)
Allagash White (witbier)
La Chouffe N'Ice Chouffe (Belgian Strong Dark)
Ayinger Brauweisse (hefeweizen)
He'Brew Lenny's RIPA (DIPA)
North Coast Old Rasputin (RIS)
Founders Red's Rye (rye ale)
Old Chub (Scottish ale)
Terrapin Hopsecutioner (American IPA)
Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron (Imperial brown ale)
Duck-Rabbit Baltic Porter (Baltic porter)
My only complaint would be that the list is a bit too heavy on high-gravity styles, especially for a place that emphasizes food. They really should have at least one lager on draft, as well as a top-notch pale ale and a Belgian pale ale or tripel. But then, which ones would you replace?
I had the N'Ice Choufee and the Palo Santo Marron, the latter of which warmed my heart and sent chills down my spine. Great googly-moogly that is some good shit!
Leon's celebrates its first anniversary on February 9 with a tiki theme. Bartender Miles Macquarrie will be mixing up house versions of classic tiki cocktails, which brings up yet another dimension to Leon's, one that I will explore in future posts. Stay tuned!
