Big Man Eats: Smoky Mountain Brewery, Pigeon Forge, TN
The oldest craft brewery in Eastern Tennessee, Smoky Mountain Brewery began in Gatlinburg in 1996. The craft brewing industry was young and narrow, but in the last 20 years, the craft beer industry has thrived. Smoky Mountain Brewery has grown into four locations, including the Pigeon Forge location we visited.
Smoky Mountain Brewery offers flights to sample their craft. We chose the Cherokee Red Ale, Helles German Lager, IPA, and the Thunder Road Pilsner. Their beer ranges from Mountain Light, a clever name on typical American light beers, all the way to the classic English Brown Ale. As far as food goes, my family and I decided to split some starters. Onion Rings, Brewery Nachos, and the Sweet and Spicy Thunder Road Wings were put through our simple taste test with one question - would we order it again?
Rankings: out of 10. (1=low, 10=high)
Cherokee Red Ale: 7.6
Helles German Lager: 6.8
IPA: 7.6
Thunder Road Pilsner: 6.3
Onion Rings: 6.5
Sweet and Spicy Thunder Road Wings: 8.3
Brewery Nachos: 5.8
Overall score of Smoky Mountain Brewery: 7.5
Continue for full, in-depth review.
As I walk into any brewery, my eyes go straight to the beer menu to see what they offer. I know what I like, dislike, and indifferent when it comes to beer. As it came time to order, I ordered the flight with the beers listed above. The flight glasses were pretty big compared to other places, so I was able to get a good grasp of the taste and rankings.
Starting our tasting, I had the Cherokee Red Ale. Red ales originate in Ireland and are medium bodied ale, with a fruit finish to round the profile. I enjoyed the balance of fruit in the beer, as it wasn’t overpowering. The fruit my mom and I were getting was strawberries. We may have been wrong, but it was a solid Red Ale and would order again.
Next up was the Helles German Lager. This was a light beer, styled after many German beers that are designed to be drank easily. As I have had traditional German beer before and know what to expect, it hit all the marks besides how much flavor it had. There was a light taste, but wish it had a little more bite on the front end.
Next was a very hoppy IPA. Mellow start followed by a hard bitter bite. As an IPA fan, normally I lean towards the hazy or fruity IPA’s for the balance of the bitterness, but for a straight hops forward IPA, I enjoyed it.
Last was the seasonal Thunder Road Pilsner. With a smooth, mellow start, this familiar Pilsner brought the bitterness on the back. Similar to the German Helles, I was left wanting more flavor.
As I was here with my mom and dad, we wanted to get some staples of bar food to sample. Starting off was the Thunder Road Wings. As I did not love the Thunder Road beer, this sauce was exactly how I would want it to be. It was rich in flavor with a tangy buffalo style coming to mind. The sweetness on the front, spice on the back made these delicious. My only critique of the onion rings were…not enough onion. The Kick-Back sauce served with it was great, the breading was crunchy and seasoned, but the onion inside was tiny. In order to be an onion ring, there needs to be a substantial amount of onion, otherwise it is just fried breading. Lastly, the lowlight of the meal…the Brewery Nachos. The chili was great, toppings were great, but the chips were so salty, it was hard getting through them. If the nachos had more toppings, it would have been fine, but as soon as the first layer of nachos were done, there were still a bunch of chips left with nothing to put on them.
Overall, I had a good experience at Smoky Mountain Brewery with the dark and woody atmosphere, live music playing, and decent food and beer. I won’t be rushing back, but next time I am in Pigeon Forge, I would visit again to try more food options and continue enjoying their beers.
