| The line at Olde Hickory Brewery at 9:00 a.m. for the Omega Point bottle release. |
By Dathan Kazsuk | Mar 8, 2015
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That was the question I asked myself on March 7 when we did just that.
The answer is one heck of a long day!
We left our house around 6:15 a.m. to make the long but relatively easy trip to Hickory, North Carolina, for Olde Hickory Brewery first ever bottle release. Omega Point is a rich tasting Barleywine, which has been aged in bourbon barrels for as long 7 years, blended together by OHB’s head brewer Steven Lyerly.
Jen and I have never been anywhere near Hickory, unless you count passing through en route to Asheville. We were surprised by the quaintness and historic feel of downtown Hickory. But not too thrilled with the numbered streets while attempting to find our destination.
2nd St. PL SE two streets in a row? 2nd St. NE.; 1st St. NE.; 1st Ave. NE.; 1st ST NW … all one after another, after another. Talk about confusing. Once we saw a parking lot filled with cars and dozens of bearded guys walking in groups towards one brick building – we knew we we found our destination.
Mind you, I’ve never been to a bottle release – being that I’m not a fan of standing in line for anything. A line of 6 people to get a bagel is 5 people too many in my opinion. So when we arrived and saw close to 150 people already in line … I was a little shocked.
More shocking was how organized Olde Hickory Brewery was moving the line along. As soon as we got in line, two guys checked our IDs, put on our wristbands, explained what each one was for and told everyone that this was a cash only event. And in under 35 minutes we were inside and paying for our bottles. Kudos!
Once inside we purchased a pint of Omega Point, and drank up while thinking to ourselves that we’re indulging in a 10% ABV Barleywine at 10 in the morning! I usually only do that while on a cruise ship!
We purchased 17 bottles between the two of us, which we kept a couple for ourselves, and others went to friends who paid us in advance. Remember this the next time you hit up a bottle release … and keep us in mind.