Drink Local spotlight - Paducah, KY

I had an opportunity to visit Paducah, KY for a wedding recently, and found some great watering holes around town.  Here's my take on Drinking in Paducah!  

According to Wikipedia, "Paducah is a city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States.[5] The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio Rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missouri, to the northwest and Nashville, Tennessee, to the southeast. The population was 25,024 during the 2010 U.S. Census.[6] Twenty blocks of the city's downtown have been designated as a historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places."

This city has quite the fascinating history, which is actually displayed via huge murals painted across a massive flood wall (seen in the picture).  If you're passing through the area and like American history, be sure to check the flood wall out.  Then, hit up these three spots for drinks.

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Stop One:  Purple Toad Winery, 4275 Old US Hwy 45 S, Paducah, KY 42003

Purple Toad Winery, Paducah, KY

I stopped here first because it was the first place open at 10:30, plus it was near my hotel, and also because I like wine.  One thing about going to wineries around the country is that you just never know what to expect in terms of the facilities, the area/region, the atmosphere, the person pouring your wine, and of course, the wine! Obviously Kentucky is known for its bourbon, not its wine, and from our general experiences, we'd have to agree.  Kentucky (like Indiana) is not wine country.  The one thing that places that aren't great wine places can do though, is make sweet wine.  I'm pretty sweet as it is, but as my brother-in-law will tell you, I also am "a bit fiendish for the sweet stuff."  I don't deny it.  I call sweet wine breakfast wine, and I don't mean that as an insult.  Breakfast wine is great lake-drinking wine!  I'm certainly not opening up an Old-Vine Zinfandel on the boat when it's 92 degrees outside.  

Purple Toad Winery makes some damn good sweet wine, and they make a lot of it! Furthermore, it was easy to find their winery, the facility was quite nice and charming, and the staff was welcoming and friendly.  My personal wine tasting philosophy and determining how much wine I'll buy is determined by two things: 1) If the wine tasting is free, I will always buy at least one bottle and 2) if the people are friendly and the wine tasting is free, I'll buy a lot more.  If you charge me for a tasting, you better have really good wine at a fair price, or I'm not buying anything.  If you'd rather make $3 or $5 off a tasting than having me buy a case of wine, I won't feel bad at all when you're out of business.  

The staff at Purple Toad were engaging, knowledgeable about their own business, and friendly, plus their wine was good!  Even though they classify it is dry, semi-sweet, and sweet, it's all sweet to super-sweet.  I bought a case and it's been great to drink on the boat.  I recommend paying them a visit, and put a few bottles in your cooler.  purpletoadwinery.com/

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Stop 2:  Paducah Beer Werks, 301 North 4th Street
Paducah, Kentucky 42001

I have to confess that I drove around this building about 5 times looking for it before I realized that it was where I was going.  I thought it was a bus station....because it was!  From their website:  "​Searching for an appropriate location, Todd found the Old Greyhound Bus terminal at the corner of North 4th and Monroe streets to be the perfect shell for his venture. Occupied by Greyhound from 1966 to 2010, Blume’s major renovation in 2014 brought his vision to life. Housing the brewery in one side and a brewpub in the other, the Beer Werks opened to thirsty and hungry crowds in March 2015."

I took this picture from their website, all credit to them (see how it looks like a bus station!)

Once I went inside, I felt at home instantly!  Great atmosphere, great ambiance, and it just had a nice vibe.  After driving around the city a bit, I was ready for a nice local beer.  The bartender's name was Luke, and he was a friendly and affable guy, which are good for a bartender!  I had the Oatmeal Stout and enjoyed it, but my wife had ordered a Barrel Aged Irish Red (I believe it was a Four Roses barrel), and it was divine!  I would have ordered one for myself if we didn't have to go anywhere else, and since we were just stopping in, I tried the standard Irish Red, which I loved, and then my wife had their Golden Ale. The brewery refers to the Golden Ale as "the jumping off point from big name commercial beers," however I would disagree with that because this beer was way better than that.  A golden ale is not something that I would normally order at a brewery (but it's definitely something to drink on the boat on a hot day), but I ended up getting my own.  This beer is legit.  Definitely hit up Paducah Beer Werks if you're around.  Great building, great vibe, great people, and great beer!  What more do you need?  Thanks again Luke and to the nice couple we chatted with at the bar.  I love meeting local people and talking about their towns, and if I ever return to Paducah, I will spend more time here for sure. Website.

Red Rose, barrel aged Irish Red, by Paducah Beer Werks

Stop 3:  Dry Ground Brewing company, ​3121 Broadway Street
Paducah, Kentucky 42001

This was another place that snuck up on us as we were driving through a nice residential area, and then bam, here's this huge Coca-Cola Building.  "But why are you talking about a Coca-Cola building when you're supposed to be talking about a great craft brewery?" you ask.  This is why:  "In 1937 the Ohio River flooded Paducah and Luther Carson’s Coca-Cola bottling plant on South 6th street was submerged. Mr. Carson used an empty syrup keg to float out of the second floor window to reach a rescue boat. On the return trip up Broadway, Mr. Carson said, “If I ever reach DRY GROUND, it is there that I will build my new bottling plant.” Plans for construction began immediately following the flood, and in June of 1939 Mr. Carson celebrated the grand opening of his new state-of-the-art facility located 31 blocks from the river upon the DRY GROUND across the street from the Red Cross evacuation site where he had been off-loaded following his rescue. It’s here, we’ve chosen to open Paducah’s first craft brewery."  The brewery is inside of an old Coca-Cola bottling plant, and it's awesome!

Dry Ground Brewing Co. is a great place for a brew!

This building was pretty incredible, although it was a beautiful day so we sat outside and had a pint.  We were short on time so only got to sample one beer each, and I don't recall what they were (were not the house beers), but I did enjoy them.  (wow, nice detailed review Mike).  I do remember they had a lot of IPAs, like the day we were there it was mostly IPAs.  I don't do IPAs.  If you do though, they probably have some good ones.  It's still a great location, and they were rocking some great tunes, and the barkeep was friendly.  

There are other places to go and drink in Paducah, and we went to other places to drink in Paducah.  If you ever go to Paducah, go to these places.  And for the love of God, do not ever....EVER....use Chiz Cabs.  Seriously....NEVER.

Cheers!