LET'S GO DRINKING IN LITTLE ROCK (PART 3: VINO'S)

Of the 60 hours or so that I spent in Little Rock, Arkansas last week, I'd have to rate the 3 spent at VINO'S near downtown as the best. VINO'S is a pretty unassuming little "pizza pub and brewery", as they call themselves, and we're talking maybe 1500 square feet or so all told, kitchen and tanks and tables included. Not only do they make an excellent meat-lover's pizza and a superlative vegetarian pizza; not only do they serve excellent non-house beers like NEW BELGIUM's Le Fleur Misseur on tap (more on that another time); but their own beers are fresh, high-quality, I-wish-they-bottled-'em ales.

Let's start with the IPA, as we so often do. Their PINNACLE IPA is a creamy, dark orange dreamsicle of a beer, fairly light-hopped for the style. They did their best to keep the bitterness in check, and therefore this is the sort of IPA you used to see 5-10 years ago, before uber-hopping really took off. It's really, really good - the best local beer I tried out here. 7.5/10. I then moved on to the FIREHOUSE PALE ALE. This one was knocked down a notch and a half simply out of boredom. It is a malty pale ale, slight hops, lightly redolent of fruit - fairly uneventful but solid enough. You'd drink it if you were thirsty, that's for darn sure. 6/10. This is a cool place, definitely first on my radar over Bosco's and the Flying Saucer bar next time I get into town. For more Little Rock beer spelunking, check out this post here.