Could this Lexington bar actually have the coldest beer in town?

On a dead-end road about 10 minutes from downtown Lexington is a bar that local professionals have come to appreciate as a reprieve from the chains and franchises within cookie cutter shopping plazas – a restaurant and bar whose covered patio makes you feel like you’re paying a visit to your grandparents’ homestead in a quiet spot off the beaten path.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere but we have amazing patios and amazing views,” said Ralph Salas, co-owner of Moonshiners Patio Bar and Grill. “We want customers to enjoy themselves under the moonlight or under the sunshine.”

That’s the vibe you get when you make it out to Moonshiners. The family-run Lexington business has served locals for three years now, providing a friendly, familiar country atmosphere.

“We’re just a family owned business that takes everything that works and throws it in together,” said Ty Salas, co-owner and manager.

“We come out and talk to everybody,” Ralph added. “We personally ask every table how’s everything.”

They take as much pride in their drinks as they do their food, creating a seasonal menu that features fresh and fruity drinks for the summer. One example is the Jailbird, made simply with Firefly strawberry moonshine and ginger ale.

“Quick, simple, but it’s got the taste of a well-constructed cocktail,” Ty said. “It’s not an overpowering moonshine. It’s very good.”

Another simply constructed cocktail is the Texas Lemon Drop Martini. Combine Deep Eddy lemon vodka with simple syrup and a sugared rim and you have what Ty calls, “lemonade on a hot day.” The Georgia Peach is a mix of Deep Eddy’s peach vodka, simple syrup and triple sec with a sugared rim and a fresh peach slice for garnish. It was a winner around the time of the Superbowl when a guest wanted a fruitier drink, so they decided to bring it back for the summer.

Another summer sipper is the cucumber margarita. Made with Cabo Wabo reposado tequila, a fresh muddled cucumber and lime in-house made mixture, sour mix, triple sec and lime juice with a salted rim, its the perfect drink to take in the wooded view.

And what summer would be complete without beer? Ralph likes to say they’ve got the the coldest taps in town. Eighteen in total, the spouts are a simple end to a keg core that is actually a freezer unit where they pump the beer through a glycol system, which has coils to keep the beer cold coming down the line – 29 degrees cold, to be exact. Ty said they try to keep the selection as local as possible, with most being from Carolina breweries. .

Perhaps they’ll go with the Luminescent Lager, just another way to shed some light on this (obscure) bar.

This story was originally published June 21, 2017 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Could this Lexington bar actually have the coldest beer in town?."