Why God? Why?

Flux Capacitor

Well it happened. As expected, my cask submission to the SweetWater Brew Your Cask Off last weekend came in second, and I wasn't there to drink it. I had a hunch that if I couldn't be there, it would be my strongest entry ever, and it was. In fact, of the three times our company has placed in this event, it was the highest ever (we got a third place in 2010 and this year). But they are going to remake it and pour some at this year's 420 Fest in Candler Park, and I will definitely be...in Chicago. Seriously. Why does God not want me to drink this beer? Please go to the 420 Fest, find the cask tent, ask for some Fred Juice, and tell me if you like it. (The slogan for Fred Juice? "If you squeeze Fred, that's what comes out." or, "Taste just like freshly squeezed Fred." Still working on this, but that is what I have so far.)

Next is a question I have for you. I need you to consider an event and e-mail beerdinner@tappanstreet.com if you would consider participating in this thing. I think it is a great idea, but I just don't know how committed you folks can be to it. So here goes:

• On Thursday, July 19th the Braves have a 12:10 pm game against the SF Giants.
• What if we had everyone gather at the Taco Mac at Philips Arena and took you to the game on a shuttle bus? Sounds fun, right? But wait....
• And then after the game, we took you back to Philips Arena's Taco Mac and did a five-course beer dinner in the upstairs area? I know...pretty awesome.
• But here is the tricky part: Are you available all day on a week day? Will you call in sick or use a personal day? Is this worth you taking a vacation day? I think so, but what do I know?

So if you love this idea as much as I do, just click here: beerdinner@tappanstreet.com and say "Hell yes I want to have a Braves game/beer dinner outing!" Or something of that nature. The whole thing would be in the $75-$80 dollar range if I had to guess. Maybe less depending on what kind of deal the Braves will give us for this weekday afternoon game. So just let us know if you think this is something we should pursue, or if asking people to take a day off to watch a ball game, drink beer and then have a summer-themed beer dinner is a dumb idea. Thanks.

Cask of Heavy Seas Pale Ale dry-hopped with Cascade and Centennial at Johns Creek tonight. It's tasty! I know, because we had one Tuesday in Roswell. And don't forget about that charitable beer dinner at Deckard's on the 27th. Come out, drink beer, eat great food, have fun, and feel good about doing it. What's not to love?

Get prepared for cask of Terrapin Phlux Capacitor (new!)at Suwanee on Friday, March 30th. The following day is the Suwanee Beer Fest, so this is a little pre-fest kick-off thing. The cask was just filled and is doing its thing right now. It should be ready in time, but you never know. I will remind everyone once I know for sure that it is on its way to our doorstep.

Have a great weekend everyone. Try not to let anyone puke up green beer on you. And if you are someone who appreciates green beer, then please try to barf on anyone. At least not anyone you don't know really well. But whatever you do this weekend, have a happy St. Patrick's Day.

Act Now, And You Will Receive This Free Gift....

OK everyone, I have something REALLY exciting for you. I am going to be out of town visiting my brother this weekend, so I can't be at the SweetWater Brew Your Cask Off event. I know, poor planning on my part. Long story short, I booked this family trip before I knew the date of the BYCO. It's hard to tell your family that yet another beer event is more important than seeing them, especially when you didn't see them over Christmas. And I did got to San Francisco, Charlotte, Las Vegas and Europe since then--which were all very beer-y trips for the most part--and attended the Atlanta Cask Ale tasting. So here is how this affects you:

1. Go taste the cask Jason & I made. It won't be too hard to find. It's called Fred Juice. I think it is going to be great. A big IPA with a few fruits in it to balance out the hops and citrus peels we added.
2. Go to  http://brewyourcaskoff.com/contest.php to register to win my seat on the judging panel. That's right, I can't be there to judge this year, and we decided to open it up to one of my blog readers. So what are you waiting for? Stop reading and click that damn link already. If you win, you not only get to be a judge, you get a t-shirt and two free passes to the event. I know that many of you are excited for this opportunity, and only one of you can win, but seriously, this is my second really good idea this year that benefits beer lovers like you. The first one was to get one of our Chancellors an opportunity to make a cask at Red Hare. Stay tuned for details as to when we are going to tap those. We have not gone to the brewery to make them yet, but we should be doing that pretty soon.

Also, why don't you take a stroll over to the Deckard's web site at http://deckardstavern.com/ and check out the cool beer dinner they are doing. This is a charitable event, so if you have been looking for a way to feel good about your drinking habit, there you go. But seriously, it is a really good cause, and chef Deckard always does a knock-out job on the beer and food pairings.

Next on my agenda is to run down a few beer events for you, then I gotta run. Here goes:

1. Tomorrow there is a cask of Brooklyn Irish Stout at Perimeter. We will be getting into it somewhere around 6:00 pm, maybe earlier if there is a good crowd. They are also selling some Brooklyn Black Ops from a bottle, but pouring it by the glass. Why? Because they only have 12 bottles, and that stuff is way expensive. Get there early if you want to get a glass of that. I should be there around 5:00 pm if everything goes my way tomorrow. See you there.
2. Next Tuesday the 13th there is a cask of Heavy Seas Pale Ale that has been dry-hopped at the new store on Holcomb Bridge Rd. The one east of GA 400, not going towards Woodstock. That store has been there for like 13 years or something. I will be there too, and we are going to probably get into that at 6:00 pm also.
3. On Thursday the 15th at The Fred Bar we have the release of Gulpener Chateau Nebourg from The Netherlands. This is a 185 year-old brewery that makes a ton of different beers, and this is the first one we have seen in this market. The folks that rep this brand (and some of them are real, live Dutch people!) will be on hand, so stop by The Fred and check out this "new" beer. Be the first kid on your block with this Brewniversity credit, if you are into that kind of thing.
4. On Friday the 16th we have another one of those dry-hopped Heavy Seas Pale Ale firkins at our Johns Creek store on Peachtree Parkway. As soon as the Heavy Seas guy gets back to me, I can tell you more about what these things were hopped with. More info on that next week for sure.

That is all I have for now. Take it easy.

Event Reminder For Beer Lovers

Here is the entrance to the La Trappe brewery in The Netherlands. This is the only Trappist monastery outside of Belgium that brews beer. We couldn't tour the monastery, but we did into the brewery. And frankly, any monastery that let's tourists in doesn't really exude "serious religious institution", so I was fine with what we got. Anyway, as promised, I will get a slide show of my trip together some day. I don't know when, but it is on my TTD list.

Let's talk about next week's events:

1. This Friday at 8:00 pm, The Fred Bar is hosting a TON of guys from the Left Hand brewery in Colorado, including their brew master, Ro Guenzel. They are in town to release the Nitro Milk Stout in bottles. There will also be a small cask of Milk Stout, a new beer called Ambidextrous Ale # 1, a Widdershins Barley Wine aged in Stranahan's barrels, a keg of the Beer Week Sauce, and tons of other Left Hand year-round offerings on tap. Plus the Nitro Milk bottles, duh.
2. On Wednesday at the Perimeter store we are tapping a firkin of Brooklyn Irish Stout at 6:00 pm. Brooklyn firkins are very rare. This one was filled specially for Taco Mac customers as a "thank you" for the support during their August beer of the month last year. Plus it is a great way to getting the St. Patrick's day spirit a little early. There will also be a regular keg of the Irish Stout on draft, so you can compare the cask to the regular. If you have not had a draft of Brooklyn Blast! yet, that will be on tap too. Rich from the brewery will be in attendance as well, so if you have any questions about Brooklyn, he's your man.
3. Tuesday, March 13th we have a firkin of Heavy Seas Pale Ale that has been dry-hopped with something (details are on the way from the brewery). This beer has never been available to us in a cask format, so come check it out the new East Roswell store on Holcomb Bridge Rd. (east of GA 400). Probably tap it around 6:00 pm, but I will remind you sometime next week most likely. Kevin from the brewery will be there. He's cool.

That is all I have time for right now. It has been a busy week already, and that isn't changing anytime soon.

Good thing this case is locked.

Well, I made it back from Europe in one piece. It was a great trip, and I will get my photos organized eventually and try to post a slide show here and all of that good stuff. I would have to say that the highlight was visiting Cantillion (pronounced: "can-TEE-on", not "can-til-yun") outside of Brussels, but the La Trappe abbey was really cool too. So far that is the only true Trappist brewery that I have been to at this point. But aside from the breweries (and we visited a lot), we hit a ton of beer bars across three countries. And of course the Germans tried to kill us with delicious pork. I don't know what the pig did to piss those people off, but that is honestly just about all they eat. Pigs and potatoes. And bread. Pork and carbs. That's it. Cheese every now and then, but mostly just pork. Gravy gets involved occasionally, but that is pork based, so it fits with the theme. And I don't need to tell you about how much beer those people drink. That is well understood. Listen: If you like to drink in the morning, but hate the awkward and condescending looks you get, then Germany is the place for you. They look at you funny if you aren't drinking a beer before lunch. And there is no such thing as having "a" beer with those people. Sit down and get comfortable pal. You're not going anywhere anytime soon.

Anyway, on the right is a picture of something fastened to the exterior wall of a building in Amsterdam. I don't know what it is or what kind of message it is trying to get across. It looks like a shrine to human anatomy, where you sacrifice empty cigarettes to the holy torso. God knows the Europeans aren't going to give up any real tobacco. They love that shit. I think when you are 18 over there you get a voter's registration card and a carton of cigarettes, whether you want them or not. For as progressive as Europeans are in many ways, they haven't really taken to heart the whole "smoking is bad for you" thing. I am sure there are plenty of things they don't understand about America, so who am I to judge? You wanna smoke? Then by all means, enjoy it, and the increasingly shortened rest of your life.

Here is some important news from this country though:

• Whitney Houston died? Apparently that happened while I was gone. What is surprising is not that she died, but that anyone acted like they hadn't seen that coming for about 15 years. I am not trying to be a jerk or insensitive, but the woman was a train wreck. Sorry, that's just a fact.
• There are only 6 spots left at the Victory Beer Dinner in Cumming next Wednesday, February 29th. If you were planning on going, you better get your tickets now. Just go to www.tacomac.com and look for "Events" in the upper right. The menu looks outstanding.
• Plan on being at The Fred Bar on Friday, March 2nd. There will be a group of 8-10 Left Hand VIP's there all the way from Colorado to help kick off their Nitro Milk Stout in bottles. This is the first nitro bottle without a widget. Need an explanation on that? Better show up next Friday night. There will be a bunch of Left Hand drafts (and a few really special ones), plus a small cask of Milk Stout. And, of course, you can be the first kid on the block to try the Nitro Milk in a bottle (hint: It is really good!).
• On Wednesday, March 7th we will be pouring a firkin of Brooklyn Irish Stout at Perimeter. Trust me on this one, casks from Brooklyn Brewing are very rare, and they filled this one especially for us. By "us" I mean Taco Mac and its customers, so it was filled for you. Come out and drink one with me if you can.

That is a quick update for now. More to come in the next few weeks, but that should at least get you started. Have a great week everyone.

Hi And Bye Again!

Yes, that is a brewery. Attached to a windmill.

Well I made it back from Las Vegas in one piece, and I even came home with some money. I guess when you haven't been there in 10 years, they let you win a little. Must be some sort of face scanner at the airport that recognizes who you are and checks your visitation status. Watch, if I go back next year I will get wiped out in like 20 minutes. Luckily I went against everything I wanted to happen in the Super Bowl, and it worked out for me. I don't like the Giants at all, but my wallet sure does! The roulette table was pretty friendly too. That game is WAY more fun when you are winning.

Tomorrow I am leaving for Amsterdam, followed by a jaunt into Belgium and northern Germany. My group will be visiting breweries and notable beer bars along the way, ultimately departing from Dusseldorf, bound for the ATL, on Sunday the 19th. That's a 10-day beer drinking trip. So you will not hear from me for a while, but I will take lots of pictures while I am away. I really need to shake this cold that I have had for like five weeks. Ugh.

Some of the breweries that we are going to visit I have never heard of, like the one pictured. It's a freaking windmill. How cool is that? Here are some that you may have heard of though: Rodenbach, Cantillion, Gruut and Uerige. While we are in Koln and Dusseldorf, the birthplace of Kolsch and Alt beers respectively, we will be learning all about those styles. Last year was Bavaria in southern Germany, whose beers are totally different than what I am in for in the north. Want a good Alt Bier in Bavaria? Good luck. They don't drink that beer there, they drink Bavarian beer, mainly Weiss beers. And if you want a slice of fruit on your wheat beers in Bavaria? Well, you might as well just piss on their flag. But that was last year, so this will be a totally new experience for me. It will also be interesting to see how the food is different in the north. The food in Bavaria was awesome, and so much lighter than the stereotypical "German" food we think of around here. Sure, there were sausages, but man was their so much more. Fish and soups and dumplings and lightly dressed salads. Those people can cook, I am telling you. Go to Germany if you have not been there already.

Anyway, that is all I have time for now. I promise that I will drink as much beer as possible on this trip. I won't let you down. Later.

Good Bye. I Will Miss You.

Casino sports book. Lots of old dudes.

No, I am not going away for good. I am saying good-bye to my money. I leave tonight for Las Vegas. Trust me on this one: If you love NFL football and you can't be at the Super Bowl, then Las Vegas is the next best thing. I am having a very hard time deciding who will win the battle of beauty vs. the beast. I mean, Tom Brady is prettier than a lot of women, and Eli Manning looks like the drunken and retarded son of Frankenstein. Gotta go with Brady I think. Plus, his wife just became a billionaire. From modeling. He makes 25 million dollars a year, and he isn't the principal wage earner in the family. If you are pulling in 25 million, and your super-model wife makes more than that, then you qualify as being "The Man". And the 2007 game between these two teams was a fluke, and it cost New England a 19-0 season. And if we know anything about Bill Belichick, it is that he has a vengeful streak, and he isn't afraid to make some pay for pissing him off. So I am thinking Patriots, or just not even trying to bet on the game's outcome. You can bet on about 100 other things in this game: So-and-so's rushing yards being over or under a certain number, odds on so-and-so to score the first touchdown, if the first point are a filed goal or not, etc. I am not a big gambler (anymore), but once a year? What the hell. Life is for living.

Here are some notable beer events coming up. Next week is going to be hectic for me, so you might not hear from me for a little while. I am back to work on Tuesday, then off to Europe on Friday. That Friday, February 10th there is a cask of Heavy Seas Black Cannon at Lindbergh. If you like black IPA's, that is one of the best. Then on Saturday the 11th we are releasing the new Red Hare Imperial Red IPA at The Fred Bar at 5:00 pm. The guys from the brewery will be showing up around 7:00-ish, and they are great. This will be the first place to taste this new, 8% ABV beer, unless you are at the brewery earlier that day.

That's all for now. My flight is in a few hours. Pray for me. Thank you.

Slightly Uncomfortable, But Whatever

Ok,so this post is so important that I am sending it from my new phone. I hope it works. This phone is more complicated than I was prepared for, really. Hey phone manufacturers, not everyone is born knowing how to use this shit. Maybe make the manual more "thorough".
But here is the deal: There is a firkin of Bell's HopSlam getting tapped on Wednesday, Feb 1st at Lindbergh. You probably want to be there for that. HopSlam. Cask. February 1st. What else do you want to know?