Big week last. Hopefully you got out to try the Heavy Seas Loose Cannon casks we had. Hugh the brew master was (and I assume still is) a great guy who was very happy to get out and talk to his fans/our customers. And of course, the beer was outstanding.On Thursday I met with the Left Hand guys, 2 of whom were in from Colorado. They were in town to brew their yearly collaboration with Terrapin. This year they made an espresso milk stout called Depth Charge. Look for that in August maybe. Should be tasty. I got to drink their Jackman's Pale from a cask, along with Terrapin's newest side project Maggie's Farmhouse at an event Thursday night. That was after a private tour of the Atlanta Brewing Co. facility for some managers, bartenders and customers. Big thanks to the ABC staff for accommodating us. Great stuff. If you have never been down there to visit them, you really should. If you need free tour passes, contact me through the "Contacts" section of the Taco Mac web site. I have at least 20 on my desk. But, if you are just thinking about going, but probably never will, please let me keep the passes for people who are truly going to use them.
This week is our mid-year, multi-brewery beer dinner on Tuesday. At holiday time last December we assembled 6 winter/holiday themed beers from different breweries and planned a dinner around them. This year we planned a picnic-themed dinner, and chose good beers to go with the meal. There is only 1 beer heavier than a brown ale, so summer temperatures are definitely taken into account. And, unlike other dinners, we do not introduce each course with verbal beer and food descriptions. We just seat you and feed you. It will be great. The 66 people who are attending should be really looking forward to it. Unfortunately for anyone else, it is sold out. There is one mystery beer, which will be revealed that night. Very few stores (3) will be able to get this beer the following day, so stay tuned for that.
Speaking of Left Hand and beer dinners, you can sign up for our August Left Hand beer dinner in Duluth if you are interested. It is on Tuesday, August 25th at 6:30 pm. The menu is on the Taco Mac web site. As I have said before, if these are not the best value for the experience in town, please let me know. Actually don't, because you will be wrong.
This week also will feature the release of the Reunion Beer For Hope '09. This beer, a double-white style made by Terrapin, is to help raise money for and awareness of myeloma and bone cancer. The force behind this is Alan Shapiro of SBS Imports (De Proef beers from Belgium-outrageously good) in Seattle. A good friend and co-worker of his from his Pete's Brewing Co. days (Wicked Ale, remember?) succumbed to this illness a few years ago. He usually uses a California brewery to make this beer, but decided to concentrate on our market, based on the growing appreciation for craft beer in the area right now. Conveniently enough, there are 22 locations ready to sell the draft beer for him, Taco Mac. So, get out this weekend and try this new beer at any of our locations that are participating. That would be all GA stores except Douglasville, Lawrenceville, Stockbridge and Tucker. Those stores are independently owned. A double white is basically the Belgian-style wit beer that is so popular these days, but with more body, flavor and ABV.
I have a lot more fun stuff for you guys coming up. I bought a new camera so that I can take pictures of some of my adventures (the PG ones) and post them for you. The last weekend in July/first week of August I am going to Florida with a couple guys to visit an old buddy. One of my friends has had a rough couple of months, so he needs to blow off some steam and relax. We will try to keep him in one piece this time. The last trip out of town we took, he left part of his face on a sidewalk in Athens (not Greece). See postings in April for the back story on that. Otherwise, August may be a little slow. September however is jam packed with special brewery outings all around the country. I promise to take lots of pictures of interesting places and people doing stupid things. I don't know that anyone will do anything stupid. But once you start giving people alcohol, their decisions get way less calculated, but way more hilarious. Remember, if you are not the guy behind the camera, you're the person in the picture. And then we all laugh at you.
Speaking of laughter, this Bruno movie is out of control. If you thought Borat was out there, you have not seen anything yet. You need to be pretty open minded to enjoy this movie. If you are not 100% percent sure that it is not easy to shock you, don't bother to see this movie. Because I was 100% sure that it is not easy to shock me, and I was shocked by this movie. I laughed my ass off, along with everyone else in the theater, but left slightly in disbelief. Not at what I had seen, but by the sheer wonderment at the type of person that would come up with such a thing. Demented! The famous wrestling scene from Borat? Nothing compared to this. Do I recommend this movie? Absolutely. However, I absolutely suggest that you take a very honest inventory of your viewpoints on human sexuality first. Oh, and you better not freak out seeing grown men naked. Every part of them. Often. Don't even get me started on the anal bleaching.
I will leave you with that. Have a great week. I will remind you about the Reunion beer mid-week probably.
