Is It A Six-Pack Or Another Name For A Support Group?

I hope everyone had a good week and is ready for the weekend. I have some reminders and some brand new events for you folks. This list is going to take us into October, so you may want to enter these into that hand-held device that has recently taken over your life. Here we go:

1. Tonight at The Fred Bar you can taste all of those crazy Mikkeller and Stillwater beers I told you about. They open at 5:00pm, so the drinkin' starts immedialtely after that.
2. On Wednesday we will be releasing Red Hare's Gangway IPA and Long Day Lager at the following Taco Mac locations: Decatur, Kennesaw, Metropolis, Perimeter, Prado, Suwanee and Woodstock. The guys from the brewery will be making their rounds in two groups, so depending on what time you are at where you are at, you might be able to meet them. More details will be coming next week when we have their whereabouts finalized. Feel free to ask them anything. Like, "How in the hell did you guys open a brewery in Marietta with virtually nobody knowing about it until now?" That's a good place to start. I met one of them earlier this week, and he was about as pleasant as he could be. Try to make it out on Wednesday, if you like to support local breweries. More on this later....
3. Next Saturday the 17th is the big SausageFest at Deckard's American Tavern. Here is the skinny: $15.00 gets you all-you-can-eat sausages from Atlanta's own Spotted Trotter (support your local sausage stuffers!). You can chooses from four different varieties. Beers are served a la carte, and you can chooses from lots of Oktoberfest beers, or any of the great selections Decakrd's has pouring that day. You can also get a super-fresh Terrapin PumpkinFest from a cask. That's going to be delicious, and you can support local breweries by having one--everyone wins! There will be a live band rockin' out on the patio and all of that fun and festive stuff. Come by and see for yourself why the slogan for SausageFest is, "Let it all hang out!" I came up with that one myself. Hey, I never claimed to be mature.
4. The following Sunday the 18th, the Mall of Georgia Taco Mac is going to tap a firkin of Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster around 6:30 pm. Why Sunday? Why 6:30 pm? Just open up your NFL schedule and see what's happening that night. If that doesn't clear things up, please enroll in "Football 101" by sitting in any Taco Mac this Sunday. You'll figure it out pretty quickly. And hey, this cask is yet another opportunity to--you guessed it!--support local brewers.
5. Did I say local brewers? Indeed. How about a beer dinner that showcases one beer from all seven GA breweries? What a great idea. Good thing we already thought of it. So you'll want to check out the 2011 Harvest Dinner at Deckard's on Tuesday, October 12th. That menu is being worked on right now, so stay tuned. The seven GA brewers are SweetWater, Red Brick, Terrapin, O'Dempsey's, Wild Heaven, Jail House and Monday Night. OK, so there's eight with Red Hare, but this idea happened before we knew about those guys. And yes, I know that there are some great brew pubs in Georgia, but for legal reasons, we can't offer their beers. If you need a lesson in alcohol laws, just attend one of my events and ask me. I don't want to bore people with that business here. And before anyone goes running around criticizing Georgia for outdated laws, I need you to know that it's like that in every state. Brew pubs are brew pubs, breweries are breweries. A donkey isn't a horse just because it has long ears and a tail.

On the repetitive theme of supporting local breweries, I just have one more thing to say: It is easy to walk around telling everyone that you "support local breweries". But I need you to look at your receipt the next time you go out drinking. Look in your grocery cart the next time you are at the store. Take a peek in your fridge the next time you have company over. If you don't see local beer in any of these places, then shut up. If you support local beer, that means that you buy local beer.

And the last thing I have for you is some (more) reading material. Ever looked at a newspaper and thought, "I wish that was just all about beer, and wasn't made out of paper"? Well think no more, because your prayers have been answered. Check out Beer Street Journal by clicking here. I don't want to go into all of the details right now, but for simplicity's sake, I know these people, and they do good work. I fully authorize you to enjoy a second piece of on-line literature. Enjoy.