Allagash Beer & Cheeeeeeeeeese Pairing

Before you make any New Years Resolutions- put some thought into the event coming up at our Southpark location in Charlotte, North Carolina on January 16th. We know you're pretty broke from the recent holiday festivities, but at $25 we are practically giving this event away, so you will not want to be the one that didn't take advantage. We will have someone on hand from Allagash to talk about the pairings too. Click the button below to purchase your tickets. And I wouldn't wait too long....these tickets won't be around for much longer...!

• Goat Cheese paired with Allagash White
• Brie paired with Allagash Dubbel
• Cheddar paired with Allagash Tripel
• Blue Cheese paired with Allagash Black
• Roquefort Cheese paired with Allagash Curieux
• Gouda paired with Allagash Four
• Limburger paired with Allagash Interlude

And here is a little comedic relief for you. Enjoy!

I got out. 

....And We're Back!

Sr. Sol in Athens. Attached to a gas station. Rules. Totally.

Sorry for the long absence. It all started, innocently enough, with our annual holiday beer dinner, followed by the onset of "The 12 Casks of Christmas". Somewhere in there I tried to get prepared for the holiday season, stopped in Athens for the best tacos in The World (pictured), watched a lot football, drank some great beers, and left my valued readers hanging. But wait until you hear what we have been cooking up for beer events for 2013. I think you'll let me slide this time. But first, let's recap a few things.

• These casks of O'Dempsey's Inukshuk IPA from "The 12 Casks of Christmas" have been delicious. Tonight in Peachtree City the cask has lemongrass and Centennial hops (my favorite), and will get tapped at 6:00 pm. If it is as good as the one we tapped last night at Prado (lemongrass and Amarillo hops), then you are in for a real treat. We tapped that one yesterday, never shut off the tap, and killed it in 17 minutes. No joke. It was delicious. There are only two more, and they are....
• Saturday we are tapping cask # 11 at the Mall of Georgia, but this time we will tap it at 1:00 pm.Yes, right in the middle of the day. Why wait? Christmas is right around the corner. Let's get festive with a firkin of IPA, treated with some additions pineapple and Cascade hops.
• The last and final cask in the Christmas run is on Sunday, again at 1:00 pm, this time at the Perimeter Mall store. Need to do some last minute shopping? Me too! Malls make you want to shove people down an escalator? Understatement! Will a beer help preserve your sanity? Of course it will, and I have you covered. This cask has additions of oranges and Chinook hops. It should be terrific. 

Now moving forward into the new year.

• Feel like watching the bowl games on New Year's Day? How about we tap a firkin that I made at Red Hare a few weeks ago? This is a Chocolate Porter with additions of real coconut, nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon and vanilla beans. I called it the Christmas Cookie cask. We are going to tap it at noon. Yes, noon on New Year's Day. How long did you want to wait to start drinking good beer in 2013? That's what I thought. This will be in Duluth. Hope to see you there.
• On the 2nd we will break out a keg of the beer I made at Sierra Nevada Beer Camp in September at our Johns Creek store. It is a red IPA with wheat, made primarily with Simcoe, Centennial and the experimental Hop 644. Yes, it is still an unknown hop variety that is unnamed at this point. I know what you are thinking, "But Fred, what does it taste like? Tell me please oh please oh please!" Maybe you need to come out and drink it if you want to know what it tastes like. We will have many opportunities to drink this beer, and it may be coming to a store near you. I am going to give you a list later of where and when these will be getting tapped. I will be there with a detailed recipe sheet, in the brewer's handwriting, and hopefully a slide show. I say "hopefully" because technical difficulties have arisen in the past, mainly because the user (me), is not the most technically adept person in the world. And that is not because I am stupid, it is because I am not all that enamored with technology like some people. I am not suggesting that we go back to riding around in buggies pulled by horses. I am just saying that little electronic gizmos don't make me get all giddy like they do to some people. You know who you are. Your kind is slowly taking over the planet, and the rest of us realize we let that happen. The geeks have taken over, and we all answer to Apple and Google now.
• If you like new beers...and I know you do...then on Thursday the 3rd we are launching two beers from North Carolina's "LoneRider". We will have Sweet Josie Brown and Shotgun Betty Hefeweizen on draft, along with a firkin of Sweet Josie. The brewery owner and other LoneRider notables will be on hand as well, so if you want to join us at The Fred Bar, we will kick things off around 5:00 pm when we open. Probably tap the cask around 6:00 pm.
• On Friday we have another keg of my beer camp beer (called "Hop Secret 644") at Decatur. See you  there around 6:00 pm.
• The first week of the new year wraps up with the one-year anniversary of the East Roswell store opening. They have some nice stuff lined up, like Sweetwater 15th Anniversary, Left Hand Ambidextrous Ale Step #1 and a cask of Red Hare that the management and staff of the store made especially for their big night. It is on Saturday, January 5th.

I have one last thing to tell you about before I sign off, which is the cellared beer situation at Canton. Someone unearthed some Barley Wines and Imperial Stouts from 2009 and 2010. You may want to follow that store on Twitter to see when they are going to put some of these out for sale. I don't have a schedule for them at this point, and on Monday I am out for the holidays. After some family time I am headed to Baltimore to visit Heavy Seas and make some customized casks for you folks. Then I am going to visit some other breweries up there, freeze my ass off at an NFL game outdoors in December, and then come home on the 31st. You guys be careful out there on New Year's Eve. I will be safely tucked away, resting from that East Coast trip and avoiding the general mayhem that is New Year's Eve. Enjoy the holidays everyone. Peace. 

Hop Secret 644 Schedule:

Jan. 2nd--Johns Creek

Jan. 4th--Decatur

Jan. 8th--Mall of GA

Jan. 9th--Dallas Hwy. (Marietta)

Jan. 11th--Canton

Jan. 14th--Old Milton Pkwy.

Jan. 15th--Perimeter

Jan. 18th--49er (Charlotte)

Jan. 21st--Lindbergh

Jan. 22nd--Duluth

Jan. 23rd--Woodstock

Jan. 28th--Suwanee

Jan. 29th--Virginia-Highland

Jan. 30th--Crababble (Last keg in GA! Help kill the keg in 15 minutes!)

Feb. 4th--South Park (Charlotte)

Feb. 5th--Huntersville (Charlotte)

Attention Holiday Shoppers!

This picture over there on the right is a Woodford Reserve barrel. But not just any Woodford Reserve barrel. That is one of the barrels used to blend the special "Personal Selection" bourbon that was selling exclusively at Taco Mac the last few months. I helped choose the barrels to blend together to create that whiskey, which is still available at some locations, but supplies are dwindling. Once the barrels were emptied, one of them came to Atlanta for me. Now it is sitting, as pictured, at Terrapin, full of Wake & Bake. Yes...that is exciting. I agree. That's why I took a picture of it while I was at the brewery in Athens on Saturday. If that is the kind of thing that gets you all goose bumpy too, then you will definitely want to check this out: The Secret Stash Bash. In a nutshell, the Secret Stash Bash is the beer festival we have all been waiting for, but maybe didn't even know it. Here is the skinny:

• Tired of long festival lines to drink beers that you can buy at the grocery store? This event is limited to 450 attendees, plus volunteers.
• Speaking of beers you can buy at the grocery store, the Secret Stash Bash will have none of those. The brewers have been asked to supply something special. Something really special. How did we get them to agree to that? Easy. We are going to pay them for the beer. You see, most festivals offset costs by donating any profits to a charity, and then asking for the breweries to donate beer in the name of that charity. Guess what boys and girls...breweries don't give away their super special stuff. So how did we get around that seeming necessity? We are going to use the same layout as the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting, which, if you have not attended, is probably sold out already, so better luck next year. By using 5 Seasons Prado's beer garden and Taco Mac Prado's patio to co-host this event, we removed the cost for tents and all of equipment needed to put a beer event where cars usually park or the circus uses when it is in town. We took that money and said, "Give us your special, rare, cellared, and wacky beers. We've got money!" Funny how that last part really opened some doors.
• So the layout is casual and spacious. The beers will be odd and outstanding. The event is outdoors. No gas masks needed. (Even casual beer festival attenders know what I am talking about here.) The date is Saturday, March 9th. Springtime in Atlanta. Sunshine. Gentle breeze. Beer, beer and more beer. What more do you need...?
• Volunteers. The volunteers for this event will be knowledgeable about beer, and they will have someone from the actual brewery at their pouring station to help talk about the beer they are serving. No clueless, 80% drunk boneheads splashing beer everywhere.
• Last but not least, if you did not already click on the link to the Secret Stash Bash website, then let me tell you about another reason you are going to love everything about this event. Christmas shopping. Got a beer lover on your shopping list (besides yourself)? Get a gift package that includes a t-shirt, or just buy them a ticket. Better yet, but two tickets and tell the recipient that you are taking him or her to this event as a gift. See, that's a way for you to buy yourself a ticket without looking like a jerk. Just think how that beer lover's eyes will light up when they open a present, and find admission to the next great beer event in the country. It will be like they believe in Santa all over again. Aw. They're so precious when they are that age. I remember when he was 19, and he only drank beer through a funnel or off a ping-pong table. And now look at him, all grown up, going to his first Secret Stash Bash. Those are truly precious moments. Cherish them. 

So that is exciting news, and the last thing I want to say about that is since there are only 450 people allowed, we expect it to sell out. The breweries listed on the web site are only a part of the final list. We are waiting on a few more confirmations, and will have a total of 40 stations pouring different beers. This event was planned by a few people (I am one of them) who cringe at the idea of the same old beer festival, and wanted to throw the kind of festival that we would want to attend. The rest of the group are the 5 Seasons guys, and you can be sure that they will pull out all the stops beer-wise for this event. If you have not been to the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting, then let me tell you about they layout, which we are using for the Secret Stash Bash. Two spacious areas with 20 pouring stations in each. A short walk from one to the other. The crowd moves about the event, and seems to balance itself out to maintain an equilibrium. It's a beautiful thing, which is why we want to use this layout more than once a year. 

So the rest of this week all events are in Charlotte. Last night's beer dinner featuring all of the 2012 GABF medal winners from NC breweries was huge success. I am visiting NoDa & Birdsong breweries today, and tonight we have a cask of NoDa Midnight Madness, oaked and dry-hopped like crazy, plus some herbs and spices like star anise and cloves. Should be great. Those folks make some outstanding beer. Then on Friday at South Park we have a huge Michigan Beer tap take-over. It is even bigger that the one we did last week at The Fred Bar. I put a complete list of beers on the last post. If you saw it and you are in Charlotte, I am sure that you are already coming. 

Next week we have a beer dinner at The Fred. It is our 5th annual All-Star Holiday Extravaganza. If you missed getting a seat this year, sorry. It is probably the most popular dinner of the year, and it sold out quite a while ago. I guess you will have to wait for ASHE VI next year. Then on Wednesday we start the "12 Casks Of Christmas" madness. I hope you get to enjoy a good part of it, because the idea is great, and the beers will be too. Here is the list...again.

Below is the list of dates, times and ingredient additions for all of the O’Dempsey’s Inukshuk firkins for the “12 Casks of Christmas Program”. The program consists of, simply enough, a different cask of O’Dempsey’s Inukshuk IPA treated with different ingredients each time, poured at different stores over a twelve day period. Every cask is a new and different Brewniversity credit, never to be seen again.

If a customer attends all of these events, he/she will get an O’Dempsey’s t-shirt and an opportunity to design their own O’Dempsey’s cask to be tapped at a later date at their home store. Attendance will be verified by their Brewniversity list’s credits. The customer will not travel with Randy Dempsey to make the cask, since that would be a trip to South Carolina, and a transportation liability that is unnecessary.

Please notice that the Saturday and Sunday tap times are in the afternoon to coincide with football season business.

1. Wed. 12/12 Cumming 6:00 pm--Buddha's Hand fruit with Newport hops
2. Thurs. 12/13 Prado 6:00 pm--Buddha's Hand fruit with Crystal hops
3. Fri. 12/14 East Roswell 6:00 pm--Pure almond extract with Crystal hops
4. Sat. 12/15 Metropolis 1:00 pm--Apricot with Sterling hops
5. Sun. 12/16 Decatur 1:00 pm--White Cherries with Sterling hops
6. Mon. 12/17 Kennesaw 6:00 pm--Guajillo peppers with Perle hops
7. Tues. 12/18 Prado 6:00 pm--Pink Grapefruit zest with Perle hops
8. Wed. 12/19 Crabapple 6:00 pm--Pink Grapefruit zest with Amarillo hops
9. Thurs. 12/20 The Fred Bar 6:00 pm--Lemongrass with Amarillo hops
10. Fri. 12/21 Peachtree City 6:00 pm--Lemongrass with Centennial hops
11. Sat. 12/22 Mall of GA 1:00 pm--Pineapple with Cascade hops
12. Sun. 12/23 Perimeter 1:00 pm--Pure orange extract with Chinook hops

I currently know of two people who say that they are going to make it to every one of these casks. Will they have any competition, or will they finish the season the strongest of all GA beer drinkers? We will know soon enough.

That is a wrap for today. I need to go see some brewery people and drink some of their beer before I go to the cask event and drink some more beer. Bye.

Event Update & Correction

Beautiful November day at the Shiner Brewery in Shiner, Texas, pop. 2069.

I had to make a change to the "Twelve Casks Of Christmas" schedule, but it is minor. Instead of tapping the cask at The Fred on Thursday, December 13th, we are going to move it upstairs to the Prado Taco Mac. They have a private event at The Fred until 8:00 pm that night, and we don't want to wait that long to drink this tasty O'Dempsey's IPA with additional Crystal hops and Buddha's Hand fruit (pictured).

The rest of the list, included again at the bottom of this post, is accurate, and the list below contains that change on the 13th. Make copy of it and tape it to the fridge. Make your dog wear it on his back like a cape. Copy it and mail it to yourself over and over. Crochet it onto decorative pillow cases and place the pillows randomly around your house. Take a few pillows to work, just in case. Act like nothing is unusual about that. Continue crocheting pillow cases and give them as gifts. Do that until you don't have any friends left and your family won't talk to you anymore. Then get new friends who understand the gesture of giving customized, crocheted pillows as gifts. People, for example, who know the wisdom of Jack Handey, of "Deep Thoughts" fame:

“How come the dove gets to be the peace symbol? How about the pillow? It has more feathers than the dove, and it doesn't have that dangerous beak”

So true. So very true. And we need that message now more than ever. Peace on Earth. Pillows for everyone. Go to hell, doves.

Here comes more event info, so get ready.

1. All Michigan beer tap take-over at The Fred on Friday night. Check out the beers we have lined up for this event. New Holland Cabin Fever, Dragon's Milk, Hopivore, Mad Hatter, Social Potion (collaboration with Terrapin!) and Whiskey Bbl-Aged Charkoota Rye. Jolly Pumpkin Madrugada. Founders Backwoods Bastard and Breakfast Stout. Bell's Two Hearted Ale, Double Cream Stout, Expedition Stout, Rye Stout, and Black Note. You will be able to get a flight of the four Bell's stouts or four of the New Holland beers that I have chosen. People seem to be really liking these flights these days, so get there early if you want one of those. They go fast.
2. If you are in Charlotte this Friday, head over to our South Park location for the annual holiday tree lighting in the rotunda. There will be a nice selection of holiday beers: Anderson Valley Winter Solstice, Anchor Christmas 2011, Big Boss Aces and Ates, Sam Adams Merry Mischief, Southern Tier 2XMAS, and Sierra Nevada Celebration. In addition, they are making some spiked eggnog with grated nutmeg to get you in the holiday spirit. 
3. Might as well just stay in Charlotte all of next week. In addition to a beer dinner on Tuesday, 12/04 at South Park featuring all of the NC breweries who won medals at GABF in 2012, there is a cask of NoDa Midnight Madness at Huntersville on Wednesday, 12/5. This cask was dry-hopped and oaked. Should be outstanding, and I will be there to find out. Then on Friday we reprise the Michigan beer event idea, with even more excellent brews from my home state. Just read the list below and get yourself to this store on December 7th, a day that will live in infamy. If you don't get that reference, go back to school. Try to pay attention this time.

MI Beer Event at South Park Taco Mac:

New Holland-- 

Beerhive Tripel 

Hopivore 

Cabin Fever Brown Ale 

Golden Cap Saison

Dragon's Milk 

Imperial Hatter DIPA 

Mad Hatter IPA 

Full Circle Kolsch 

The Poet Oatmeal Stout 

Sundog Amber 

Whiskey BBL Aged Charkoota Rye (Only one in the state)

2011 Vintage Charkoota Rye

Bell's-- 

Best Brown 

Porter 

Midwestern Pale 

Winter White

Kalamazoo Stout   

Two Hearted 

Double Cream Stout

Expedition Stout  

Founders--

Dirty Bastard 

Red’s Rye 

Pale Ale 

Breakfast Stout   

Centennial 

Porter 

And now, as promised, the "Twelve Casks Of Christmas" schedule for your crocheting needs:

Below is the list of dates, times and ingredient additions for all of the O’Dempsey’s Inukshuk firkins for the “12 Casks of Christmas Program”. The program consists of, simply enough, a different cask of O’Dempsey’s Inukshuk IPA treated with different ingredients each time, poured at different stores over a twelve day period. Every cask is a new and different Brewniversity credit, never to be seen again.

If a customer attends all of these events, he/she will get an O’Dempsey’s t-shirt and an opportunity to design their own O’Dempsey’s cask to be tapped at a later date at their home store. Attendance will be verified by their Brewniversity list’s credits. The customer will not travel with Randy Dempsey to make the cask, since that would be a trip to South Carolina, and a transportation liability that is unnecessary.

Please notice that the Saturday and Sunday tap times are in the afternoon to coincide with football season business.

1. Wed. 12/12 Cumming 6:00 pm--Buddha's Hand fruit with Newport hops
2. Thurs. 12/13 Prado 6:00 pm--Buddha's Hand fruit with Crystal hops
3. Fri. 12/14 East Roswell 6:00 pm--Pure almond extract with Crystal hops
4. Sat. 12/15 Metropolis 1:00 pm--Apricot with Sterling hops
5. Sun. 12/16 Decatur 1:00 pm--White Cherries with Sterling hops
6. Mon. 12/17 Kennesaw 6:00 pm--Guajillo peppers with Perle hops
7. Tues. 12/18 Prado 6:00 pm--Pink Grapefruit zest with Perle hops
8. Wed. 12/19 Crabapple 6:00 pm--Pink Grapefruit zest with Amarillo hops
9. Thurs. 12/20 The Fred Bar 6:00 pm--Lemongrass with Amarillo hops
10. Fri. 12/21 Peachtree City 6:00 pm--Lemongrass with Centennial hops
11. Sat. 12/22 Mall of GA 1:00 pm--Pineapple with Cascade hops
12. Sun. 12/23 Perimeter 1:00 pm--Pure orange extract with Chinook hops

And this concludes the longest post ever.

Peace on Earth.

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is Time

Jester King Farmhouse Brewery outside of Austin, TX. Way outside.

Hey there everyone. Sorry for the long absence. I had a trip to Texas that included visits to a distillery (Tito's Vodka), Shiner, Jester King, Blue Star and Freetail breweries, plus some well-known beer bars along the way. I must say that there is great deal of quality beer being made in Texas in some unexpected places. This was my first trip to Austin and San Antonio, and both were very enjoyable places I will return to someday.

But now it is a holiday weekend, and with that the constant rushing around that masquerades as "relaxing". I can't recall many holiday weekends where I did not need a few days off to recover from being off for a few days and running all over the place the entire time. But that won't distract me from the task at hand, which is to let you all know about the "12 Casks Of Christmas". Here is a brief synopsis:

Below is the list of dates, times and ingredient additions for all of the O’Dempsey’s Inukshuk firkins for the “12 Casks of Christmas Program”. The program consists of, simply enough, a different cask of O’Dempsey’s Inukshuk IPA treated with different ingredients each time, poured at different stores over a twelve day period. Every cask is a new and different Brewniversity credit, never to be seen again.

If you attend all of these events, you will get an O’Dempsey’s t-shirt and an opportunity to design your own O’Dempsey’s cask to be tapped at a later date at your home Taco Mac location. Attendance will be verified by their Brewniversity list’s credits. When the whole thing is over, if you have been to every event and drank each different beer, you need to e-mail me at comments@tappanstreet.com with the subject line "O'Demsey's 12 Casks".

Please notice that the Saturday and Sunday tap times are in the afternoon to coincide with football season business.

1. Wed. 12/12 Cumming 6:00 pm--Buddha's Hand fruit with Newport hops
2. Thurs. 12/13 The Fred Bar 6:00 pm--Buddha's Hand fruit with Crystal hops
3. Fri. 12/14 East Roswell 6:00 pm--Pure almond extract with Crystal hops
4. Sat. 12/15 Metropolis 1:00 pm--Apricot with Sterling hops
5. Sun. 12/16 Decatur 1:00 pm--White Cherries with Sterling hops
6. Mon. 12/17 Kennesaw 6:00 pm--Guajillo peppers with Perle hops
7. Tues. 12/18 Prado 6:00 pm--Pink Grapefruit zest with Perle hops
8. Wed. 12/19 Crabapple 6:00 pm--Pink Grapefruit zest with Amarillo hops
9. Thurs. 12/20 The Fred Bar 6:00 pm--Lemongrass with Amarillo hops
10. Fri. 12/21 Peachtree City 6:00 pm--Lemongrass with Centennial hops
11. Sat. 12/22 Mall of GA 1:00 pm--Pineapple with Cascade hops
12. Sun. 12/23 Perimeter 1:00 pm--Pure orange extract with Chinook hops

So here is your chance to put your money where your mouth is finally. Everyone is always telling me how much they love IPA's, so now I am saying, "So you say you love IPA, huh? How much do you really love IPA's? Show me." Someone asked for more diverse and creative beer events, so here you go. In case you have not taken part in any of the O'Dempsey's cask series before, they make some of the best casks you have ever had, and these will be no exception.

This week there are some great events as well. Like these:

• Red Hare Double Dry-Hopped IPA cask at The Fred on Tuesday, 6:00 pm.
• Heavy Seas Winter Storm cask (one of my favorites) in Newnan on Wednesday, 6:00 pm.
• Then on Friday there is the Michigan beer tap take-over at The Fred. There will be lots of New Holland, Bell's and Founders beers to drink, and there will be a specialty of two from each that you don't see every day. This should be an almost 100% take-over of the taps down there, so it should be pretty impressive. I will be there for sure. Starts at 5:00 when they open.

That's all I have time for right now. I have more relaxing that I need to rush off to do. Bye.

Falcons Rise WAY Up

Check out this guy standing a few seats away from me at Sunday nights Falcons/Cowboys game. For those of you not familiar with sports, that is Dikembe Mutombo. For those of you really not familiar with sports in the least bit, Dikembe Mutombo is an ex-NBA star who happens to be extremely tall. How tall? Well, the guy next to him in the blue hat is not sitting down. He and Dikembe are both standing up. OK, so that guy in the blue hat was a little below average height, but seriously, look at the size of Dikembe Mutombo. That is what a seven-foot, two-inch dude looks like watching a football game. It was cool to be right there next to him, and he seemed like a regular guy, just enjoying the game with what I assume was his son. The game was great, and now the Falcons are halfway through the season without a loss. Pretty impressive. Rise Up! (If you don't know what that means, well, just click here. Then get with the program.)

FRED BAR NEWS BULLETIN!

It looks like the project down there is complete and they intend to reopen tonight. That info is hot off the presses and 100% official. Now don't rush down there and spend all of your money right away, because below is the list of beers for the annual anniversary event scheduled for Tuesday, November 13th. I am not calling it an anniversary party, because "party" usually means that the drinks are free. These beers, sadly, are not. But damn if there are not some rare and tasty beers lined up. Check it out:

Mikkeller Santa's Little Helper
Oskar Blues Oaked Gubna (Rare. Double-secret probation rare.)
Port Anniversary Ale
Red Hare Coffee Cream Stout
Red Hare Peanut Butter and Chocolate Porter Cask (Brand new and just crazy enough to be delicious.)
Red Brick Smoked Vanilla Gorilla
Samiclaus
Sierra Nevada Barrel-Aged Ovila Dubbel (Life altering.)
Terrapin 10th Anniversary (The last one you will find anywhere.)
Terrapin Reunion Beer '12 (See above.)

Next week on Thursday the 15th is the Vanberg & Dewulf Coast-To-Coast Toast at The Fred Bar. Vanberg & Dewulf is an importer of great Belgian beers, and you don't necessarily have any reason to know their name, but you can visit their web site here anyway. You definitely have a reason to know their brands. Unless you hate beer, and then I don't like you. Go away. But seriously, this toast is nothing more than serving one of their beers on tap and recognizing the impact that this importer has had on the U.S. beer scene. They started importing high-quality beers in 1982. What were you doing to make beer in America interesting in 1982? I was busy pretending to be a space explorer or something. I was twelve. For the Coast-To-Coast Toast, we will be pouring a keg of Hop Ruiter. Here is their brief description of the beer, but that link is more thorough. Essentially this beer is made specifically for them by a brewery in Belgium.

"What happens when America’s original importer of Belgian artisan ales pairs up with one of Belgium’s most dynamic renegade breweries? You get the next logical step in Belgo-American cross fertilization: Hop Ruiter. It has a full, almost rustic malty body, paired with Belgian yeast driven flavors, followed by assertive American hoppiness. Hop Ruiter is dry hopped, complex and delicate, with a bit of funk."

There will also be some new draft beers debuting on Thursday night at The Fred. Be the first kid on the block to try Ass Kisser Double IPA, Smoked Porter and Vanilla Pale Ale. There will be some limited free glassware on a first-come, first-served basis. basically The Fred Bar is the place to be on Thursday, but unfortunately I will be on an airplane headed to Austin, TX that night. Try to have fun without me.

So that's it for Fred Bar updates. The last thing I have for you today is your final reminder about the last two casks in the O'Dempsey's Your Black Heart Imperial Stout series. Tonight in Suwanee you can get the cask infused with Jim Beam barrel staves. Monday the 12th in Kennesaw--the last one--will be the cask with oranges, Champagne grapes and Sterling hops. Monday is also the five-year anniversary of our Kennesaw location, and they have a great array of beers stocked up for the evening. I know of two new Burnt Hickory kegs for sure: 9353 Peach IPA and Black & Wet, which is a black IPA. That is just a little teaser for you, but there are more specialties line up. Just be there. I gotta go, and you probably need to get back to work and stop daydreaming about quitting your job to drink beer all day long. See you around.

It's Getting Hot, Hot, Hot!

Attention Beer Lovers:

The Fred Bar is temporarily closed for minor maintenance until some time early next week. We are not sure how long this project will take, so unfortunately the annual anniversary event scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed. Yes, that's right, postponed, NOT canceled. We have all of this great beer lined up for everyone, so we will not be cancelling this event. Stay tuned for all of the details.

So what kind of maintenance would cause The Fred to be closed for nearly a week? Inquiring minds want to know I am sure, and I for one can't keep a secret. Are you ready? Swedish bath house. Yep. Now when you come in, just take off all of your clothes and wrap yourself in a luxurious towel. Inhale the refreshing aromas of eucalyptus steaming on the lava rocks in the sauna. Get a cold, dark, 10% alcohol beer and recline on the wood benches with other sweaty half-naked beer lovers. One beer after another, trying not to pass out from the extreme temperature, high humidity and looming drunkenness, until your towel slides to the floor. But no one cares, we're drinking beer in a Swedish bath house, and we don't have a care in the world... Presidential politics got you down? Hot, steamy beer-drinking time! Can't seem to find a job? Naked sweaty cask night at The Fred Bar! Hey is that a beer bottle under your towel, or do you just love bath house beer drinking... a lot. Rhetorical question. Now go away weirdo, and take that towel with you when you leave. Who invited that guy? Totally inappropriate! I might need to rethink this idea. Everybody get dressed!

So now we all have that to look forward to. Have a great weekend, and sorry about The Fred Bar closure. More details will be read here first, as they arise. Thanks.

Beer Week: For Pros Only

If you are tired now after five days of Atlanta Beer Week, I don't know if you can claim "pro" status as a beer drinker. Let me rephrase that. If you admit that you are tired after five days of Atlanta Beer Week, you can't claim pro status as a beer drinker. I mean physically tired, not tired of beer events. If you are tired of beer events well then you, sir or ma'am, are dead to me. If you are just physically tired from all of the beer events lately, just keep it to yourself. No one wants to hear your bitching. Just give up on the beer drinking and go back to your sewing circle or stamp collection. The big boys and girls still have some beer drinking to do this week.

The cask of O'Dempsey's Your Black Heart Russian Imperial Stout at The Fred Bar on Friday night has additions of cranberries and cocoa nibs, and should be great. They are going to tap that at 6:00 pm if you plan on checking it out. The man behind the beer thinks that this one will be the best of the series of six casks of this beer that we are doing. The remainder will be poured: Friday, 11/2 in Peachtree City, Wednesday 11/7 at the Lawrenceville--Suwanee Rd. store, and finally Monday, 11/2 at Kennesaw for their five-year anniversary.

The last ABW event is on Saturday, the last day of ABW, naturally. We will be pouring four beers from Finch's and four beers from Goose Island, including Madame Rose, which will be a first for us and the only keg of that beer we have for the foreseeable future. You can also purchase flights of all four Finch's or all four Goose Island beers. Those flights will be new Brewniversity credits for those of you seeking new and unusual additions to your lists. Last but not least, you can get a credit for "Chi-Town Event" that evening at The Fred Bar. For $7.75, this new credit includes an authentic Chicago-style hot dog and an ice cold tall-boy of Old Style. You can order those items separately if you like too, but that wouldn't be any fun. It all starts at 5:00 when The Fred opens. Should be a fun diversion on a Saturday afternoon/evening. I hope you enjoy it.

That's all for now. Stay strong. Stay pro.

This One Goes To Eleven

I would like to begin by repeating myself, which if those were the first words ever muttered, would have thrown the world into an endless loop of the exact same thing being said, forever. Because if those were the first words ever spoken, they would, by nature, be the only words the next person ever knew, and until that person was able to invent more words, or in essence real language, they would be the only words ever spoken. by anyone. There is little to no chance that the second person would ever be able to accomplish that, because he or she would have gone crazy first after listening to the first person repeat his or herself over and over. Or, what is more plausible is that the second person would have killed the first person after a pretty short period of them repeating themselves over and over. I mean why not? As long as you could do it before the third person came along, who would know? If the third person showed up, and you could now somehow communicate telepathically, because language was such a bust that you had to kill the only other person you had ever known, and that third person asked you where everybody else was, you could say, "What are you trying to say?" That ought to shut them up. I mean, telepathically speaking, I guess everyone shuts up, but you know what I mean. The moral of the story is, just stop repeating yourself so much and nobody gets hurt. Or if you suddenly realize that you are the only person on Earth, come up with something interesting to say. And finally, if you discover that you are the second person on Earth, remember that if either of the two of you wanted to kill the other one, there's a pretty good chance of getting away with it. So either be nice to each other, or start looking for a blunt object . Now of course this is all nonsense, because if the Earth is full of anything it is people. But wait until we start to populate outer space...just wait....

Here is what I am going to repeat, only because it is critically important. Get it tattooed on your body somewhere.

1. This Friday there will be five rare/new Sierra Nevada beers at our South Park store in Charlotte. Four will be past Beer Camp beers, and one will be the new Narwhal Imperial Stout. I, for one, can't wait. Charlotte here I come.
2. I am coming back from that in time for a Whiskey Seminar at The Fred Bar this Saturday from 3:00-5:00 pm. The cost is only $25.00 to taste five high-end whiskeys, and get educated on their similarities and differences by Whiskey Master Kevin Mulcahy. This guy knows his stuff, and he will be as thorough as you need him to be. Just think, this holiday season around the fire, you can be the person who knows everything about whiskey, while everyone else secretly thinks about how lame they are compared to you. And then they'll resent you, but what do you care? Compared to you, they are a bunch of losers. You need better friends. Ones that won't hold you back, suppressing your potential to be cooler than they are out of jealously. If you are interested in signing up for this seminar, just send some contact info to here and mention the whiskey seminar. We will taste Irish, Scotch, Canadian and American (one bourbon and one rye) whiskeys. 
3. This Sunday is the Jailhouse cask at Metropolis. Remember, this is at 1:00 pm on Sunday, 10/21 at Metropolis. Jailhouse Misdemeanor with toffee and agave nectar. Sounds awesome.
4. Monday the 22nd at Decatur you can meet the brew master from Widmer and drink a ton of crazy beers of  his. Three vintages of Barrel-Aged Brrbon, the new Old Embalmer Barley Wine, SXNW (a strong ale with chilis, chocolate and pecans), and a ton of old favorites, including two IPA's. We will be also selling flights so that you can try many of these beers in one night. Safely. Remember that the flights will be new and one-time credits for Brewniversity members. This event is from 7:00-9:00 pm, because we know that getting to Decatur on a weekday before 6:30 pm can be difficult.
5. Tuesday the 23rd at Perimeter you can meet Peter Bouckaert, brew master from New Belgium. He is going to tell you all about his story, and the stories of some of his favorite beers that he brews. One of his first, and still favorite, recipes is called 1554, and has always been one of my favorite New Belgium beers. You can get a special event credit by ordering one of those before listening to his presentation. This will take place in the inner patio, and he will start around 5:45 pm. Please try to be on time. This is a very important person in the beer world, and we do not want to interrupt his presentation with a lot of late arrivals. Subjects will include his journey through Belgian brewing to Colorado, special yeast strains and their characteristics, and fun things like that. Another chance for you to get cooler than those half-wits you've been hanging around with lately.
6. Also on Tuesday the 23rd there will be a handful of vintage-dated Southern Tier beers at our East Roswell store. Get them while you can, because they will be probably be gone before the weekend comes and goes. Don't delay. Here is the line-up: Chokolat, Creme Brulee, Jah'va, Mokah, Oak-Aged Back Burner, all 2011 vintages.
7. On Wednesday the 24th there will be three different vintage-dated Great Divide Yeti kegs at East Roswell: Oak-Aged, Chocolate and Espresso Yetis from 2011 will be pouring after 5:00 pm.
8. Also on the 24th here people there will be the next O'Dempsey's cask at Cumming. That starts at 6:00 pm. This one was aged on pieces of Jack Daniel's barrel staves, and the beer is Your Black Heart Russian Imperial Stout.
9. Next up is Friday the 26th, and you can get some vintage-dated Russian Imperial Stouts at East Roswell. I don't know how it happened, but we shook that location, and a ton of cellared beers fell out, just in time for ABW. There are 2011 vintages to Avery The Czar and Stone Russian Imperial Stout, plus a 2012 dated version of Troubadour from Belgium.
10. Also on Friday you will get the next O'Dempsey's cask at The Fred Bar. This one has cranberries and cocoa nibs in it, and the brewer thinks it will be the best in the series. Let's see if he is right. The rest of the O'Dempsey's casks go like this: Nov. 2nd at Peachtree City, 11/7 at Lawrenceville--Suwanee Rd., and 11/12 at Kennesaw for their 5th anniversary shindig. 
11. Lastly we have an event at The Fred that should be fun on Saturday the 27th. We will be serving beers from Finch's and Goose Island out of Chicago (maybe even a Goose rarity...stay tuned). But that's not all. You can also get an authentic Chicago-style hot dog with all of the crazy toppings, and a big can of Old Style. That's right, real Old Style, in Atlanta. Ice cold 16oz. tall-boys. Oh yeah.

That, boys and girls, are your Atlanta Beer Week events...for now. I may have one more up my sleeve before it is all over, so stay tuned. 

No Cask For You!

In the interest of beer quality, we are not going to serve the Jailhouse William Kingsland cask tonight at Metropolis. It was unable to be delivered until yesterday, which would cause it to be very cloudy and yeasty. Not exactly optimum flavor or appearance in any way. I hate to cancel events, but I really hate to pour nasty beer and act like nothing is wrong. So I apologize to anyone who was looking forward to this beer tonight. I was looking forward to it myself. The new date is Sunday, 10/21 at 1:00 pm. The Falcons are off that day, and it is Day 2 of Atlanta Beer Week. Should be a nice change of pace to drink a rare cask during the day while watching football. I hope that you can join us. Thanks, and again, we are sorry. But here is an update on some other events that are happening according to schedule:

1. The first in a series of six O'Dempsey's Your Black Heart Russian Imperial Stout casks is being tapped at Dallas Hwy tomorrow night at 6:00 pm. Each of these was treated to different ingredient additions, so they are all unique, and therefore are unique credits fro Brewniversity members. Once this one is gone, the credit will vanish forever. Collect the whole set. Be a hero to lesser beer drinkers everywhere.
2. Next Friday there will be five rare/new Sierra Nevada beers at our South Park store in Charlotte. Four will be past Beer Camp beers, and one will be the new Narwhal Imperial Stout. I, for one, can't wait. Charlotte here I come. Next week.
3. I am coming back from that in time for a Whiskey Seminar at The Fred Bar on Saturday from 3:00-5:00 pm. The cost is only $25.00 to taste five high-end whiskeys, and get educated on their similarities and differences by Whiskey Master Kevin Mulcahy. This guy knows his stuff, and he will be as thorough as you need him to be. Just think, this holiday season around the fire, you can be the person who knows everything about whiskey, while everyone else secretly thinks about how lame they are compared to you. And then they'll resent you, but what do you care? Compared to you, they are a bunch of losers. You need better friends. Ones that won't hold you back, suppressing your potential to be cooler than they are out of jealously. If you are interested in signing up for this seminar, just send some contact info to here and mention the whiskey seminar. We will taste Irish, Scotch, Canadian and American (one bourbon and one rye) whiskeys. 
4. The very next day is the Jailhouse cask rescheduled from tonight. Remember, 1:00 pm on Sunday, 10/21 at Metropolis. Jailhouse Misdemeanor with toffee and agave nectar. Sounds awesome.
5. Monday the 22nd at Decatur you can meet the brew master from Widmer and drink a ton of crazy beers of  his. Three vintages of Barrel-Aged Brrbon, the new Old Embalmer Barley Wine, SXNW (a stong ale with chilis, chocolate and pecans), and a ton of old favorites, including two IPA's. We will be also selling flights so that you can try many of these beers in one night. Safely. Remember that the flights will be new and one-time credits for Brewniversity members. This event is from 7:00-9:00 pm, because we know that getting to Decatur on a weekday before 6:30 pm can be difficult.
6. Tuesday at Perimeter you can meet Peter Bouckaert, brew master from New Belgium. He is going to tell you all about his story, and the stories of some of his favorite beers that he brews. One of his first, and still favorite, recipes is called 1554, and has always been one of my favorite New Belgium beers. You can get a special event credit by ordering one of those before listening to his presentation. This will take place in the inner patio, and he will start around 5:45 pm. Please try to be on time. This is a very important person in the beer world, and we do not want to interrupt his presentation with a lot of late arrivals. Subjects will include his journey through Belgian brewing to Colorado, special yeast strains and their characteristics, and fun things like that. Another chance to get cooler than those half-wits you've been hanging around with lately.
7. Also on Tuesday there will be a handful of vintage-dated Southern Tier beers at our East Roswell store. Get them while you can, because they will be probably be gone before the weekend comes and goes. Don't delay.
8. On Wednesday there will be three different vintage-dated Great Divide Yeti kegs at East Roswell: Oak-Aged, Chocolate and Espresso Yetis from 2011 will be pouring after 5:00 pm.
9. Also that evening there will be the next O'Dempsey's cask at Cumming. That starts at 6:00 pm. This one was aged on pieces of Jack Daniel's barrel staves.
10. Thursday there is an event at The Fred that should be fun. We will be serving beers from Finch's and Goose Island out of Chicago (maybe even a Goose rarity...stay tuned). But that's not all. You can also get an authentic Chicago-style hot dog with all of the crazy toppings, and a big can of Old Style. That's right, real Old Style, in Atlanta. Ice cold 16oz. tall-boys. Oh yeah.
11. Next up is Friday the 26th, and you can get some vintage-dated Russian Imperial Stouts at East Roswell. I don't know how it happened, but we shook that location, and a ton of cellared beers fell out, just in time for ABW.
12. Also on Friday you will get the next O'Dempsey's cask at The Fred Bar. This one has cranberries and cocoa nibs in it, and the brewer thinks it will be the best in the series. Let's see if he is right. The rest of the O'Dempsey's casks go like this: Nov. 2nd at Peachtree City, 11/7 at Lawrenceville--Suwanee Rd., and 11/12 at Kennesaw for their 5th anniversary shindig. 

I have more events on 10/30 and 11/6, but I think I gave you enough to work on for now. Now get out there and drink some damn beer.

In case you did not get the word--and if you didn't, then you are the only one on Earth it seems--that I threw out the first pitch in Friday night's Braves disaster, it is true. How I got the offer is kind of a long story, but thanks to the great people at a local Anheuser-Busch distributor, the opportunity trickled down to me. Don't worry though, it was not my botched pitch that doomed the Braves. I threw a perfect strike, at a blistering 34 mph. (That is just a guess, but let's just say that I didn't put everything I had into it. I was trying to get it across the plate, no make the team.) There will be a video available once the Braves send me the DVD, and I will post it here for sure. But for now, check out where I sat (picture above). The guy in the light blue shirt and white hat on the right is Ted Turner. The guy in the blazer and khaki pants is a secret service agent. Jimmy Carter is in front of him, but you can't see him in this picture. The lady on the aisle in the tan suit is Rosalynn Carter. When the fans started going nuts and throwing bottles on the field, three secret service guys showed up out of nowhere to keep an eye on the Carters. Ted headed for the dugout, and then his helicopter or something. He never came back after that, but neither did the Braves. Oh well, better luck next year Ted. It was fun while it lasted.

Take care everyone. If you are looking for me, I will be in Denver again for GABF. I will do my best to have fun. Wish me luck.

Beer Events & More Beer Events

We have something really cool going on in Charlotte tomorrow, and in a few weeks. So if you are a Charlotte customer, know someone who is, or have always been looking for a reason to go to Charlotte to drink beer, I have a few good opportunities for you. Check it out:

1. Our store in Huntersville is celebrating its one-year anniversary, starting tomorrow, and continuing into the weekend. Tomorrow they will be tapping five beers from the brand new Triple C Brewing Co. from right there inside Charlotte. Among the five offerings are a Smoked Amber Ale (sounds interesting) and Baby Maker Double IPA. That's just a great name for a beer. Get in there and check it out. Important brewery folks will be on hand for you to chat with too, so that is always a plus.

1. Then on Saturday the 6th, they are going all out with a cask of NoDa Coco Loco, which is an awesome coconut porter made in Charlotte. NoDa is the brewery in NC that everyone is talking about. On that same night, the store will be tapping 2011 vintages of the following: Terrapin Wake and Bake, Founder's Breakfast Stout, Big Boss Big Operator, Southern Tier Mocha, and Southern Tier Choklat. All of these will be vintage dated approvals for anyone seeking credits. Please don't try to drink all of these beers in one night. You will not be in any shape to do any baby making. At least not with anyone attractive.

1. On Friday, October 19th there is a Sierra Nevada Beer Camp tap take-over at our South Park location. On tap for a VERY limited time will be: Floral IPA, Imperial Pilsner, Imperial Red and Oatmeal Stout. This will also be the debut of Narwhal Imperial Stout, which I sampled while I was at the brewery last month, and it is a serious game changer. 100% awesome. Get some. I will, because I am going to be there that night. 

So that is a little Charlotte events action, now for a little preview of some GA events. 

1. Next Tuesday the 9th at Metropolis we have a cask of Jailhouse Misdemeanor, but not any ordinary one. This one has toffee and agave nectar added. It is called William Kingsland, after an art thief of the same name. Jailhouse is naming all of their casks after famous criminals, and making each one unique. Pretty cool idea. We will tap it at 6:00 pm, and the brewery crew will be on hand to visit and drink a few as well. 

1. The following night at Dallas Hwy in Marietta we will be tapping the first in a series of O'Dempsey's casks. We did this recently with an IPA, but this time it is Your Black Heart Imperial Stout, and this cask has additions of figs, pineapple & Crystal hops. Sounds just crazy enough to work. Tap goes in at 6:00 pm. Each of these O'Dempsey's YBH casks are individual credits, so if you come to more that one of these events (there are six), they will count as additional credits. The rest of the line-up will be detailed in future posts.

1. Atlanta Beer Week kicks off on Saturday, October 20th. The following week we have a bunch of events, and I will run through them quickly now so that you can mark your calendars. More details will follow as we get closer though. Monday the 22nd is a meet & greet at Decatur with the Widmer brew master. Lots of specialty beers will be available, including three vintages of Barrel-Aged Brrbon and the new SXNW. Two different flights will be for sale too, and those will be one-time credits, unlikely to ever return. Tuesday the 23rd at Perimeter there is a meet & greet with Peter Bouckhart, brew master at New Belgium. He has a presentation to entertain you with, and there will be a good selection of New Belgium beers to drink. This guy is pretty influential in brewing circles, so it will be a great chance to rub elbows with a mover and shaker if you are into that kind of thing. The same night there will be five different 2011 vintage dated Southern Tier beers at East Roswell. Wednesday the 24th we have three 2011 Great Divide Yeti's on tap at East Roswell (regular, Chocolate and Espresso). The same night there is another O'Dempsey's cask, this time in Cumming, and it has Jack Daniels Barrel staves added for flavoring. Lastly, on Friday there will be a O'Dempsey's cask at The Fred Bar with cocoa nibs and cranberries. And at East Roswell that night there will be three different Russian Imperial Stouts from the cellar, all with 2011 vintages. I am cooking up a few other things right now, but that all I have set in stone at this point. 

Before I go, I just want to give a shout-out to anyone going to Friday's Braves playoff game. I am throwing out the first pitch, so get there early and cheer for me, even if I screw it up. Wait...especially if I screw it up. 

If you don't already follow your local stores on Twitter, this might be a good time to do so. I will be going to the Great American Beer Fest the 11th-13th, so updates on events might be coming from the stores more reliably than through me next week. I will do everything in my power, however, to keep you abreast of any and all developments. Thanks, and enjoy whatever it is that you choose to be doing. Bye.

Corrections and Clarifications!

First of all, legal issues have caused the Lone Rider beers to not be approved in GA yet, so we will NOT be doing any launch tomorrow at Prado. Please tell everyone you know NOT to expect to drink those beers tomorrow. Sorry. Damn government.

OK, so apparently the link I gave you yesterday to vote on the country's best sport bar was missing a critical piece. Just use this info, and you will be good to go:

Calling all Taco Mac Fans! We need your help! Taco Mac has been named one of the top 12 sports bars in North America, and now we need YOUR help to get to #1! Please help us get to the #1 spot by voting for us! Simply FOLLOW THIS LINK and vote for TACO MAC! As an incentive, we will be offering a special free Brewniversity credit in stores, if we win the contest. (More details to follow- after we win!) You can vote as often as you like.  There are four groups, with three sports bars in each group.  Taco Mac is in Group C and competing against a sports bar in Austin, Texas and San Diego, California.  The winner from each group moves on to the Final Four.  If each Brewniversity member voted at least once, we would show the power of your voice to the nation! Please take a moment and vote a few times!  Voting closes on Tuesday, October 1.   VOTE HERE

Thank You for your support!