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.