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.