Don't Be Like Randy

This little gem of graffiti was found in the Marta station near my house. I am so glad that Randy felt

compelled to let everyone know his whereabouts. Besides being conscientious, here is what we know about Randy:

1. He is an idiot.
2. He was in a place one time, and he wanted you to know about it.

He was able to spell "hear" using only one indecipherable character. Is that a "K" and an "R" at the same time Randy? I am so proud of you for writing 75% of that word using actual letters. You get a C in writing with the actual alphabet of the language in which you are trying to communicate. Not too shabby. Unfortunately the word you spelled has a different meaning that what we can only assume was your intent here Randy. So this is where your score goes down a little. You see, other than your name, which is probably one of the first things you ever learned to spell, and one of the most used words in your written vocabulary, you only spelled one other word correctly. Was. You spelled "was" correctly, then after that, right down the toilet. I am not sure how the judges are going to score that, but I think it is safe to say that it is going to bring that C average down into the D range, which I am sure you are quite familiar with at this stage of your life.

But I didn't come here today to make fun of yet another person let down by our society, our education system, or our parenting standards. No, the reason we came here today is to reminded you about beer events, because those are fun, and you probably forgot about everything I told you last week, because you knew I would send you a reminder this week when it was really important. So here you go:

1. Thornbridge event tomorrow at The Fred Bar. We will have the collaboration beer that Spike from Terrapin brewed while we were there when we went to England in February. It will be on tap and on the beer engine from a firkin. There will be three other Thornbridge beers on tap, plus some Terrapins as well. Spike will be on hand to tell you about brewing this Imperial ESB, and there will be a slide show for your viewing pleasure. Should be a good one.
2. SweetWater cask-o-rama begins at Dallas Hwy on Wednesday at 6:00 pm. Brown Ale w/ cardamom, cocoa & orange peel.
3. SweetWater cask tour rolls into Decatur on Friday at 6:00 pm. Porter w/ chicory, vanilla & cocoa.
4. In-town cask crawl starts at Virginia-Highland at 4:00 pm on Saturday. We make the next stop at Metropolis at 4:30 pm, then Lindbergh at 6:00 pm. They are, in order of first to last stops: IPA w/ grapefruit, apricots, orange & rosemary; IPA w/ orange, grains of paradise, Cascade, Chinook, Summit & Citra; Imp. Stout w/ mint, lactose & cocoa.

Astute readers might notice that we have no duplicates in week one. These are the five varieties, and there will be one of these at every store except Philips Arena (yes, you too Chattanooga and Charlotte!). This tour will last into early July, so if you are busy this week, there is still time to get on board. Hope to see you their, Randy!

Last but not least, it is time to announce the 2013 Southern Home Brewer's Challenge contest. Remember last year when we received submissions from home brewers around metro Atlanta, and one winner had their beer made by Red Brick for a January beer of the month? Well here it comes again. This year we are partnering with Red Hare Brewing Co. in Marietta. Submission dates will be each Monday in July. So tell all of the home brewers you know to get their best recipes together and start brewing. The first Monday in July is four weeks away, and there are five Mondays in July. A list of the location for submissions each week is below. But all I am really trying to do today is get everyone fired up and get those home brewers brewing. Last year's SHBC was a big success, and this year it should be bigger and better. Get the word out! If anyone is ready to go, the submission form is linked to the right of this post. Go for it.

Bye for now. See you around.

The submissions will be at the following locations on the specified dates:

• Monday, July 1st at Taco Mac in Decatur
• Monday, July 8th at Taco Mac in Peachtree City
• Monday, July 15th at Taco Mac in Kennesaw
• Monday, July 22nd at Taco Mac in Cumming
• Monday, July 29th at Taco Mac in Suwanee