But on another more local note, here is an artist's rendering of the exterior of our remodeled Decatur location. It is scheduled to re-open on Tuesday, October 15th. The inside is totally tricked out with all kinds of beer related architectural detail. Trust me, you'll want to get down there sooner than later to check it out. More on that later, including some actual real photos. I could not get in there to take pictures yesterday because they were laying the flooring. Guess I should have called first.
Before I hit the road for the weekend, I wanted to relay a story for all of you beer drinkers out there who like to seek out some of the exciting beers from across the country. It goes like this:
- A few weeks ago I bought a six-pack of a locally made pale ale at a BP station. Not exactly a hot spot for craft beer, Chamblee. It tasted so good and fresh, I checked the date on the bottle. I don't normally do that, but it was so remarkably tasty that I was compelled by uncontrollable forces to look for the date. This beer had left the brewery just three weeks before I bought it. That means it got packaged and dated, delivered to a local distributor, warehoused there behind older inventory, then loaded on a truck and delivered to a BP station, purchased and consumed in under 21 days. Not impressed? You don't know a lot about the beer business then. You won't get fresher beer unless you get it from the brewery or make it yourself.
- Last week I bought a four pack of a super sexy, highly desirable beer from a very renown craft brewery that is a long way from this market. The beer's flavor was very good, but it had sediment in the bottle where there should have been none. Hmmm...that's odd. Check the freshness dating, and yep, it was bottled in June. June of 2012. So this beer that I bought at a reputable retailer of quality beer was 15 months old. The sediment was particulate matter (the non-water elements of the beer) coming out of the liquid due to age, and possibly being poorly handled along the way from the brewery to my local store. Why, then, did it taste OK? Well, it was hopped pretty much out of this world, so that bitterness can cover up a lot. In addition, this is a beer I do not drink more than a few times a year. Why? Well, I think I just told you why. Maybe the next time I am closer to the source I will buy it again, but for the price I paid for it, I sure wish it was a great deal more fresh.
