J - E - L - L- Ohhhhh!

Well we made it back from Panama City in one piece. It was nice to relax with some old friends, drink a god-awful amount of beer, and just watch the waves roll in. People say there a lot of rednecks there. I didn't really see any. Sandbillies? Now those I saw. My god, is that what crystal meth does to people? There is this "brand new" field of medicine that apparently has yet to hit the Florida panhandle. It's called dentistry.


No, seriously, we had a great time. There was one bar we hit called Spinnaker's. They have a great concept. In each area of this cavernous bar on the beach, they have different types of music and dancing for different tastes. Great idea, right. No. Picture the hip-hop crowd in one room, the Latino crowd in another, and then the sandbillies in another, all decked out for the weekend. Then crank up the music, get them all drunk, and wait for the magic to happen. You might as well just stay at home, stab yourself and call your own ambulance. Save a lot of money that way.


Luckily there was Schooner's. This beachside bar had much more charm. Open air seating everywhere, ocean views, some guitar strumming guy, the whole package. Apparently they are short on sodas though. If you order a Seven and Seven, you get whiskey. Vodka tonic? All vodka. Can of Budweiser? I swear the bartender was trying to pour liquor into that too. Take is easy, Shawn. Not everybody is trying to come down from an all-week meth bender. Some of us just want to have a drink and look at the water. Good grouper sandwich though. And the She-crab soup? I think my friend wanted to make love to it.


Late night we found a cozy little place called Patches Pub. What a place. I was the youngest guy in the place by 20 years (I turn 39 this year). Those people loved us! We came in around closing time and livened that joint for real. You really get the feeling that no new customers had set foot in Patches for a long, long time. Now if want to do some shots at Patches, they bring out a tray of plastic cups of multi-colored Jello shots. Layer after layer of them, and they are made with wine-based liqueur (Wild Irish Rose?). Allegedly their license is only for beer and wine. I just think old folks like Jello. Nothing wrong with that. Plus they know if they let these grannies and codgers loose on a bunch of hard liquor, they might start making out or something gross like that. Anyway, 4 or 5 Jello shots later (What? They grow on you! I like green.), it was closing time.


So far my one friend (name omitted to protect the guilty) had managed to stay completely upright. This may not seem like a big deal, but the last time we took him out of town, well, see April's posting about a trip to Athens. Somehow in the middle of the night he walked right past the bathroom, made a right and....Woops! There's stairs right there buddy! Wipe out. Luckily there were only about 3 stairs this time, and a recliner broke part of the fall. This drop was only about one tenth the height of the last one, so he's making progress. Next time we go out of town I assume he'll just fall on level ground. Then after that he will bump into chairs, then walls, eventually working his way towards remaining completely upright the whole time.


Anyway, I'm ready for some beer events. How about you? Here is what I have coming up:

• Tomorrow we have a cask of Left Hand Jackman's Pale Ale to tap at Metropolis. I will be on hand, naturally. My equillibrium-challenged friend will not however. What a great way to end the week: Fresh hand-drawn American ale. Tap time is 6 pm.


• On Wednesday, August 26th Paul Phillipon will be in town for special appearance. Paul is the brewer and president of Duck Rabbit Brewing Co. in NC. He will be bringing some new beers that he is working on, a cask of something, etc. The details are still getting fleshed out. The event will be in the northern part of the metro area, and I will fill you in as we get closer. Stay tuned.


• Mall of GA will be getting a cask of Highland Kashmir IPA this month as well. This beer is not common in these parts, especially cask-conditioned. The date is still coming into focus. I'll keep you informed once I know something.


• Lastly, if anybody is interested in going to Athens this month, Saturday the 22nd would be a good day. That is Terrapin's "Back To School Bash". For those who may have missed it, read an April post about how awesome Terrapin events are. This one should be outstanding. Hot, probably, but worth it. My buddy should be up to just bumping into furniture by then. Leave the first aid kit in the car.


• We will also be doing a small run of Red Brick Keller beer. Keller is the German word for cellar, and it pretty much refers to old-world taste and serving methods. Expect beer engines to be pouring the Keller-Oktoberfest this month. Sooner that later on these kegs.

Thanks for reading everyone. I hate to run, but I think my Jello is just about to set. "I'm coming Granpa!" He needs his "medicine" before Columbo starts. He likes orange.

May The Schwartz Be With You!

Yes, I do think that Mel Brooks is a comic genius. History Of The World Part I? Classic. How long do we have to wait for PartII? Blazing Saddles? Top 5 all-time funniest movies. Spaceballs may not be his best effort, but it is still funnier than every season of Friends combined. We're not here to talk about how schmaltzy that whole load of drivel was, but....

We are here to discuss how the Schmaltz will be with me next week. Namely, on Monday the 3rd of August, Jeremy Cowan, president and brew master of The Schmaltz Brewing Co. will be in town. We are going to be at Perimeter at 5 pm, then heading to Metropolis for a 7 pm arrival. We will travelling with Darren, our local Schmaltz rep (great guy), and the MC and "Human Blockhead" performer from the REAL Coney Island Freak Show. His name is, are you ready.......Donny Vomit. Priceless. That's him in the photo with a nail in his nose. Now, before you get too worked up, I want to tell you that Donny Vomit The Human Blockhead will not be putting anything in his face besides beer at Taco Mac. He does have some appearances in Atlanta to showcase his talents, and you can find out from him where those are. I, personally, am going to attend one near my house next week. So, if you want to meet some beer people, ogle a freak, or maybe say "hi" to me, Monday is the day, Perimeter and Metropolis are the locales.

The fall travel season is about to start heating up. I am headed to Florida tonight to hang out with some friends for the weekend. I am going get my new camera out of the box and learn how to use it. I want to show you folks some great photos of the breweries and beer events I am going to be at coming up this year. I have 8 days of breweries in N. California again this year, GABF to cheer on the Hop Secret 393, New Belgium Brewing Co. in Colorado, and a huge Terrapin party 8/22. That is just August and September. More to come.

Tomorrow all eyes are on Decatur. The Ron W. Burgundy makes its second to last appearance, ever. The "W." stands for whiskey. This keg is from the bourbon barrel that Sweetwater aged some Ron in since March. After this one is gone, there is one little keg left in Austell. Tap date on that is TBD. If you appreciate bourbon, and love how it can contribute to the flavor of a strong, mellow ale, Decatur is the place to be tomorrow. Why am I, along with my group of seasoned veteran beer drinkers going south? Well, I wanted you guys to get some, so I figured it would be best to get these guys away from that keg.

So, I am out of here for now. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and if you get a chance to enjoy a Ron W., do it a favor and take your time. The flavors do interesting things at each stage of the glass. If lingering over a beer is not your thing, go ahead and slam a couple. I'm not your mother. Just make sure that you have safe transportation. This sucker means business. The police don't care if you think the schwartz is with you or not. You're going to jail Lone Starr.

P.S. I want to give a shout out to our newest Grand Poobah memebers, Michelle Davis and Terry Becker. If anyone needs to find these people, I have a pretty good idea where they hang out. Thanks guys. You worked hard, but your liver worked harder. It probably needs a beer right about now, and god knows it can't get one on its own.

"I'm Not Dead Yet!"

First of all, this is your reminder about the release of the Reunion Beer '09 By Terrapin at all of my 22 GA Taco Mac stores. I just sampled the beer, and it is delicious. Remember, double-white style. In the dark about this beer? Read last weekend's post. I will be at Lindbergh tonight for a little kick-off party, then I am headed back to my neighborhood for a going away party. My friend Lindsay is going to join her husband in Korea. This girl loves good beer (Terrapin mostly), but I guess she loves her soldier husband more. Anybody know if there is any decent beer in Korea, or available on a military base? You would think that you could at least get a Sam Adams on a military base. God I hope so. This girl gets cranky and nobody is happy.

There are also two notable resurrections of sorts. Ron Burgundy is not dead yet. Sweetwater had been aging a big bourbon barrel of the stuff since March. We had 2 big and 2 little kegs. The first one got tapped at Lindbergh for the Big Picnic beer dinner on Tuesday (both were awesome). There should be a little left if I had to guess. Please call first. The second one, a small keg, got tapped yesterday at Suwanee. They killed it in 1 night. Probably a few hangovers up in Gwinnett today. Decatur is tapping a big one a week from today, Friday 7/31. The last keg, a small one, before Ron Burgundy finally croaks, is going to be in Austell. Date is TBD. Might even be a mid-week thing.

The other beer that has been resurrected is.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE.......SIERRA NEVADA HOP SECRET 393!. Apparently the head brewer, there since the beginning in the 80's, loved this beer the first time around. How much did he love it? Enough to re-brew it in order to enter it in the Great American Beer Festival in Denver this year. They feel that it has a strong chance of bringing home some gold. I have been told that we will be getting 8, maybe 15 kegs. For those of you in the know, this is very exciting news. For those unaware of the momentousness of this news, please read some old blog postings about Beer Camp, and the beer tour that took Atlanta by storm last winter and spring. Here we come again.

That is it for now. Stay tuned as this develops. Enjoy a beer-filled weekend, and taste the Reunion when you get a chance. Do yourself a favor, and please don't put any fruit in this beer. Enjoy.

Reunited, And It Tastes So Good

Big week last. Hopefully you got out to try the Heavy Seas Loose Cannon casks we had. Hugh the brew master was (and I assume still is) a great guy who was very happy to get out and talk to his fans/our customers. And of course, the beer was outstanding.

On Thursday I met with the Left Hand guys, 2 of whom were in from Colorado. They were in town to brew their yearly collaboration with Terrapin. This year they made an espresso milk stout called Depth Charge. Look for that in August maybe. Should be tasty. I got to drink their Jackman's Pale from a cask, along with Terrapin's newest side project Maggie's Farmhouse at an event Thursday night. That was after a private tour of the Atlanta Brewing Co. facility for some managers, bartenders and customers. Big thanks to the ABC staff for accommodating us. Great stuff. If you have never been down there to visit them, you really should. If you need free tour passes, contact me through the "Contacts" section of the Taco Mac web site. I have at least 20 on my desk. But, if you are just thinking about going, but probably never will, please let me keep the passes for people who are truly going to use them.

This week is our mid-year, multi-brewery beer dinner on Tuesday. At holiday time last December we assembled 6 winter/holiday themed beers from different breweries and planned a dinner around them. This year we planned a picnic-themed dinner, and chose good beers to go with the meal. There is only 1 beer heavier than a brown ale, so summer temperatures are definitely taken into account. And, unlike other dinners, we do not introduce each course with verbal beer and food descriptions. We just seat you and feed you. It will be great. The 66 people who are attending should be really looking forward to it. Unfortunately for anyone else, it is sold out. There is one mystery beer, which will be revealed that night. Very few stores (3) will be able to get this beer the following day, so stay tuned for that.

Speaking of Left Hand and beer dinners, you can sign up for our August Left Hand beer dinner in Duluth if you are interested. It is on Tuesday, August 25th at 6:30 pm. The menu is on the Taco Mac web site. As I have said before, if these are not the best value for the experience in town, please let me know. Actually don't, because you will be wrong.

This week also will feature the release of the Reunion Beer For Hope '09. This beer, a double-white style made by Terrapin, is to help raise money for and awareness of myeloma and bone cancer. The force behind this is Alan Shapiro of SBS Imports (De Proef beers from Belgium-outrageously good) in Seattle. A good friend and co-worker of his from his Pete's Brewing Co. days (Wicked Ale, remember?) succumbed to this illness a few years ago. He usually uses a California brewery to make this beer, but decided to concentrate on our market, based on the growing appreciation for craft beer in the area right now. Conveniently enough, there are 22 locations ready to sell the draft beer for him, Taco Mac. So, get out this weekend and try this new beer at any of our locations that are participating. That would be all GA stores except Douglasville, Lawrenceville, Stockbridge and Tucker. Those stores are independently owned. A double white is basically the Belgian-style wit beer that is so popular these days, but with more body, flavor and ABV.

I have a lot more fun stuff for you guys coming up. I bought a new camera so that I can take pictures of some of my adventures (the PG ones) and post them for you. The last weekend in July/first week of August I am going to Florida with a couple guys to visit an old buddy. One of my friends has had a rough couple of months, so he needs to blow off some steam and relax. We will try to keep him in one piece this time. The last trip out of town we took, he left part of his face on a sidewalk in Athens (not Greece). See postings in April for the back story on that. Otherwise, August may be a little slow. September however is jam packed with special brewery outings all around the country. I promise to take lots of pictures of interesting places and people doing stupid things. I don't know that anyone will do anything stupid. But once you start giving people alcohol, their decisions get way less calculated, but way more hilarious. Remember, if you are not the guy behind the camera, you're the person in the picture. And then we all laugh at you.

Speaking of laughter, this Bruno movie is out of control. If you thought Borat was out there, you have not seen anything yet. You need to be pretty open minded to enjoy this movie. If you are not 100% percent sure that it is not easy to shock you, don't bother to see this movie. Because I was 100% sure that it is not easy to shock me, and I was shocked by this movie. I laughed my ass off, along with everyone else in the theater, but left slightly in disbelief. Not at what I had seen, but by the sheer wonderment at the type of person that would come up with such a thing. Demented! The famous wrestling scene from Borat? Nothing compared to this. Do I recommend this movie? Absolutely. However, I absolutely suggest that you take a very honest inventory of your viewpoints on human sexuality first. Oh, and you better not freak out seeing grown men naked. Every part of them. Often. Don't even get me started on the anal bleaching.

I will leave you with that. Have a great week. I will remind you about the Reunion beer mid-week probably.