There have been a lot of winners since we last spoke, and I am definitely feeling like one of them. It all started with the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting last Saturday. The event was a huge success despite concerns about the weather. I will tell you one thing, for as much as Atlantans freak out about marginally bad weather, this thing was packed. Hey, the next time a winter storm threatens to cripple the city, all we need to do is tell the beer community that some awesome beer event is about to be canceled unless the street get cleared. These guys will make that shit happen. Nobody is going to shut down their good time, especially mother nature. So it may have been a bit crowded, but I liked this ACAT venue over each of the past two years. Owen Ogletree and his crew, plus Dennis' guys from 5 Seasons, did a great job in spite of some difficult obstacles. So here are the results:1st Place Classic Style: Left Hand Fade to Black Foreign Export Stout
1st Place Speciality: Sweetwater Spice of Life (Festive Ale aged in rum barrel)
2nd Place Overall: Twain's Sour Brett Brown Ale
3rd Place Overall: French Broad Rye Hopper
HM: The Bruery's Two Turtle Doves
For some attentive readers, you may recall the Left Hand Fade To Black Foreign Export Stout cask that we had recently at Metropolis. I said that this may might be the single best cask that we had ever had. I urged everyone of you to come out and taste it. And I guess I was right, according to the experts from the ACAT. To all of you who missed this beer at either place, I just want to ask you, "Why don't you listen to me?" Sorry. I am not a parent, but now I realize why parents say that to their children all the time. I really want you to experience, like a parent would, the best that life has to offer. And when you don't listen, it hurts. OK, not really, but it definitely hurts you. I drank a bunch of that beer. If you didn't, don't start crying now. You can't bring it back. I tried to tell you, but nooo, you wouldn't listen.....(This is called "tough love" for you parents out there. It is like reverse psychology, but the intention is that you make your child cry and therefore regret their actions. So basically you don't teach them anything, except that their parents are mean and don't love them at all. So they will probably mature into a rebellious teenager who flunks out of school. In fact, this style of parenting is known to produce many special attributes in young adults. Namely: drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, lip piercings, terrible musical preference [see: Avril Lavigne], stupid-ass hair cuts, Taco Bell, skinny jeans, FaceBook dependency, propensity towards malls, adherence to only vampire-based literature, and a complete and thorough inability to spell or construct a complete sentence without electronic support. Good work America! Our children are an intellectual garbage heap. Luckily they are sexually promiscuous as well, so there will be more and more of them before we know it, and their glaring deficiencies will start to seem normal. By the time we figure out that reality shows and MTV are scientifically proven to deteriorate the brain, they will have taken over the airwaves, and there won't be any coverage of this scientific discovery.). I know what you are thinking. "Well get another cask of that beer already. We'll come this time!" Oh if only it were that easy. Fade To Black is winter seasonal series. What's that mean? That means that not only is it gone for the most part, but that next year the FTB seasonal will be a different style of beer altogether. OK, enough about that beer. It was damn good though. Those guys know how to make some dark beer alright.
Next up was the Guinness Perfect Pour contest at Lindbergh. This is the 3rd year in a row that we have hosted this city-wide competition to see what bartender can pour the best pint of Guinness. Brew master Fergal Murray comes into Atlanta every year to participate as one of the judges. You can read about the event, his visit, etc at:
http://beerconnoisseur.com/talk-with-fergal-murray1st Place Speciality: Sweetwater Spice of Life (Festive Ale aged in rum barrel)
2nd Place Overall: Twain's Sour Brett Brown Ale
3rd Place Overall: French Broad Rye Hopper
HM: The Bruery's Two Turtle Doves
For some attentive readers, you may recall the Left Hand Fade To Black Foreign Export Stout cask that we had recently at Metropolis. I said that this may might be the single best cask that we had ever had. I urged everyone of you to come out and taste it. And I guess I was right, according to the experts from the ACAT. To all of you who missed this beer at either place, I just want to ask you, "Why don't you listen to me?" Sorry. I am not a parent, but now I realize why parents say that to their children all the time. I really want you to experience, like a parent would, the best that life has to offer. And when you don't listen, it hurts. OK, not really, but it definitely hurts you. I drank a bunch of that beer. If you didn't, don't start crying now. You can't bring it back. I tried to tell you, but nooo, you wouldn't listen.....(This is called "tough love" for you parents out there. It is like reverse psychology, but the intention is that you make your child cry and therefore regret their actions. So basically you don't teach them anything, except that their parents are mean and don't love them at all. So they will probably mature into a rebellious teenager who flunks out of school. In fact, this style of parenting is known to produce many special attributes in young adults. Namely: drug addiction, unwanted pregnancy, lip piercings, terrible musical preference [see: Avril Lavigne], stupid-ass hair cuts, Taco Bell, skinny jeans, FaceBook dependency, propensity towards malls, adherence to only vampire-based literature, and a complete and thorough inability to spell or construct a complete sentence without electronic support. Good work America! Our children are an intellectual garbage heap. Luckily they are sexually promiscuous as well, so there will be more and more of them before we know it, and their glaring deficiencies will start to seem normal. By the time we figure out that reality shows and MTV are scientifically proven to deteriorate the brain, they will have taken over the airwaves, and there won't be any coverage of this scientific discovery.). I know what you are thinking. "Well get another cask of that beer already. We'll come this time!" Oh if only it were that easy. Fade To Black is winter seasonal series. What's that mean? That means that not only is it gone for the most part, but that next year the FTB seasonal will be a different style of beer altogether. OK, enough about that beer. It was damn good though. Those guys know how to make some dark beer alright.
Next up was the Guinness Perfect Pour contest at Lindbergh. This is the 3rd year in a row that we have hosted this city-wide competition to see what bartender can pour the best pint of Guinness. Brew master Fergal Murray comes into Atlanta every year to participate as one of the judges. You can read about the event, his visit, etc at:
The winner turned out to be our own Megan Martin from Johns Creek. Before you start screaming, "Rigged!", just remember that we did not win the previous 2 years in our own building. Megan did a great job, and if you have never attended this event before, you really should. It is a rowdy night, and the most fun you will probably ever have on a Monday night.
The week wound up with me cutting two radio ads for 790 The Zone (AM sports radio). They start running on Monday, and I think that they turned out pretty well. I have a great face for radio. Then on Saturday the last of the Sierra Nevada/Dogfish Head collaboration Life & Limb kegs got tapped at Manuel's Tavern. I live 2 blocks from Manuel's, but I would have gone across town for it if necessary. The beer was great, and there was a noticeable difference from when we tapped ours in December. Good turnout too, and the keg was gone in an hour. It was a small keg, but that is still pretty good. Everyone had a good time for sure. Today is Super Bowl Sunday, tomorrow I am going to a show at The Tabernacle, then heading to Asheville, NC to visit some breweries and go to another show up there on Tuesday. I will be back in time for Friday's Smuttynose event at Metropolis. Here is the scoop:
- Cask of Old Brown Dog dry-hopped with Willamette hops.
- Six specialty Smuttynose drafts: Terminator G-Bock, Imperial Stout, Baltic Porter, Strawberry Weiss, Wheat Wine & Oaked Big-A IPA
- Start time will be 6 pm.
