Anybody want to get Stoned this week? No? How about next week? I can help you get Stoned a couple of times then. If that is not up your alley, what about getting Stoned on Cinco de Mayo? Arriba! Good thing the kitchens at Taco Mac are open late. All of you Stoners are probably going to be getting hungry sooner or later. What, you may be asking, IS all of this nonsense? Please keep reading....That's right folks, the Stone casks have finally arrived in GA and are being delivered to four of our stores this week. Without further ado, here is the final schedule, which is subject to change, only over my dead body:
- This Friday, 4/23 at Mall of GA we have Stone Arrogant Bastard that has been casked with fresh American white oak chips.
- On Monday, 4/26 we tap a Stone Levitation Ale that was dry-hopped with Amarillo at the Woodstock store.
- Next up is Wednesday, 4/28 at Metropolis. WARNING! IF YOU ARE A BEER GEEK WITH MARGINAL CONTROL OF YOUR BODILY EFFUSIONS, PLEASE TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS BEFORE READING FURTHER! (Translation: Put on a fresh set of Depends). We will tap a firkin of Stone Ruination double dry-hopped with Centennial (...I heard that...) and Simcoe (...what is that smell?). OK hop heads. Time for you to change your drawers.
- And finally, the Stone cask tour wraps up on Cinco de Mayo (Translation: Five Mayonnaises) at the Newnan store with a cask of Stone IPA dry-hopped with Centennial.
All tap times are 6 pm, but we will go earlier if there is a crowd of thirsty, mutinous-looking people on hand. I specifically asked the brewery to fill all four of our casks with different beers, and to feel free to add ingredients to them at the brewers' discretion. It is my understanding that these are all tried-and-true cask treatments, so we are very excited to have them for you. All joking about hop heads aside (I have never met one that will admit to peeing a little bit when they get excited about beer, but they know who they are), I think the most interesting aspect will be how they treat each one of these beers in the cask format. For example, Levitation is very well balanced. Will they hop the hell out if it? We'll see. Ruination is already hopped up like crazy. What did they do, drop a bomb in it? I guess we will find out the answers to these and many other probing questions as we gather yet again around some delicious beer with some good company. Life could be worse people. Much worse.
The last thing I have for you today is an announcement about a beer & cheese pairing that we are doing on Saturday. This is in cooperation with Beer Connoisseur magazine, and is being held at The Fred from 4-6 pm. There are a few open spots as of today. If you are interested in going, please call our office at 678-679-1210. Just leave a phone number with the receptionist and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Here are the details:
- We will be tasting 6 different exotic beers (2 English, 3 Belgian, and 1 Trappist beer from Holland). All of them are from Artisanal Imports.
- Chef Matt chose the cheeses to pair with the beers, and he picked an awesome selection.
- Beer writer Owen Ogletree will be the speaker. His presentation is designed to help you understand the beers you are drinking, plus the ins & outs of beer/cheese pairings. Owen is the guy who organized the trip to England I went on recently. He also writes for local and national beer publications. You should know him. This guy knows his stuff.
- The cost is $45 + tax/person, and you will receive a really cool beer glass to take home. How cool is it? Trust me, you will most likely be the only person you know who has one.
I realize that Saturday and the beer/cheese tasting is just around the corner, but I was out of town since Wednesday. Sorry. I made it back in one piece, which was more of a challenge than you might imagine. Hopefully this blog entry gives you something to look forward to over the next few weeks. You will be able to catch me at all of these events, so make sure that you say "hello" if you can make any of them. Another slide show from England is coming soon. Thanks for reading everyone.
