When Casks Attack

Here is an event update & reminder. Have a seat, it's a big one:

1. Fuller's ESB cask at Decatur tomorrow, 5:30 tap time. Why 5:30? Because cask expert and all-around beer guru Owen Ogletree is in town, but he has to be on the other side of town around 7:00. He is going to tap the cask, answer any questions you might have, all of that. I will be there too if that matters at all. Come out and taste what real, cask-conditioned English ale tastes like.
2. Thursday night we have a cask of Left Hand Fade To Black Smoked Baltic Porter at Crabapple. That is getting tapped sometime around 5:30 too. I know that is kind of vague, but have you ever seen the traffic on that road? Not pretty. Once the beer drinkers show up, we'll get into the beer. Word of warning though: This store has set records in the past for blowing through special beer, so don't screw around and miss it if you want to taste this rare beer.
3. Friday night it is Fuller's ESB cask-mania! Perimeter, Canton and Peachtree City are all tapping these firkins on the same night. I will be in Peachtree City personally. Maybe I'll see you there.
4. Saturday is the Prado Beer Festival! The line-up of breweries is stellar, of course. All of your favorites will be there from the American craft beer scene, plus some high-end imports. Lots of brewery reps will be on hand, some from as far away as New York and California. You can also taste some regional beers that you may not be super familiar with. Jail House, O'Dempsey's, Moon River, Five Seasons, Wild Heaven and Thomas Creek will all be featured. The weather forecast is for 80 degrees and sunny by the way. So....I am going to be outside drinking beer. What are you doing? Don't say yard work. Don't say pool party. Don't say anything else that is lame. And drinking beer outside with a ton of other cool people is the ONLY thing you can do this Saturday without being lame. So deal with that. (PS- Moon River is an award-winning brew pub in Savannah, GA. They can't sell beer here legally, but they can participate in festivals. So unless you go to Savannah, this is the only way to try their beer.)
5. Next week there is the final Fuller's ESB cask getting tapped at Windward Pkwy Taco Mac. This may be your last chance to taste this beer from a firkin for a LONG time. If Alpharetta is your 'hood, you will want to be there.

The last thing I have for you is two things. Maybe three. It goes a little something like this:

• Tuesday, May 3rd. Beer dinner. Peachtree City. Bell's. Five spots still open. www.tacomac.com. Go!
• Tuesday, June 7th. Beer dinner. The Fred Bar. St. Martin beers from Belgium. Brewer will be there (also from Belgium--duh!). His name is Marc-Antoine de Mees. Told you he was from Belgium. Menu coming very soon.
• Tuesday, July 12th. Beer dinner. Duluth. Southern Tier. Brewer is in town. He is not from Belgium, but his name is Phineas De Mink. He is from Kalamazoo, MI. You don't hear that every day. A guy named Phineas from a place called Kalamazoo. People, I don't make this stuff up. Menu is coming in a few weeks.

Over and out. See ya 'round.

Fuller's Update & Reminder

Just in case you forgot to write it down or enter into your little mechanical calendar, there is a firkin of Fuller's ESB getting tapped tomorrow at Metropolis. I will be there before I have to leave for the Hawks game.

The next one is getting tapped at Decatur on Wednesday the 27th. Then on Friday the 29th you will be able to get one at Peachtree City and Perimeter. Solid dates for Canton and Windward Parkway will be coming soon.

Thanks. Bye.

The Firkins Have Landed

That's right folks. Six firkins of cask-conditioned Fuller's ESB are in our stores as we speak. This is a rare treat, so let's get down to business:

1. Where are they? Canton, Decatur, Metropolis, Peachtree City, Perimeter & Windward Pkwy.
2. When are they being tapped? Some dates are still being worked out, but here is what I have so far: The first one is getting tapped this Friday at Metropolis at 6:00 pm. No reason to freak out anyone! If you live in town and can't get there Friday, then just come by Decatur on Wednesday the 27th. That one is getting tapped at 5:30 pm so that Owen Ogletree--resident cask expert and Georgia's foremost appreciator of cask ales--can be there and say a few words to anyone in attendance.

I will be posting the rest of the dates as they materialize. But you can count on Friday the 29th being one--if not two or more--of the next dates. I apologize to those of you living in the northeast part of metro Atlanta. These were not delivered to the distributor that handles Gwinnett and Forsyth, which is why they are all conspicuously missing from those areas. I still love you people up there. It is simply a matter of legalities.

Lastly, it needs to be said that I had to really work on getting these casks over here, and I can't promise that I can do it again. These have been anticipated since January, and finally are actually here. I realize that there are quite a few cask events these days, but these may not be seen again for a long, long time. Real ale straight from England is something you just don't see in U.S. very often. I hope that you enjoy them. See you around.

A Dog Would Eat A Booger; Any Time, Any Where

Here is your event reminder for the weekend, and even some events heading into next week and beyond.

• If you dig Allagash beers--and you do!--The Fred is the place to be tonight. How does a keg of Allagash Bourbon Black sound? If you are having a hard time figuring out what that is, then I suspect that as a child you ate a lot of paste and boogers. They are also pouring a year-old keg of Allagash Curieux, which is a bourbon barrel-aged Belgian-style Tripel. It is one of those beers that is SO good, nobody else even tries to imitate it. I would like to take this opportunity to help everyone with the pronunciation of this beer. Say it with me: cure--EE--oh. I have heard some very creative attempts to pronounce this beer. But hey, when a seven letter word has four vowels, plus an "x", that's a tough one.
• Tomorrow we are the launch place for the newest Red Brick seasonal. Can you guess what it's called? It is a Hefe-Weizen, and I tasted it today in Chattanooga. It is very good; dry and not too banana-y. There's a definite hop presence that let's you know it was made in the good ol' US of A. You can get it at every Taco Mac in GA and TN after 5:00 pm Friday.
• On Monday you can try the Sierra Nevada Stung at our Cumming store. This beer was made by a local beer freak during a recent beer camp. If you want to know more about what you just read, the dude (Phil) will be on hand with a slide show. He can tell (and show) you all about his experience at Sierra Nevada helping craft this beer. It is an 8% rye IPA made with honey. We had it a few weeks ago at a Chancellor-only event, and it is great. This thing gets started at 5:00 pm.
• Also on Monday there is the Belgian beer and Georgia cheese event at Deckard's. I mentioned it a little while ago, so you can scroll back a post or two for all of the details. Or just stop screwing around and call 404-941-3520 to make a reservation. That is an option.
• If you are in Charlotte, we have a cask of Olde Hickory Death By Hops scheduled to be tapped on the 21st. If the name of that beer alone doesn't get you excited, maybe check your pulse. 

And speaking of Olde Hickory and hops, this Saturday is the Hickory Hops Beer Festival. It is, for you former* paste and booger eaters, in Hickory, NC. It is a great fest that I went to once a few years ago. All of the NC breweries are there, and the thing isn't too crowded, which is key. I am going up there to meet some of the brewers and brewery people from that state. There is a private party for those people that I am going to tomorrow night too. You know, more "networking". Work work work. Unfortunately we might see a big thunderstorm on Saturday, but we'll make the best of it. 

Have great weekend everyone.

* We know that you still eat your boogers. It's OK. I mean, you're gross, but you're not hurting anyone. So keep on digging in there for those tasty little green morsels. Do whatever makes you happy.