Get Your Heavy On

Don't forget about the super-special cask of Heavy Seas Below Decks that is getting tapped tonight at 5:00 pm at the Virginia-Highland Taco Mac location. That part of down is sure to be all "decked" out for the holidays, so it will be fun. Some people may take the opportunity to get "lit up" like the proverbial Christmas tree. Hey, it's a free country. Just be safe out there people.

This cask had red oak chips, cocoa nibs, cinnamon bark and dried persimmons thrown into it, plus it was dry-hopped with Brewer's Gold. No frankincense or myrrh though. Nobody really knows what that stuff is anyway. I mean, when was the last time you saw that on sale at Publix? Maybe Kroger has frankincense and myrrh, but I wouldn't know. I don't shop there.

If you can't make it out tonight, still try to enjoy your holidays. That may be difficult for you though, knowing what an awesome beer you could have drank, but didn't. But try anyway.

You may not hear from me next week. I have a busy couple of days before I leave for California for a New Year's Eve blow-out in San Francisco. So I guess I will see you next year. Bye!

I Am Back, And Don't Miss These Casks!

OK, so I have been out of communication for a while, sorry. I had a short week last week because I had to go to Florida for a few days. Sounds like we may be selling some beer down there next year. And then there was this little matter of a Cowboys/Buccaneers game I had to look into. Cool stadium, but the Cowboys just routed the Bucs, and it wasn't much of a game from a competitive standpoint. But for me to get to two Cowboys games in one year, neither of which were in Atlanta, is a pretty good accomplishment. I still haven't been to the new stadium in Dallas, but next year my birthday is on a Sunday, so...whoever makes the NFL schedule needs to be midful of that. Don't make the Cowboys play in some god-awful place that I won't want to go. I don't want to spend my birthday in Phoenix. Might be a nice place, but in the end of September, it is still about 150 degrees during the daytime. Buffalo might be cooler in temperature, but I am not even sure they have an airport. I think you fly into Pittsburgh and take a bus or canoe or something.

(You may find my opinions about other cities to be offensive to people who live in, or are from, those places. I am from Michigan. Flint, Michigan, so I have heard it all already. If I want to take a shot at some place, I can do that. If you haven't heard of Flint, it makes Detroit look like a pretty decent place.)

But there is only one city you need to be concerned with this week, and it is the good ol' ATL. On Friday there is a special cask of Jail House Misdemeanor at Taco Mac Perimeter. Think black IPA with pink peppercorns and cocoa nibs. It is going to be creamy and spicy all at once. And remember my trip to Baltimore where I got to make two special casks? And that were then en route to Taco Mac's loyal and voracious customers? Well, cask # 1 gets tapped on Friday at Virginia-Highland Taco Mac. This is Heavy Seas Below Decks Barley Wine, and we added cocoa nibs, cinnamon bark, red oak chips and dried persimmons. A persimmon is a fruit (pictured), which along with the barley wine, should provide a sweet background to the spices and oaky dryness. It was then dry-hopped with Brewer's Gold hops grown on the east coast. I am very excited to try it. If you are a credit seeker/accumulator, or just plain love beer, then you really need to come out for this one. It is a special item called Heavy Seas Spiced Below Decks. So if you have already had Below Decks, or a cask of Below Decks, this one is still unique. In fact, it is pretty much a one-time shot.

If you want to plan ahead to try the Loose Cannon cask I did while I was in Baltimore, then put Wednesday, January 11th on your calendar. We will be tapping that one in Decatur, and two other Decatur bars will be featuring unique Loose Cannon casks that same night. Call it a mini-pub crawl. A VIP from thre brewery, Joe Gold, will be in town for the evening. This guy is awesome, and really fun to drink beer with. You'll want to meet him. Trust me on that one.

Alright, that is all I have for you right now. Have a great week, and in case I get too swamped next week and can't post anything, have a great holiday season. Relax, drink alot of beer and enjoy some peace and quiet.

PS-- While in Tampa, I did drop in on Cigar City Brewing and saw their new expansion. What a great bunch of guys, and the beer was unbelievable. Every one of them (and I had "a few"). They are trying to get to the point where they can send some kegs our way, so don't despair. They know where we are, and they want us to have more of their beer as much as you want to have some. They just don't have any extra yet. But, man was that a great stop.

Hand-Made Casks In Charm City

Wet hop bud in my hand

OK, so I was gone for a while. Sorry. It's what I do. Where did I go and what did I do? Is that really what you want to know, or do you just want to hear about how this all affects you? It's OK, that's natural. Nothing to be ashamed of there. In fact, where I was the week of November 21st could possibly affect you. If you're lucky (more on that later). But last week I was on Thanksgiving break like the rest of the country. But I didn't go anywhere. Family came to me this year. What a beautiful weekend to visit Atlanta, huh? So I am sorry for the long absence, but I am sure that you were busy too.

You will notice: Beer first, reading second

But the week before last, I went to Baltimore to visit Heavy Seas Brewing and make some casks. Their resident cask guru, Steven, was there with  a table full of ingredients--many from his personal garden--for us to choose from. More importantly, though, he was there with his expert opinion. Without him, for example, I would have probably killed an IPA with juniper berries. I mean, how many juniper berries would you add to 10.8 gallons of beer? Two? Twenty? I mean, that's a decent amount of beer, and why put anything in the beer if you aren't going to taste it, right? (Turns out the correct answer is five juniper berries.)

Signed, sealed and soon-to-be delivered

So first we made the IPA casks, one for me, one for another bar owner. We were using Loose Cannon that was in the conditioning tank. That beer is great, and I was not interested in hopping it to death. I mean really, can't we just stop trying to act like over-hopped beers are "awesome". It's like nobody want to be the lone dissenter to say, "I don't think there was much artistry in killing this beer with an obscene amount of hops". So I will be that guy. Hey, I can make food so spicy that you will go blind for a few seconds after you eat it, but that doesn't make it good. Same with beer. No one is going to take away your beer-lover credentials if you admit that tongue-curling bitterness that makes it impossible to taste anything else for six hours does not make a beer "great". There, I said it. And if you put too much Simcoe hops in a beer, it tastes like a giant cat just pissed all over your face. I like hoppy beers as much as the next person, but some people out there are making garbage and passing it off--with an incredible price tag!--as liquid gold. So I went the other way with this cask, adding bay leaves, rosemary, cardamom and the juniper berries I mentioned. All were in very small and judicious amount to not completely erase the taste of the Loose Cannon. And then, just in case you thought I had gone soft on you, we dry-hopped it with wet, east coast Cascade and Centennial hops. How did we get wet hops in November? They were frozen. The dry hopping is to compensate for the diminished hop flavor you get in a cask serving as opposed to a standard, gas-driven draft system. I think this beer is going be incredible.

Below Decks in whiskey cask

Cask number two was their Below Decks Barley Wine. I added cocoa nibs, cinnamon chunks, red oak chips and dried persimmons. That cask was dry-hopped with Brewer's Gold, a low-alpha acid hop, also grown on the east coast. The persimmons were from the brewer's own back yard, and the one ingredients he said he hoped we would select. I have very high hopes for this one too. Once these casks are ready, they will be shipped to Atlanta for some special events. Stay tuned. I also brokered a deal with the owner of the brewery to fly this cask guru down here next year for a meet and greet with folks like you. He will make some special casks himself, then come down once they are ready to talk to you about them and, well, drink them of course. You will love this guy. He knows his stuff big time.

Below Deck in wine cask

After the brewery visit, I went to D.C. for a football game. If you watched the Dallas Cowboys win in overtime against the Redskins, I was at that game. It was a friend's gift from his wife, and as his only friend who loves the Cowboys (he is a 'Skins fan), I got to go along. Thanks Stephanie! You rock. The seats were Row 1, 50 yard line, seats 15 and16. Just look at the pictures I took from my seat. Not too shabby. Like I said, she rocks.

Anyway, I am home now and back to my usual tricks. So here are this week's beer events:

50-yard line seats, Row 1

1. Deckard's is tapping a firkin of Rogue Mogul Madness on Wednesday. This will be the first application of what is called a cask "widge". Want to learn about what that is? Better be at Deckard's on Wednesday. This thing may revolutionize how we pour and enjoy cask beer for the rest of our lives. No, I am not kidding. I learned a lot about the "widge" in Baltimore. Plus, that beer is going to be delicious.
2. On Friday, there will be a mass assortment of Heavy Seas beers at The Fred Bar. Draft specialties will include Smoke on The Water and Hop Haarvest, plus some of the usual suspects. The bottled beer line-up will see Greater Pumpkin, Hop Haarvest, Davy Jones Lager, Smoke On The Water, Letter Of Marque, Below Decks 2010 and Siren Noir 2010. There also might be a case of Plank One, but I need to check on that to be sure. I will be there, along with Kevin from Heavy Seas. So if you have any questions for me about my cask-making experience, or for him about the brewery in general, this Friday is your chance to ask any and all of those questions. I think that we are going to have a firkin of something too, so expect a full reminder later this week with all of the beers detailed.

Here is a preview of next week:

1. Cask in Cumming on Tuesday, December 6th. Mark your calendars and stay tuned for details.



I was kind of close to the quarterback....

2. Also on Tuesday, Deckard's is doing a Sierra Nevada blow-out. There will be some rare Beer Camp beers on draft, the new Ovila Quad, plus tons of other stuff they have been saving for just such an occasion. Again, mark your calendars and stay tuned for more details. This one is going to be killer. You should find a designated driver if you are smart. And judging by your choice in internet reading material, you are a genius.

That's all I can think of for now. Have a great week everyone.

PS--If you have never beer to Baltimore, it is a very cool town. I highly recommend that you check it out. Lots of great food and history and places to drink fresh beer. Next year Heavy Seas is opening their own tap house/restaurant in the city. I think it going to be a huge success. Look into it.

That would be the ingredient table for making special casks, me, and "The Man"



Biere de Beloeil looks tasty....

 You may sense a recurring theme here, but I have more new beer events to tell you about. But I am going to make it brief, so here goes:

1. The Coast-To-Coast Toast is tomorrow at The Fred Bar. Here are the three new Belgian drafts that we will have pouring: Schelde Hop Ruiter, Scaldis Noel and Dupont Biere de Beloeil. You can click on any one of those for more details. Doors open at 5:00 pm, and if you are a user of the Untappd social networking site, then you will want to know that these will count towards a unique badge. If you don't know or care about Untappd, then just come out for some outstanding beers. Please be advised that these beers are not cheap. But if you have ever been to The Fred before, you already knew that.
2. On Wednesday you can taste Bell's Two Hearted Ale from a firkin at our Lindbergh Center location. There will be two Bell's employees there: our local gal and close friend of mine, Tina, and national sales manager, Marty. There will be some Bell's Cherry Stout on tap too. If you love IPA and have not had Two Hearted from a cask, then you haven't lived. And if you haven't partied with Tina and a cask of Two Hearted, well, now's your chance.
3. On Friday at the Decatur and Old Milton Parkway locations, you can get a Peak Organic Maple Oat from a cask, and try the New Belgium Pamela's IPA (PIPA). That is a beer that was brewed for this woman who won a contest. Seriously, I just told you all about it last week. But if your memory retention is that bad, try clicking here for the story. If you are a Brewniversity member, this PIPA is a rare credit for sure.
4. But the big news of the day is the posting of the menu for ASHE IV. That would be the "All-Star Holiday Extravaganza" beer dinner being held at The Fred Bar on Tuesday, December 13th. Want to see the menu? Click here. Other than our traditional beginning(s), each of the beers are vintage-dated Belgian or American strong ales, some with a holiday theme. This is one dinner where we pulled out all of the stops. And our traditional beginning(s)? Homemade eggnog spiked with Rogue Hazelnut Spiced Rum, followed by a Samuel Smith's Winter Welcome. Not too shabby. This menu went out to all of our Chancellors on Thursday, and there are only about 20 seats left. If you want to go, you better get moving.  

Don't look for me this weekend. I will be in Baltimore making special casks at Heavy Seas. After that I am heading south to D.C. for a Cowboys @ Redskins game. Have a great week and weekend. I'll be sure to take some pictures at the brewery on Friday. Stay tuned for those next week. Bye.