Red Brick
Red Brick’s Vanilla Gorilla Headed for Tap Handles
Red Brick Brewing does barrel aging quite well. So well in fact, that their 15th Anniversary was a huge hit. A lot of Red Brick’s barrel aged offerings are not easy to come by. The brewery tours see these beers. However, “Vanilla Gorilla” Red Brick’s Porter, aged in bourbon barrels for 6 months. As an added bonus, vanilla beans from The San Francisco Herb Company were used. Vanilla Gorilla is a rare, tasty treat from Red Brick.
Beer Rundown:
Hops: Fuggle, Apollo, Willamette
Malts: Roasted Barley, Flaked oats, chocolate malt, carapils
7.5% ABV
Where? There will be tappings all over the city. First place – Midway Pub for East Atlanta Village Pubcrawl, October 2nd.
Local Tap Takeover @ Cypress Street
This weeks Beer Geek Tuesday is big one at Cypress Street. Wes Anderson has gone out of his way to make a night featuring local beers. Expect representation from every brewery (or future brewery, I mean you Monday Night Brewing) on hand for the event. In case you don’t know everyone I’m talking about – Sweetwater Brewing, Red Brick Brewing, Terrapin Brewing, Wild Heaven Craft Beer, Twains, and Jailhouse Brewing. As if the beer isn’t enough, enjoy conversations with some of the brewers themselves, brewery representatives, distributors, even members of local craft beer stores. Continue on for the tap and guest list!
Tap List:
Sweetwater Crank Tank
Sweetwater Sch’Wheat
Terrapin Reunion
2010 Terrapin Big Hoppy Monste
Redbrick Octoberfest
Redbrick Pale Ale
Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy
Wild Heaven Invocation
Jail House Breakout Stout
Jail House Mugshot IPA
Odempsey’s Big Red
Odempsey’s IPA
Confirmed Special Guests-
Randy O’Dempsey (President, Brewmaster, O’Dempsey’s)
Nick Purdy (President, Sales, Wild Heaven)
Brian O’Connell (Beer Pimp, SweetWater)
Chris Caban (Sales, Redbrick) – Other Redbrick staff
Chad Baker (Sales, Jailhouse)
Glen Golden (Brewmaster, Jailhouse)
Steve Hayes (Sales, Terrapin)
Jordan Fleetwood (Brewmaster, Twains)
Potential Guests:
Matt Wells (Savannah Distributing)
Bobby Marek (United Distributing)
Carla Jan (United Distributing)
Jim Brooks (GA Crown) –
Michael Vandura (General Distributing)
Really Special Awesome Guests
Me! – AtlantaBeerMaster.com (LOL)
The Local Beer Tap Takeover for Beer Geek Tuesday kicks off @ 7pm!
Cypress Street
817 West Peachtree Street
Atlanta, GA 30308
Twitter: @CypressStreet
Oktoberfest Mega Post!
So many hit at once, I thought I would just combine them into a post. Fall seasonals are hitting the stores almost daily. Over the past week a some of the more well known Oktoberfests have arrived. Oktoberfest is also known as Marzen. Beer and refrigeration actually have an intimate history. Brewing of beer, and preserving of beer has greatly improved since refrigeration. Prior to the ability to refrigerate, brewing had to be suspended during the warmer months, because the beer would spoil in the heat. ( Cold inhibits bacterial growth.) More often than not, March was the last feasible month to brew (Marzen=March.) They were stored underground or in some form of cold storage until fall — Sept/October. Also, these versions had a higher alcohol content to keep over time. Fest beers are typically darker, malty, not as hoppy as IPA’s and some pales.
Here’s a rundown of the new releases:
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Red Brick – Octbeerfest. 5.7% ABV. 2010 marks first bottling run of this beer. Here’s my writeup on it. –> Red Brick Octobeerfest |
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Weihenstephaner – Festbier. 5.8% ABV, Bready, and sweet. Malty and light bodied. Very drinkable. Freising, Germany |
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Shiner – Oktoberfest. 2nd time this has been released by Spoetzl Brewing. First time under the label Shiner Oktoberfest. Here’s my earlier article on this beer. Shiner – Octoberfest |
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Ayinger – October Fest-Marzen. 5.8% ABV. Bready, malty German lager. Aying, Germany |
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Brooklyn – Octoberfest. 5.5% ABV. Slightly hoppy, slightly fruit. Coppery and malty. Brooklyn, NY |
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Bell’s Octoberfest – 5.5% ABV. Very clean, and light bodied. Caramel and light malts. Slightly sweet. Kalamazoo, MI |
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Left Hand – Oktoberfest. 6% ABV. Toffee, sweet malt. Hints of coffee and roasted malt. Longmont, CO |
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Leinenkugel’s – Oktoberfest. 5.1% ABV. Caramel & toffee. Hint of lemony hops. Chippewa Falls, WI |
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Sam Adams – Octoberfest. 5.4% ABV. Sweet and malty. Hint of caramel. Tastes like a maltier version of their lager. Boston, MA |
Red Brick “Octobeerfest”
Red Brick has been a little silent in the Atlanta market these days. Without sugar coating it, they have been going through some changes. First, they have been kicking butt in South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi. Secondly there have been some internal changes. Their name “Atlanta Brewing Company” is no more. They are solely known as Red Brick. They have also changed all their bottle artwork. This is just the beginning of new things in store for this Atlanta based brewer.
For the first time in bottle, and very appropriate for the coming season is Red Brick’s “OctoBeerFest.” It is of course, an Oktoberfest/Marzen style beer. Commerical description:
“True Oktoberfest style characterized by a medium body and medium to light color. Sweet maltiness is mild using a little caramel malt which equalizes the clean mild hop. Nice larger style front end with a clean, no bitterness finish, with lots of body in the middle to make your mouth happy. Our Oktobeerfest is brewed using a true German bock yeast.”
Availability: 12 oz bottles/ Draft. Just tapped this weekend at Atlanta area Taco Macs
5.7% ABV
Atlanta Summer Beerfest
Probably should have mentioned this a bit sooner. I’ve tried to get in touch with the organizers of this festival, but they have been playing hard to get. The Atlanta Summer Beerfest is tomorrow – 6/26/10 from 5-10 pm. Local breweries Sweetwater, Red Brick, and Terrapin will featured.
Here is the official info release:
The Atlanta Summer Beer Fest has been designed to be the coolest and most enjoyable beer fest that you will attend this year. We will be pouring 6 oz. tastings sizes, twice as much as most other beer festivals. We want you to enjoy your beer, not just taste it. If you ask nicely, we may even fill your cup. The Festival is from 5pm — 10pm, as the sun goes down and the temperature drops.
We also want you to have a good time, we will have Flip Cup, Beer Pong, and Cornhole for your enjoyment.
We are also bringing back the Dunking Booth. That’s right, here’s your chance to dunk someone who will either be good looking or annoying, maybe even both. All proceeds from the Dunking Booth will go to charity.
We have a great band playing music for you, Stokeswood. Check them out, we promise you’ll like them.
We have a great after party scheduled inside the Masquerade, with several fun bands. The after party is free with your festival admission.
Sponsors Include: Beer Connoisseur Magazine, Tower Beer, Wine, & Spirits, Greens, and Mac’s Beer & Wine.
Where: Masquerade Music Park
For Tickets Go Here to Xorbia Tickets – http://bit.ly/9opLuJ
Official Atlanta Summer Beerfest Site – http://bit.ly/baN7Xt
Red Brick Unveils Beers for ABW!
Red Brick Brewing just recently made their name change official from Atlanta Brewing Company. Just thought you should know if you didn’t already. During Atlanta Beer Week, Red Brick will be debuting some interesting beers on their tours. More info will follow on each of these brews, and what dates to expect them, but in the meantime, here is some info.
Vanilla Gorilla – Barrel aged Oatmeal Stout, 10%. Red Brick aged an Oatmeal stout in bourbon oak, producing a nice vanilla tone to the chocolate malt background.
Barrel Aged Brown – ?? % ABV. RB’s American Brown ale aged in oak. Shares similarities with 15 Anniversary. (While not exact.) Coriander and orange peel was added to the beer during aging.
Grape Ape – Blended Ale, 10% ABV. Red Brick has been sitting on this one for a while. It’s a blend of a Belgian golden ale, mixed with a saison. Rosemary was added to the boil. Then aged in a pinot noir barrel
These beers will be featured on Red Brick’s tours during Atlanta Beer Week 2010. Vanilla Gorilla has been around before, but its a small batch brew that Red Brick produces when it can. There are also some special events cooking up at the brewery next week. Stay tuned for more info!
Atlanta Beer Week Website – www.AtlantaBeerWeek.com
Beer Geek Tuesdays @ Cypress!
Cypress Pint & Plate is located in Midtown Atlanta on West Peachtree Street. Cypress is a great, inviting neighborhood bar nestled downtown with a penchant for great beer. That’s exactly where my story starts.
Tuesdays are Beer Geek Tuesdays at Cypress Pint & Plate. Beer Geek/Manager Wes Andersen designs these beer geeky evenings with a special line up of beers by the glass. Here is tomorrow’s lineup (2/16) –
Stone Russian Imperial Stout 2009 — Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV. First released July 2000. This Imperial uses Warrior hops to boost the strong flavors of chocolate & coffee. Released early summer annually.
Red Brick 15th Anniversary — Barrel Aged Brown, 9% ABV. Brown ale aged 13 months in Pappy Van Winkle Barrels. Fantastic notes of vanilla and oak, with some caramel malt complexities. One time release.
Schneider Aventinus — Weizenbock. (aka wheat dopplebock.) Various vintages will be available. Each release is about 8% ABV. Bottle fermented. Top fermenting yeast used. First created 1907.
Unibroue — Based out of Chambly, Quebec. Beers are bottle refermented with a process similar to champagne. Popular beers include – Blanche De Chambly, La Fin Du Monde, Maudite. Various offerings by Unibroue featured.
De Proef/Bell’s Van Twee — Belgian Dark, 7.5% ABV. Collaboration between De Proef & Bell’s Brewery. Dubbel blended with Stout, featuring sour cherries from MI. Bottle fermented w/ beet sugar.
Schneider/Brooklyn Hopfen-Weiss — Weizenbock, 8.2% ABV. Collaboration between Schneider and Brooklyn Brewing. Wheat, light hop, and light alcohol noticeable.
Terrapin —Side Project # 4 — Dos Cocas — American Porter, 5.8%. ABV. This beer was 4th in the side project series and is now retired. Chocolate (cocoa) overlays into this porter for a nice finish. I’m interested in how it aged. Well over a year old by now.
Beer and conversation start at 7 pm on Tuesday 2/16!
Cypress Street Pint & Plate
817 W. Peachtree Street
Suite E125
(located behind the Biltmore at the corner of 6th and Cypress Street)
