Casks

CASK ALERT! Heavy Seas Loose Cannon IPA

First and foremost, this will annoy the Inside The Perimeter snobs, because this cask is outside your realm.   Taco Mac Crabapple will be tapping their first cask tomorrow – Wednesday 1/13/10.   It will be Heavy Seas Loose Cannon.

Loose Continue Reading →

Sweetwater’s Brew Your Cask Off!!!

Beer people! Big News!!! Sweetwater’s HUGE cask event is coming soon!!!  Read the release from Sweetwater here –

ATLANTA (December 17th, 2009) — SweetWater Brewing Company is putting a personal touch on cask ale festivals by inviting some lucky ducks to come Continue Reading →

Posted in Bell's Brewing, Casks, Rare Opportunity

Brickstore Pub hosts Bell’s Founder Larry Bell & Cask TONIGHT!

As I previously mentioned,  Taco Mac Metropolis will have  an event with Larry Bell of Bell’s Brewing. (Read HERE.)

Brickstore Pub will also be hosting an event with Larry Bell on Monday 1/18/10.   Larry Bell is the founder of Bell’s Brewing, and far and away one of the greats in American craft beer.

Larry will arrive at Brickstore around 4 pm, and will hang around meeting and greeting until ??

Tapping that evening will be Bells/De Proef Collaboration – “Van Twee”.  This collaboration is a mixture of Dubbel and Porter styles infused with sour cherry juice from Michigan.  It is also fermented with several yeast strains. Read the full story of “Van Twee”  HERE.

Bell’s Hopslam, unfortunately will NOT be making an appearance this evening.

On Cask, will be Bell’s Expedition Stout.  Expedition Stout is an Imperial Stout with hints of chocolate and coffee.

Again, all this kicks off at 4 pm – 1/18/10

Brickstore Pub

125 E Court Sq

Decatur, GA 30030-2521
(404) 687-0990

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Bell's Brewing, Casks, Meet the Brewer, Rare Opportunity

CASK ALERT & MEET THE BREWER! Larry Bell of Bell’s Brewing!

If there were a Mount Rushmore for beer, Larry Bell — founder of Bell’s Brewery would be on it.   This is a guy who started with a home brew shop in 1983, selling his first beer in 1985.  Bell’s has done nothing but grow since then.   I place him in such high esteem because Larry runs one of the oldest craft breweries in America.   Larry Bell’s passion for craft brewing not only changed the face of beer in the US, but also inspired many to follow in his footsteps.

On Tuesday, 1/19/10 you have the chance to meet Larry Bell.  I mention time and time again what a great opportunity it is to meet a brewer and understand beer from their prospective.  Larry will also be tapping an EXTREMELY rare cask of “Van Twee” — the recent collaboration between Bell’s Brewery and De Proef Brewery in Belgium.  Learn about Van Twee HERE.

Alongside the cask of Van Twee, you can finally get a taste of Hopslam, Bell’s very limited, seasonal Double IPA.

If that’s not enough, there will also be 14 other Bell’s beers to try.   Yes, I typed that right.  14 more. Honestly, I doubt you can find a reason NOT to come meet Larry Bell, try a rare cask, and enjoy a great beer filled evening.  See you there!

Taco Mac Metropolis, 6pm (01/19/10)
933 Peachtree Street N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 631-6526
@tmacmetropolis (on twitter)

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Beer Backstory, Bell's Brewing, Casks

Beer Spotlight – De Proef/Bell’s Collaboration – “Van Twee”

In 1996, highly regarded brewing professor and engineer Dirk Naudts created De Proef Brouwerij near Gent, Belgium.  Dirk Naudts is considered one of the leading brew masters in Belgium.  De Proef (or “The Prof — Dirk’s nickname)  is a highly scientific brewery that melds traditional brewing methods with modern equipment technologies.  Versatility is a keyword when describing De Proef as each beer is made in a 9 Barrel brewhouse, which allows each beer to be specially crafted and unique.

Dirk’s brewing reputation spawned the collaboration project between De Proef and American brewers.  Bell’s Brewing was the most recent participant in the collaboration.  John Mallet of Bell’s visit De Proef, and together they brewed Van Twee or “From Two” in Flemish.   Van Twee was first a dark brew, resembling a Porter, but also had traits of a Belgian Dubbel.

The finishing touch to Van Twee came from Bell’s home state of Michigan.  Cherry juice squeezed from sour Michigan cherries were added to give Twee a dark, fruity character.   Finally, sugar from Michigan sugar beets were used for bottle conditioning.  (Sugar in bottle conditioning aids in bottle carbonation, but doesn’t contribute much to ABV over time.)

Other interesting notes about Van Twee —

Brettanomyces was used in primary fermentation.   It adds to the Belgian flair.  Van Twee is the 3rd in the SBS imports collaboration series.    Twee will shelf well.  Good one for now, and probably better later.

7.5% ABV

750 ml — Corked & Caged Bottles

Average Price  14.00 — Hop City, Tower, Greens

More on SBS Imports — www.sbs-imports.com

UPDATE! A rare cask of Van Twee will be tapping at Taco Mac Metropolis @ 6 pm 1/19/10  with Brewer/Founder Larry Bell.

UPDATE 2/15/10 – Van Twee will be available  at Cypress Street Pint & Plate 2/16, 7pm

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Casks, Heavy Seas

CASK ALERT! Heavy Seas Loose Cannon IPA

First and foremost, this will annoy the Inside The Perimeter snobs, because this cask is outside your realm.   Taco Mac Crabapple will be tapping their first cask tomorrow – Wednesday 1/13/10.   It will be Heavy Seas Loose Cannon.

Loose Cannon contains more than 3 lbs of hops per barrel and is hopped 3 times.  (Thus the hop cubed in the title.)  First hopping is kettle, second the hop back, and finally – dry hopped.   I have had this cask before, and I can attest it is FANTASTIC on cask.   7.2% ABV

Details –

Taco Mac – Crabapple

685 Crossville Road

Roswell, Ga 30075

@tmaccrabapple (Twitter)

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Casks, Rare Opportunity, Weyerbacher

CASK ALERT! Weyerbacher Double Simcoe AND Winter Ale

By now it would be redundant to tell you what a great opportunity it is to drink cask beer.   It would be equally as redundant by now to tell you what a great opportunity it is to meet someone associated with the brewery.  Well get ready.  On Wednesday at Taco Mac Metropolis not only do you get the brewer, but you get 2 casks to boot.

Weyerbacher was founded in 1995 by Dan and Sue Weirback.  Weyerbacher — the company name is actually the original spelling of Weirback used by immigrants from Germany into the United States 200+ years ago.  Despite the spelling permutations, Dan and Sue thought it sounded the best for the brewery.

Prior to brewing, Dan Weirback had a love of beer, and homebrewing.  His wife Sue made the suggestion to start his own brewery while touring Long Trail Brewery in Vermont, and he took the suggestion seriously.    Dan’s initial beers were very standard offerings, especially when looking at brewery’s beer lineup now.

Weyerbacher makes big beers, in both flavor and ABV.   They also are pioneers of bourbon barrel aging beers.   They have 4 “big beer” offerings in 4 styles that have bourbon aged relatives.  Barleywine, Imperial Stout, Trippel, and Quadrupel.  The bourbon aging changes Blithering Idiot (BW) into Insanity, Quad into Blasphemy, Merry Monks (Trippel) into Prophecy, and Old Heathen (Imp Stout) into Heresy.   I’m sure you might have seen or heard of these beers before, but now you know the significance!

The Casks – Double Simcoe IPA & Winter Ale

Double Simcoe is an Imperial IPA that uses only the hybrid hop Simcoe.   Simcoe is a very aromatic hop, that doesn’t have a harsh finish.   Double Simcoe has a nice citrus flavor on the palette.  Expect more of that flavor in the cask version.  This IPA is 9% ABV

Winter Ale is a malty seasonal offering.  1998 Silver Medal winner in the World Beer Championships, the ale has a complex palette.  Winter Ale is brewed with roasted chocolate malts, with a hint of alcohol in the finish.  This cask offering should bring out more of the malty flavors.  Winter Ale is 5.6% ABV.

To top this all off, Bob Fauteux from Weyerbacher will be there to talk about the brewery, the beers, or whatever else you can come up with.   Bob is the Sales Manager at Weyerbacher.

Update 1/6/10 – Old Heathen will also be tapping from the draft wall.

Taco Mac Metropolis, 6pm (01/06/10)
933 Peachtree Street N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30309
(404) 631-6526
@tmacmetropolis (on twitter)

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Casks, Terrapin Beer Company

CASK ALERT! Terrapin Side Project #9 – Dark Side

As far as I know, you are the first know Terrapin Dark Side Bottleabout this.   This Tuesday at Taco Mac’s “The Fred”  the first ( and I think only) cask of Terrapin’s New Side Project “Dark Side” will be tapping.

UPDATE! – This cask will feature Dark Side aged on Cherry Oak.

More about “Dark Side”?  Click Here

NOTE  – AS OF 12/18/09 – You must have at least 13 credits on your Taco Mac Passport list to gain entry to “The Fred.”

Taco Mac – Prado – “The Fred”

12/22/09

6 pm!

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Casks, Rare Opportunity, SweetWater Brewing

Sweetwater’s Brew Your Cask Off!!!

SW Cask OffBeer people! Big News!!! Sweetwater’s HUGE cask event is coming soon!!!  Read the release from Sweetwater here –

ATLANTA (December 17th, 2009) — SweetWater Brewing Company is putting a personal touch on cask ale festivals by inviting some lucky ducks to come down to the brewery and create their own version of a cask ale.  The “Brew Your Cask Off” Cask Ale Festival on March 20th, 2010 will feature 70+ cask entries all made on site at SweetWater Brewery by the fortunate folks who are invited or won the chance to brew their own recipe.

“We are creating a couple of base beers for them to start with and then letting their wild creative side take over from there!” said Mark Medlin, SweetWater’s Brewmaster.  He will be overseeing all of the casks to make sure the final products are as tasty as the inspired recipes these amateur brewers had intended them to be.  “Of course, we’ll have a few casks of our own for the festival as well.”

Those invited will be given a Cask recipe form and work directly with Hop City, a local package store and home brew shop, to pull together their master list of ingredients to go in their casks.  They will have access to a diverse amount of yeast strains, spices, fruits, dozens of varieties of hops, and a plethora of offbeat adjuncts and additions.  The only limits for this will be their creativity!  All entries will be professionally judged prior to the tasting with awards for the Best Brews being given out during the Festival.  Folks attending will also have their voices and votes heard as well with the People’s Choice award for the top cask.

The diverse list of guest brewers will include retailers of SweetWater brews, National and local beer media, home brewing societies, a few nonprofit organizations, and a some celebrities who will be stepping up to the plate to show off their skills.  The non-profits will have the ability to not only have a cask entered into the festival, but also to raise some money for their organizations by auctioning off that privilege as well.  Once on board, the guest brewers will work with Hop City package and home brew supply store to acquire all the necessary ingredients to create their masterpiece.

Kraig Torres, owner of Hop City says “We are so excited to be a part of Sweetwater’s upcoming ‘Brew Your Cask-Off’ Pro-Am. We are huge fans of the beer and highly passionate home-brewers; frankly we aren’t surprised Sweetwater has found a way to tap into both of these outlets! Our entire team – including our experts in beer, wine and home brewing – have contributed ideas for ingredients that will make each entrant’s beer truly unique. Considering we stock more than 1,500 beers here at Hop City, we had plenty of resources for inspiration. We know it’s going to be one heck of a con As always, Sweetwater has found a novel way to grab the attention of the beer world here in Atlanta and beyond.”

For more information on SweetWater’s “Brew Your Cask Off” Cask Ale Festival, to see the full list of guest brewers, and to order your tickets for this one-of-a-kind event visit www.brewyourcaskoff.com

by Reid Ramsay