Now Tapping

Another Duvel Green Opportunity!

Duvel Green has made some rare and limited appearances on tap in Atlanta.  If you have missed them before, here is another opportunity.  Duvel Green will be tapping at The Porter Beer Bar on February 23rd @ 6pm.

Duvel was created Continue Reading →

Smuttynose Extravaganza & Cask Tonight!

On Friday, Feb 12th, Taco Mac Metropolis will be tapping a cask of Smuttynose Old Brown Dog.  But it doesn’t stop there!!  6 unique kegs with accompany the cask, including 2 rare oak aged versions of Smuttynose’s small batch big Continue Reading →

Posted in Now Tapping, Rare Opportunity

Another Duvel Green Opportunity!

Duvel Green has made some rare and limited appearances on tap in Atlanta.  If you have missed them before, here is another opportunity.  Duvel Green will be tapping at The Porter Beer Bar on February 23rd @ 6pm.

Duvel was created by Albert Moortgat to commemorate the end of World War I, and was originally called “Victory Ale.” However, over time the name permutated into Duvel (spawning from a phrase ”nen echten duvel” referring to the high alcohol content of the beer.)

Duvel in a bottle as you have come to know — is brewed over the course of 90 days and undergoes 2 technical fermentations (You will also see it referred to as 3 fermentations — Top fermenting, Lagering, Bottle fermenting). After 30 days, the first fermentation is complete and is then tested. At this point, Duvel is light and less alcoholic than the final bottle product. (Est 6.5% ABV.)

When the results of the first fermentation are approved, it is added to the bottle with extra yeast and sugar, and fermented for an additional 60 days in warm and cold temperatures. The final result — Duvel — in a bottle, 8.5% ABV.

So what is Duvel Green?

Essentially, Duvel Green is the product of the 1st fermentation. It is what the brewers taste prior to secondary fermentation. Duvel Green has been bottled before, but is very small quantities sold only at the brewery in Belgium.

Why is it called Duvel Green?

“Green” doesn’t have any environmental connotation. Green in this case refers to its younger state. Duvel Green is a lighter tasting, single fermented version than its bottle predecessor. Hence the name – Duvel “Green.”

These kegs of Duvel Green have been very few and far between.  I can count about 5 or less that I have seen since last June.  So, grab a taste of  a rare beer at The Porter.

The Porter Beer Bar, February 23rd — 6:30pm

1156 Euclid Avenue

Atlanta, GA 30307

404.223.0393

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Casks, Now Tapping, Rare Opportunity, Smuttynose Brewing

Smuttynose Extravaganza & Cask Tonight!

On Friday, Feb 12th, Taco Mac Metropolis will be tapping a cask of Smuttynose Old Brown Dog.  But it doesn’t stop there!!  6 unique kegs with accompany the cask, including 2 rare oak aged versions of Smuttynose’s small batch big beer series.  Here’s your starting lineup —

Old Brown Dog CASK — Brown Ale, 6.7% ABV.  Dry Hopped with Willamette. Hoppy brown ale brewed with Willamette & Cascade. Full bodied, hoppy, with a nice malt backbone.

Baltic Porter — Baltic Porter, 8.7% ABV .  Creamy porter with hints of raisins, coffee, and chocolate.  Nice malty presence.  Usually released in 22oz bombers.

Imperial Stout — Imperial Stout, 10% ABV.  This stout has some noticeable hops, and coffee in the finish.   Carmel malts, and noticeable alcohol, but well balanced.

The Terminator G-Bock — Doppelbock, ?? %ABV.  Oak aged version of the offering.  Part of Smutty’s short batch series.  Full of caramel malts, bready malts.  Sweet in aroma, and some sweet in taste.  Lightly hopped. Drinkable.

Wheat Wine — Wheat Wine, 10.7% ABV.  Alcohol tones present in the barleywine reminiscent ale.  Citrus, fruity.  Some sweet and of course wheat.

Oak Aged Big A IPA — Imperial IPA, 9.6% ABV. Oak aged edition of this small batch big beer series.  Balanced IPA with grapefruit aromas and flavors.  Floral with some caramel malts.

Short Weiss — Berliner Weissbier, 3% ABV.  Strawberry aroma and flavor.  Fairly strong carbonation,  with some tart and some malts.  Also some citrus.  Somewhat sour — intentionally.

Cask taps promptly at 6pm, February 12th!

Taco Mac Metropolis

933 Peachtree St NE Atlanta, GA 30309

(678) 904-7211

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in New Belgium, New Releases, Now Tapping

New Belgium’s Newest – Ranger IPA

The makers of beers such as the beloved Fat Tire and La Folie comes a year round IPA – Ranger IPA.

Ranger IPA marks the first year round IPA offering to hit bottles by New Beligium, and the most recent IPA addition to Atlanta.  The term “Ranger” refers to the folks from New Belgium out in the field.  They ensure New Belgium’s beers are flowing in their markets in 26 states.  After begging and pleading for a hoppy beer – they got their way.

Ranger is a nice and hoppy, yet very drinkable.   Lots of citrus and floral hop flavors in this IPA.  Here is your profile rundown –

Hops – Cascade, Chinook, and Simcoe.  Dry hopped w/ Simcoe.

Malts – Pale, and Caramel

70 IBU’s (International Bittering Units. The higher the #, the more bitter)

6.5% ABV

Available year round.  12 oz. 6 pks/ Draft.

Currently in stock at Hop City, 8.99.  Now tapping at most Taco Mac’s and soon Brickstore Pub.

Other sightings to follow.

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Casks, Now Tapping, Victory Brewing Company

CASK ALERT! – Victory Brewing’s Hop Devil

Now tapping at Taco Mac Prado’s “The Fred” is Victory Hop Devil.   Hop Devil is an American IPA brewed year round by Victory.

Hop Devil is brewed with whole flower American hops.  (Whole hops are the whole flower dried and uncompressed.  They also typically provide more hop aroma than hops in pelete form.  They also bitter beer less than other forms.)  Imported German 2 Row Malt is also used in Hop Devil.

As always, casks are unfiltered and unpasteurized.

6.7% ABV.

NOTE:  You must be a member with at least 13 beers (probably more now, not 100% sure) on your list in order to gain entry to “The Fred.”

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

Bell’s Brewing Tap Lineup for Larry Bell Visit!

For those of you headed to the Larry Bell meet and greet tonight at tonight at Taco Mac Metropolis, there is a full lineup of Bell’s beers tapping.

Here is the full lineup, get your glasses ready..

Amber — Amber Ale, 5.8% ABV.  Flagship Bell’s offering. Mostly Pale Malts, with some Munich & Caramel Malts.   Malty sweet flavor w/ nice American hop balance.

Porter — 5.6% ABV.  Dark malts with roasted tones.  Subtle chocolate & coffee tones.  Gold medal winner in Brewers Association World Cup 2008

Two Hearted Ale — IPA, 7% ABV.  Centennial hops. Pale & Caramel Malts.  More HERE.

3rd Coast — American Blonde, 4.8% ABV.  Brewed with Pale Malts, and a strong addition of American Hops.  Crisp, bitter, refreshing.   Year round offering.

Java Stout — Imperial Stout, 7.5% ABV.  Personal Favorite!  Sumatra coffee beans, blended with chocolate and roasted malts.  Full flavored, beautifully balanced.  Very short seasonal offering.

Double Cream Ale — Milk Stout, 6.1% ABV.  Sweet stout with roasted malts. Creamy, with subtle chocolate and coffee flavors.  Much more subtle than Java stout on the coffee side.

Winter White Ale — Witbier, 5% ABV.  American Wheat Ale, brewed with proprietary blends of Hefe and Belgian Yeasts.  Very light, wheaty, and fresh.

Best Brown Ale — Brown Ale, 5.8% ABV.  Strong malty character.  Toasted sweet malts. Hoppy  undertones.  Sweet finish.  Sold Oct — March.

Christmas Ale — Scottish Ale, 5.4% ABV.  Caramel and toffee flavors.  Bold without being overbearing, Christmas ale has sweet and malty notes with very little bitter in the finish.  Rare offering.  Grab this one.

Cherry Stout — Fruit beer/ Flavored Stout. 7% ABV.  Fantastic sour cherry flavor from Michigan.  Has a chocolate covered cherry flavor.  Subtle coffee.  Van Twee takes some inspiration from Cherry Stout.

Expedition Stout — Russian Imperial Stout, 10.5% ABV.  Strong on toasted malts. Chocolate aromas, bitter chocolate flavors on the palette.  Perhaps even some sweet molasses too.

CASK!! Cherry Stout — I had the opportunity to try this yesterday at Brickstore Pub.  Great cask offering, with subtle sour cherry flavors with a coffee/chocolate finish.  Well balanced and flavorful.

Van Twee- This draft offering is especially rare opportunity.  Bell’s brewery John Mallett collaborated with De Proef in Belgium  It’s a dubbel, porter blend with sour cherries, and beet sugar to bottle condition.  More on Van Twee HERE! 2 taps for Van Twee tonight.

There are delays with Hopslam, while it’s not completely ruled out, it’s not looking good.

It all kicks off at 6 pm!  See you there!

Taco Mac — Metropolis

933 Peachtree St NE
Atlanta, GA 30309

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Allagash Brewing, Bell's Brewing, Casks, Heavy Seas, Now Tapping, Shmaltz Brewing

The Porter Beer Bar Hosts – Firkin Madness!

The Porter Beer Bar, nestled in Little 5 Points kicks off “Firkin Madness Week” starting tonight!  Owner Molly Gunn has set up a great lineup of firkins, each tapping at 6 pm, and flowing until gone.

Here’s the lineup —

Tuesday – (Note — Porter closes at 11 pm today)

Bells Two Hearted Ale — IPA, 7% ABV.  Lots of Centennial Hop flavors.  Pale & Caramel Malts.

Wednesday

Allagash Black — Belgian Stout, 7.5% ABV.  German 2 Row Barley, Torrified Wheat, Oats.  Belgian Dark Candy sugar. Hints of chocolate and coffee.

Thursday

Schmaltz Lenny’s RIPA – Double IPA, 10% ABV.  Boasts Warrior, Cascade, Simcoe, Crystal, Chinook, Amarillo, Centennial.  Dry hopped w/ Simcoe, Amarillo, Crystal.  Lots of malts too.

Friday

Heavy Seas Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale —IPA, 7.2% ABV.  3lbs hops per barrel, hopped 3 times.  Great on cask!

Aventinus Eisbock –  Eisbock, 12% ABV.  Highly rated bock.  Slightly boozy, with malts and caramelized sugars.  Dark fruit flavors.

Saturday

T’Smidje Reserve — Details forthcoming…

Again, it all kicks off Today (1/19/10) at 6 pm. New cask every night through Saturday.

The Porter Beer Bar
1156 Euclid Ave NE,
Atlanta, GA 30307
www.theporterbeerbar.com

by Reid Ramsay
Posted in Now Tapping, Rare Opportunity

Now Tapping – 5 Seasons West’s – The Full Nelson

This is more than a “Now Tapping” post.  I put this beer on the “You need to be drinking this” list.

Westside brewer Crawford Moran was lucky enough to get a hold of a special and rare hop from New Zealand – the Nelson Sauvin.  The  Nelson Sauvin hop hails from New Zealand and has an amazing character.  It smells like sauvignon blanc – thus the name “Sauvin.”  It has berry, citrus, and grapefruit flavors.Only about 3 breweries in the US got a hold of this hop.  5 Seasons West got a hold of the last 11 lbs available.

To quote Crawford Moran about “Full Nelson” –

There have only been 2 times in my life when I was really blown away with a completely unique hop aroma. (And I love hops.) The first time was when I first homebrewed a pale ale and opened a bag of fresh Cascade. It blew me away. I had never really smelled anything like it. The next time was when I opened the bag of these Nelson Sauvin hops. They are just so different from any other hop that I have smelled.

On Draft now, and worth the trip over.  Crawford ended up calling it an ale, to prevent a long style debate.   Honestly, it has the most in common with an IPA.  Fantastic aroma, and beautiful palette.  Keeps you wanting more.   Not sure about the ABV, but I would suspect at least 6%.

If you are a hop lover – DO NOT MISS THIS!

5 Seasons Westside

1000 Marietta St NW
Atlanta, GA 30318-0524
(404) 875-3232

by Reid Ramsay