Rare Opportunity

NOW TAPPING: Brooklyn Buzz Bomb

It actually tapped on Wednesday, but you will still find this beer flowing from the tap at Octane Coffee now.  This is a rare keg, one of 3 shipped to the state total.

Buzz Bomb Ale is a draft only offering Continue Reading →

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 Continue Reading →

DEPTH CHARGE SECRET TAPPING (AT LEON’S)

Still addicted to Terrapin/Left Hand’s Midnight Collaboration #2 – Depth Charge?

There is a keg floating around Atlanta.   No. I won’t tell you straight out.  The fun is finding out.

Tap Date: 11:59pm May 20th.

Where:  Top Secret location. (LEON’S in Decatur)

If Continue Reading →

Now Tapping: Brooklyn Dark Matter

Brewmaster Garrett Olliver is a genius when it comes to barrel aging beers.  Ever had a Black Ops?  You won’t forget it if you did.  Extremely good.  Another barrel aged offering by Brooklyn is popping  up on draft in Atlanta Continue Reading →

Posted in Brooklyn Brewing, Now Tapping, Rare Opportunity

NOW TAPPING: Brooklyn Buzz Bomb

It actually tapped on Wednesday, but you will still find this beer flowing from the tap at Octane Coffee now.  This is a rare keg, one of 3 shipped to the state total.

Buzz Bomb Ale is a draft only offering from Brooklyn’s Brewmaster’s Reserve series.  Buzz bomb is a braggot, a very old drink dating back to the 1300’s.  You will even find mention of it in Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales.”  From Brooklyn Brewing’s description of Buzz Bomb –

“In medieval Europe, ale graced the tables of everyone from paupers to kings, but honey wine, called mead, was largely reserved for the rich. In the days before table sugar came from the tropical parts of the world, honey was the only intensely sweet thing that many people had access to. Honey was expensive — after all, a man can only keep so many bees. Meads were also expensive, but people often brought ale and mead together in a popular drink called “braggott”. Sometimes these braggotts were simply blends, but the best of them had the grain and honey extracts fermented together, bringing both sets of flavors into a unified whole. To tell the truth, our brewmaster hadn’t spent much time thinking about braggott until last summer, when he ran into Nathaniel and Thatcher Martin at the New Amsterdam Market in New York City. The Martin brothers were pouring small samples of their mead, called Brooklyn Buzz. It was pretty delicious, and they all got talking about honey. It turned out that the Martins source their raw wildflower honey from the same place that Brooklyn Brewery does — Tremblay Farms in upstate New York.

And now, as summer smiles upon us once more, we bring you the result of last summer’s stroll through the market — Brooklyn Buzz Bomb Ale. We’ve used Alan Tremblay’s wildflower honey in a few of our beers, most notably Brooklyn Local 2. In Brooklyn Buzz Bomb, the honey takes center stage, making up a full 25% of the fermentable sugar. We added the honey to the kettle along with a gentle hopping and a lilt of orange peel. Is the beer sweet? Actually, not at all — honey is quite fermentable and our Belgian ale yeast is very hungry. Brooklyn Buzz Bomb has a bright gold color and a spicy floral aroma showing distinctive honey notes. The palate is light, crisp, and very dry, showing a zing of acidity and a quick burst of fruit. Complex floral, honey and spice flavors linger in the bone-dry finish. Brooklyn Buzz Bomb is a perfect match for summer foods — salads, barbecue, shrimp dishes, hummus, grilled salmon, brunch dishes and fresh goat cheese. It’s also very pleasant all by itself, as you smell the flowers, feel the sun dapple through the trees, listen to the birds sing and wonder what it was you really liked about snow anyway.”

8% ABV

Tapping now at Octane Coffee
1009-b Marietta Street NW
Atlanta, GA
(404) 815-9886

Posted in Atlanta Beer Week, Now Tapping, Rare Opportunity

Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast Taps @MidwayPub 5pm!

This beer sold out last night at Cypress Street in 41 minutes!!!  Missed it?  Here is another chance- Today in honor of Atlanta Beer Week Midway Pub is tapping a keg of Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout at 5pm today!

Beer info –

KBS is an Imperial Stout brewed with coffee and vanilla and aged in oak bourbon barrels for a full year.  Chocolate is also added.

Taste? Imagine chocolate, coffee (espresso?), vanilla, bourbon, oak, and wood.  It’s balanced, full, smooth, complex, delicious.

11% ABV

Midway Pub – 5/19, 5pm
552 Flat Shoals Avenue Southeast
Atlanta, GA 30316
(404) 584-0335

Posted in Atlanta Beer Week, Now Tapping, Rare Opportunity

Quinte55ence & Keg from the Cellar @ 5 North!

Another interesting Atlanta Beer Week entry… This just in –

The newest beer for 5 Seasons North was just released.   It’s called “The Question.”  It’s Quinte55sence aged in a Kunde Estate Cabernet barrel for over 7 months.  In a zen like twist – “The Answer” which is an earlier beer release by the brewpub, (which is the Quinte55ence aged in a whiskey barrel) came before the question!  Crawford Moran – brewer of this enigmatic beer classifies this as a “quintuple” – keeping with the #5 tradition that surrounds 5 seasons brewpubs.  It’s not a dubbel, or a tripel. It’s a quint!  5 hops, 5 malts, 55 IBU’s… you get the point.

Also – as secret keg was just tapped at 5 North from the cellar.  It will REMAIN a secret until you get there… I will only say this… It’s got a lot of age on it.  Truly a cellared beer.

Both are rare brews here for Atlanta Beer Week 2010!

5 Seasons North, Tapping NOW!
3655 Old Milton Parkway
Alpharetta, GA

Image: Grover Sterling

Posted in Atlanta Beer Week, Rare Opportunity, Red Brick

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

Posted in Left Hand Brewing, Rare Opportunity, Terrapin Beer Company

DEPTH CHARGE SECRET TAPPING (AT LEON’S)

Still addicted to Terrapin/Left Hand’s Midnight Collaboration #2 – Depth Charge?

There is a keg floating around Atlanta.   No. I won’t tell you straight out.  The fun is finding out.

Tap Date: 11:59pm May 20th.

Where:  Top Secret location. (LEON’S in Decatur)

If you see Jason Ingram, the southeastern Left Hand rep around town – he knows.  Interrogate him.  Otherwise, start asking around.

Also, when you do find this tap spot – you can meet Left Hand Brewing Founder Eric Wallace.  Big bonus as the last keg drains dry…

Leon’s Full Service
131 East Ponce De Leon Avenue
Decatur, GA 30030-2513
(404) 687-0500

Posted in Casks, Rare Opportunity

Final Cask of Knobzilla Vanilla Tomorrow…

Cypress Street’s People’s choice winning cask  at Sweetwater’s Brew Your Cask Off event has quickly become a hit.  It was a standout at Sweetwater, and was drained dry at 420 Fest.  I’m pleased to be able to mention you have one final chance to enjoy this beer – tomorrow night 5/4 at Cypress Street.  Knobzilla Vanilla is the featured cask at Cypress’s Beer Geek Tuesday event.

In short, Knobzilla Vanilla is an Oatmeal stout, brewed with Knob Creek and vanilla beans.  Yeah, it gets my mouth watering too.  It’s every bit as tasty as it sounds and you have one last chance to get it.

This cask taps at 6pm, Tuesday 5/4.

Cypress Pint & Plate

817 West Peachtree Street Northwest
Atlanta, GA 30308
(404) 815-9243

Posted in Brooklyn Brewing, Now Tapping, Rare Opportunity

Now Tapping: Brooklyn Dark Matter

Brewmaster Garrett Olliver is a genius when it comes to barrel aging beers.  Ever had a Black Ops?  You won’t forget it if you did.  Extremely good.  Another barrel aged offering by Brooklyn is popping  up on draft in Atlanta – Dark Matter.  Dark Matter is the follows Cookie Jar Porter as a part of the Brewmaster’s Reserve Series.

Dark Matter is a barrel aged American Brown Ale.  It is prudent to mention Black Ops, because Dark Matter and Black Ops have some relation.  As Garrett Oliver describes –

“In the beginning, there was Black Ops. Or perhaps not. Beer does have its mysteries. Anyhow, they say that back in 2007, a small amount of Dark Matter was created alongside Black Ops, but very few people had an opportunity to taste it. The Brooklyn Brewing Team decided that this shortage was unfortunate — plenty of Dark Matter for themselves, but not enough to share with all their friends. So last autumn they decided to recreate Dark Matter and open up the Brooklyn Barrel Room to a wider world. Brooklyn Dark Matter is a robust brown ale aged for four months in bourbon and rye whiskey barrels. Some barrels previously held Black Ops, some hosted The Manhattan Project, others came straight from the distilleries as soon as the whiskey was decanted. We’ve blended these barrels to create a beer full of caramel and chocolate flavors heightened by vanilla-like oak notes and hints of the barrels’ previous tenants. The result is a smooth, rich beer that really loves food, from fried or roasted chicken to char-grilled steak, barbecue, pork chops and even monkfish. And on some chilly evening in late winter, or perhaps the first warm night of spring, we hope that you may be tempted to believe that Dark Matter really does bind the universe together.”

Tasting – Dark Matter presents with flavors of bourbon & vanilla.  Also oak, toffee and burnt sugars.  Look for some chocolate tones too.  These are just guidelines.  Gives you flavors to look for.  Let your taste buds lose and find discover your beer.

Availability – Rare draft offerings.  Dark Matter is very limited.

Currently tapping – Taco Mac Metropolis.  The Fred has a keg also, tapping date to follow.  More kegs shipped to Atlanta area. Sightings to follow.

7.5% ABV