Friday, September 30, 2011

TGIF! Party with me at Der Biergarten!!!!



Oktoberfest Tweet Up, my website’s anniversary, beer, free stuff and you!

So I am coming in from Vancouver after test driving the banging new Range Rover Evoque (which is going to seriously change the auto game in 2012), but I had to make sure my flight was booked super early so that I can make it back for bash my homegirl Wendy (Twitter.com/ATL_Events) and I are throwing with the good people at Der Biergarten tonight, Friday, right after work! From 6 pm to 8, we are gettin' down and putting glass boots filled with beer up on 300 Marietta St. next to STATS!

That’s right, in the spirit of Oktoberfest, Twitter, and simply celebrating Friday, it’s on! Oh yeah, I forgot something: it’s www.AleSharpton.com’s birthday and I am giving every single one of you cyber dap (pound, fist bump, whatever…) for supporting me from the very beginning. It has been an awesome road and I am ready to celebrate with y’all hardcore! I will be doing a “Best Of” for my site next week, but for now, let’s blow out the candles and rave to an oompah band, stuff your face with some free grub, get a free t-shirt and try your luck at winning a VIP ticket to the off-the-chain beer festival going on the next day, HOToberfest!

Entry is free, the party is early and work is over, so why the hell wouldn’t you come??? Plus they have new brew on the taps they want us to try?! Shooooooooooot!

Let’s do it! See you there! Wish your main man a safe flight, that it gets in on time and overall a happy birthday to one year of AleSharpton.com!

Prost!

Ale
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Thursday, September 29, 2011

HOToberfest is almost here!


Everything you need to know about this Saturday plus a sit-down with co-founder Alan "A-Plus" Raines

Okay, you have seen a few postings regarding the upcoming Atlanta beer fest of awesomeness, HOToberfest! The beer list is sick (more than 260 to sample), the vibe is chill, East Atlanta’s Glenwood Park neighborhood is huge, consumers judge what the best beers are, and the fact that HOToberfest’s the first beer festival to kick off the best month of the year, its 4th year is going to be killer! They even have an app on deck and some secret goodies up their sleeves, so you know I’m in the house.
Oh yeah, speaking of “they,” the founders of HOToberfest—Alan, Denise and Tryon—are pretty damn cool, too. In fact, I recently shared a bottle of 2008 SweetWater Festive Ale with Alan, and asked him some questions about how gangster October 1st is going to be. Ladies and gents, the homey (and complete beer nut!), Alan aka A-Plus.

Ale: First of all, this brew is delicious. Good lookin’ out on the vintage SweetWater sipper. Now, talk about the history of the HOToberfest. What made you start one and how have you progressed over the years?
Alan: After starting and running another beer fest in Atlanta, we wanted to step back and create a festival that was really geared to the growing Atlanta craft beer community; it was the beer “they” want to see at a festival. Our beer selection is not snobbish but it is does cover a very rare, broad range from typical beer fests.

What made settle on having it at the Glenwood location?
Glenwood Park is an entire neighborhood that is an EarthCraft certified property. This is the perfect setting for a sustainability based festival and is conveniently near the center of metro Atlanta. We have a built-in stage, green space, a kids area and plenty of room to casually taste 260+ great beers. Nearly four acres in all!

Yeah, a lot of people love the area especially for the kids. Most festivals are packed, sardine-style. Yours definitely delivers breathing room! What are some cool moments you remember over the last four years?
Ha! There are a few. During year 1, just seeing it all come together in 92 days and people LOVING every aspect of the event! Year 2, the hurricane weather stopped and we ended up having perfect weather, 1,000 more people and we wrote a decent couple of checks to our non-profit recipients. Year 3 started to see the real evolution of the beers, featuring 5 casks made exclusively for HOToberFest. No one else in the country had these brews!

And they were good as hell, too! Okay, stay focused. What difficulties did you have to hurdle to get where you are today?
Trying to juggle family, my real job and the festival process. This is an 8-month process, believe it or not.

I know it! I have witnessed the grind with my own eyes. If you could change a law regarding beer festivals, what would you guys pick?
Well, the city has been known to NOT make the festival biz an easy one at times, so we have jumped through a lot of hoops. I would ask for a one-day sampling allowance so we could bring in any beers that we like from around the world, not currently registered in GA.

I second the motion. What makes your festival different from all of the others?
Namely, our consumer-judged competition component is about the beer and truly unique. All of the attendees can use our smartphone ballot app to taste, rank and vote for their top three brews of the day and then keep up with their faves afterwards.  This truly helps them learn about the beers and then puts that new knowledge to work after the festival.

Okay, keep it flowing. Anything else you want to school my peeps about HOToberfest?
In addition, HOToberFest is more than a beer festival. We are actually a sustainability festival, promoting conscious living and informed choices. We donate 100 percent of our proceeds to a couple of hard working NPOs, TREES Atlanta and Legacy World Missions. Wow, big stuff huh?  (Laughing). With two major components, we have something for everyone!

Do I really need to say any more about HOToberfest? See you there, homies!
-        Ale!
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Monday, September 26, 2011

Kick it at the Athens Craft Beer Festival NEXT weekend!

Simply put, October is the shizzzznit!

When? October 8th and 9th

There is always something awesome about October. Is it the cool, crisp yet sunny weather? The color change of the foliage? The gangster brew festivals? Or is it because of my birthday on the 8th? Whatever it is, celebrate the month in style with a gang of events that are themed around the suds. It is a beautiful thing I tell ya!

The following is the official press release of the upcoming Athens Craft Beer Festival about a 30-minute drive from Atlanta (depending on who is behind the wheel of course). My boy Eric Johnson—the recipe man behind the awesome brew company Wild Heaven Craft Beers and owner of the famous Trappeze Pub in Athens—has something major to do with this and he knows his beer so it has to be the shizzznit. Oh, and it’s a two-day event that starts on the best day of the year! (Christmas and Thanksgiving are a close second and third.) Anyway, try and make this. It sounds pretty kickass, being held at Hotel Indigo and all, so cop your tickets.

From the homey E-Rock:
“Trappeze is teaming up with Hotel Indigo to put on the ultimate Oktoberfest party! Make plans now to join us for Oktoberfest in Athens. The event will be held at Hotel Indigo and we will be rolling in over 100 of the finest seasonal craft beers available! What better way to try the newest and most exciting beers? There will be no macro beers at this festival - only the craft beers that we feel are representative of the finest beers available anywhere! Tickets are on sale today and space is very limited so reserve your spot today. General admission is $45 and VIP admission is $65. VIP admission allows you access to the Brewmasters forum Saturday evening, access to the VIP tent with rare beers and cask ales as well as admission to the main festival one hour early.
To purchase tickets go to www.athensbeerfestival.com.

The official breakdown on the Festival:
The Athens Craft Beer Festival was born as a collaboration between Trappeze Pub, Athens' premier craft beer venue, and Hotel Indigo-Athens, a modern hotel facility dedicated to environmentally conscious practices and community involvement. The Athens Craft Beer Festival is our way of supporting and promoting our favorite local, independent brewers and celebrating the unique beer scene of Athens, Georgia. Prosit, na zdraví, l'chaim and cheers!”

Here's the list of participating breweries:
Terrapin Beer Co
Sweetwater Brewing Co
Wild Heaven Brewery
Jailhouse Brewing
Lazy Magnolia Brew Co
Thomas Creek Brewing
Atlanta Beer Company
New Belgium Beer Co
LeFrench Broad Brewing Co
Dogfish Head Beer Co
Avery Brewing
Smuttynose Brewing
Highland Brewery
Bell's Brewing
Duck Rabbit Brewery
Great Divide Brew Co
Southern Tier Brewing Co
Rogue Brewing
Stone Brewing
Victory Beer Company
Moon River Brewpub
Sierra Nevada Beer Co
Left Hand Beer Co
Heavy Seas Brewing Co
Lagunitas Brewing Co
Allagash Brewing Company



And like they said: Prosit, na zdraví, l'chaim and cheers!

Ale
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Friday, September 23, 2011

The HOToberfest beer list is leaked! (And it's nuts!)

Hell yeah, HOToberfest's beer list is nuts and I got it!


So I wake up and get an email from an "anonymous" source that says:


"Shhhhhh...keep it on the low, but I got a hold of the beer list for next Saturday's  HOToberfest. Remember, you didn't get it from me! Read and then destroy it!" 


Well hell, since I want to always keep my homies informed with any Cool News About Brews, I had to leak it! (Okay, maybe the HOToberfest founders Tryon, Denise and Alan sent it to me this morning and I asked permission, but the initial story is so much better!) 


Anyway, this is the ridiculous roster of brews that will be available on October 1st in East Atlanta's Glenwood Park. This is the 4th anniversary and I just love how these cats leave no stone unturned around the earth to find the nuttiest, illest, most tasty special casks and hard-to-find bottles of brewing goodness to give their patrons every year. Don't believe me? Here is the "leaked" list showing Tent# Beer# Brewery Brand Style and ABV! (I put it in the courier font for a little more "Top Secret" effect.) Look for a more detailed breakdown of HOToberfest come Monday. Get your tickets here before it's sold out. It is going to be off the chain!


Cheers!


Ale


Tent# Beer# Brewery Brand Style ABV

1 1 "O’Dempsey’s" Big Red Ale Irish Ale 6%
1 2 "O’Dempsey’s" "Inukshuk IPA" India Pale Ale (IPA) 7%
2 1 Moon River Wild Wacky Wit Belgian White (Witbier) 4.80%
2 2 Moon River Apparition Ale English Pale Ale 4.80%
2 3 Moon River Swamp Fox IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 7%
2 4 Moon River The Captain’s Porter Porter 6%
3 1 "Highland Brewing Co." Oatmeal Porter Porter 5.80%
3 2 "Highland Brewing Co." Black Mocha Stout Stout 5.30%
3 3 "Highland Brewing Co." Clawhammer Oktoberfest/Märzen 5%
3 4 "Highland Brewing Co." Gaelic Amber Ale 5.80%
4 1 Brouwerji Huyghe Delirium Tremens Belgian Strong Ale 8.50%
4 2 North Coast Brother Thelonious Belgian Strong Ale 9%
4 3 Chouffe Houblon Abbey Tripel 9%
4 4 Chouffe La Chouffe Belgian Strong Ale 8%
4 5 Rodenbach Ronenbach Sour Ale/Wild Ale 5.20%
5 1 Duck Rabbit Brewery Amber Amber Ale 5.50%
5 2 Duck Rabbit Brewery "Milk Stout" Sweet Stout 5.70%
5 4 "Heavy Seas" "Loose Cannon Hop3" India Pale Ale (IPA) 7.25%
5 5 "Heavy Seas" "Märzen Beer" Oktoberfest/Märzen 5.75%
6 1 Dogfish Head "60 Minute" India Pale Ale (IPA) 6%
6 2 Dogfish Head Namaste’ Belgian White (Witbier) 5%
6 3 Dogfish Head "India Brown Ale" Brown Ale 7.20%
6 4 Dogfish Head Punkin Spice/Herb/Vegetable 7%
7 1 Lagunitas Bavarian DoppelWeizen Weizen Bock 8.50%
7 2 Lagunitas Lil Sumpin Wild Belgian Strong Ale 8.85%
7 3 Lagunitas "IPA" India Pale Ale (IPA) 6.20%
7 4 Lagunitas PILS Bohemian Pilsener 5.30%
8 1 Victory Golden Monkey Abbey Tripel 9.50%
8 2 Victory Fest bier Oktoberfest/Märzen 5.60%
8 3 LEFT HAND "Stranger Pale Ale" American Pale Ale 5%
8 4 LEFT HAND Sawtooth Premium Bitter/ESB
9 1 Oskar Blues "Dale’s" American Pale Ale 6.50%
9 2 Oskar Blues G’night Imperial/Double IPA 8.70%
9 3 Oskar Blues Old Chub Scotch Ale 8%
9 4 Oskar Blues Mama’s Lil Yella Pilsener 5.30%
10 1 Thomas Creek Appalachian Amber Amber Ale 5.50%
10 2 Thomas Creek Class 5 IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 5.50%
10 3 Thomas Creek Deep Water Dopplebock Doppelbock 6.25%
10 4 Thomas Creek Up the Creek Imperial/Double IPA 12.50%
10 5 Thomas Creek Banana Split Chocolate Stout Sweet Stout
11 1 Samuel Smith Nut Brown Brown Ale 5%
11 2 Samuel Smith Organic Strawberry Fruit Beer 5.10%
11 3 Pinkus Organic Pils Altbier 5.10%
11 4 Ayinger Oktoberfest-Marzen Oktoberfest/Märzen 5.80%
11 5 Lindemans Framboise Lambic - Fruit 2.50%
12 1 "Stone Brewing" 15th Anniversary Black IPA 10.50%
12 2 "Stone Brewing" Smoked Porter Porter 5.90%
12 3 "Stone Brewing" Pale Ale American Pale Ale 5.4
12 4 "Stone Brewing" Ruination Imperial/Double IPA 7.70%
13 1 Allagash Black Foreign Stout 7.50%
13 2 Allagash FOUR Abt/Quadrupel 10%
13 3 Allagash Curieux Abbey Tripel 11%
13 4 Allagash White Belgian White (Witbier)
14 1 Great Divide Belgian Yeti Imperial Stout 9.50%
14 2 Great Divide 17th Anniversary
14 3 Great Divide 2010 Hibernation Keg Old Ale 11.10%
14 4 Great Divide Hercules Imperial/Double IPA 10%
14 5 Great Divide Wild Raspberry Fruit Beer 5.60%
15 1 Smuttynose "IPA" India Pale Ale (IPA) 6.60%
15 2 Smuttynose Really Old Brown Dog Old Ale 9.10%
15 3 St Bernardus Abt 12 Abt/Quadrupel 10.50%
15 4 Bells Oarsman Ale Wheat Ale 4%
16 1 Lost Abbey Devotion Belgian Ale 6.25&
16 2 Lost Abbey Red Barn Saison 6.70%
16 3 Port Brewing Wipeout IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 7%
16 4 Port Brewing Shark Attack American Strong Ale 9.50%
17 1 Weyerbacher Verboten Belgian Ale 6%
17 2 Weyerbacher "Double Simcoe" Imperial/Double IPA 9%
17 3 Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer English Strong Ale 6.60%
17 4 Innis & Gunn
18 1 The Bruery Saison Rue Saison 8.50%
18 2 Cigar City Jai Alai India Pale Ale (IPA) 7.50%
18 3 Schneider & Sons Schneider Weisse Original German Hefeweizen 5.40%
18 4 21st Amendment Brew Free or Die India Pale Ale (IPA) 7%
18 5 21st Amendment Back in Black Black IPA 6.80%
19 1 Kind Beers Belgian Style Red Ale Belgian Ale 6%
19 2 Kind Beers Pale Ale American Pale Ale 7.30%
20 1 Shipyard Smashed Pumpkin Spice/Herb/Vegetable 9%
20 2 Shipyard Smashed Blueberry Fruit Beer 9%
20 3 Seadog Blue Paw Fruit Beer
20 4 Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale Spice/Herb/Vegetable 4.50%
20 5 Shipyard "Double Old Thumper Ale" Barley Wine 11.20%
21 1 Rinkuškiai Werewolf Imperial Pils/Strong Pale Lager 8.20%
21 2 Rinkuškiai "Lobster Lovers" Imperial Pils/Strong Pale Lager 9.50%
21 3 "Baltika" "6 Porter" Baltic Porter 7%
21 4 "Baltika" "9 Extra Lager" Imperial Pils/Strong Pale Lager 8%
22 1 Full Sail "Session Premium Lager" Premium Lager 5.10%
22 2 Full Sail Session Fest Red Lager Vienna 6.20%
22 3 Full Sail Session Black Larger Schwarzbier 6%
22 4 Full Sail IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 6%
23 1 "Strangford Lough" "St. Patricks Best" Bitter 4.20%
23 2 "Strangford Lough" "Legbiter" Golden Ale/Blond Ale 4.80%
24 1 New Belgium Belgo India Pale Ale (IPA)
24 2 New Belgium Fat Tire Amber Ale 5.20%
24 3 New Belgium Ranger India Pale Ale (IPA) 6.50%
24 4 New Belgium HOPTOBER Golden Ale/Blond Ale 6%
25 1 Southern Tier 2X IPA Imperial/Double IPA 8.20%
25 2 Southern Tier Harvest Ale Premium Bitter/ESB 6.40%
25 3 Monday Night Brewing Eye Patch Ale (IPA) India Pale Ale (IPA) 6.20%
25 4 Monday Night Brewing Drafty Kilt Scotch Ale Scotch Ale 7.20%
26 1 Mirosa "Lemon"
26 2 Mirosa Lager
26 3 Tiger Lager
26 4 Kalik Kalik Pale Lager 5%
27 1 Peak Organic IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 7.20%
27 2 Peak Fall Summit Amber Ale 5.90%
27 3 Red Hare Pilsner
27 4 Red Hare Gangway IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 6.90%
28 1 Krombacher Pils Classic German Pilsner 4.80%
28 2 Krombacher "Dark" Schwarzbier 4.30%
28 3 Magners Apple Cider Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 4.50%
28 4 Magners Pear Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 4.50%
29 1 Magic Hat #9 Fruit Beer 5%
29 2 Magic Hat Hex Amber Ale 5.40%
29 3 Magic Hat Circus Boy Spice/Herb/Vegetable 4.50%
29 4 Magic Hat IPA on Tour
30 1 Widmer Brothers Drifter American Pale Ale 5.70%
30 2 Widmer Brothers Pitch Black Black IPA 6.50%
30 3 KONA Longboard Lager Premium Lager 4.60%
30 4 KONA Pipeline Porter Porter 5.30%
31 1 Bridgeport IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 5.50%
31 2 Bridgeport Hop Czar Imperial IPA Imperial/Double IPA 7.50%
31 3 Stoudts Pils Classic German Pilsener 4.70%
31 4 Stoudts American Pale Ale American Pale Ale 5%
32 1 Newcastle Brown Ale Brown Ale 4.70%
32 2 Newcastle Wherewolf Scottish Ale 5%
33 1 Fullers ESB Premium Bitter/ESB 5.90%
33 2 Lion Stout Foreign Stout 8%
33 3 Morland Old Speckled Hen Morland Old Speckled Hen (Filtered) Premium Bitter/ESB 5.20%
33 4 Shiner Oktoberfest Oktoberfest/Märzen 5.70%
34 1 Southampton Double White Belgian White (Witbier) 6.60%
34 2 Southampton Keller Pils Pilsener 5%
34 3 Holy Mackerel Mack in Black Imperial Stout 8%
34 4 Holy Mackerel Panic Attack Belgian Strong Ale 10%
35 1 Red Brick Peachtree Pale Ale American Pale Ale 5.50%
35 2 Red Brick Laughing Skull Amber Ale
35 3 Red Brick Blonde Golden Ale/Blond Ale 4%
35 4 Red Brick Porter Porter 7.70%
48 1 Sweetwater 420 Extra Pale Ale American Pale Ale 5.20%
48 2 Sweetwater Blue Fruit Beer 4.80%
48 3 Sweetwater IPA India Pale Ale (IPA) 6.40%
48 4 Sweetwater Sch’Wheat Wheat Ale 4.90%
48 5 Sweetwater Motor Boat Premium Bitter/ESB 6.5
48 6 Sweetwater Georgia Brown Brown Ale 5.40%
44 1 Terrapin Rye Pale Ale American Pale Ale 5.30%
44 2 Terrapin Hopsecutioner India Pale Ale India Pale Ale (IPA) 7.30%
44 3 Terrapin Golden Ale (Cream Ale) Cream Ale 5%
44 1 Guinness Guinness Dry Stout 4.10%
44 2 Guinness Foreign Extra Stout Foreign Stout 7.50%
44 3 Guinness Black Lager Schwarzbier 4.50%
44 4 Harp Lager Pale Lager 4.30%
36 1 Abita Purple Haze Fruit Beer 4.75%
36 2 Abita Pecan Amber Ale 5%
36 3 Abita Andygator Heller Bock 8%
36 4 Abita Jockamo India Pale Ale (IPA) 6..5%
37 1 Leinenkugel Oktoberfest Oktoberfest/Märzen 5.10%
37 2 Leinenkugel Honey Weiss Bier Wheat Ale 4.92%
37 3 Bohemia "Dark" 5.30%
37 4 Leffe Blonde Belgian Ale 6.60%
38 1 Maredsous 6 Blond Belgian Ale 6%
38 2 Maredsous 8 Brune Abbey Dubbel 8%
38 3 Ommegang Abbey Ale Abbey Dubbel 8.50%
38 4 Ommegang Three Philosophers Abt/Quadrupel 9.80%
39 1 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale American Pale Ale 5.60%
39 2 Sierra Nevada Porter Porter 5.60%
39 4 Sierra Nevada Tumbler Brown Ale 5.50%
39 5 Sierra Nevada Torpedo India Pale Ale (IPA)
40 1 Estrella Damm Pale Lager 5.40%
40 2 Estrella Damm Daura (Apta Para Celíacos) Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 5.4
40 3 Estrella Damm Inedit Belgian White (Witbier) 4.80%
40 4 Liefman’s Fruitesse
41 1 McSorley’s Irish Black Lager Schwarzbier 5.50%
41 2 McSorley’s Irish Pale Ale Irish Ale 5.50%
41 3 Rogue Chocolate Stout Sweet Stout 6.30%
41 4 Rogue Imperial Youngers Special Bitter American Strong Ale 7.50%
42 1 Crispin Cider Company Crispen Original Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 5%
42 2 Crispin Cider Company Browns Lane Imported English Cider Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 5.80%
42 3 Crispin Cider Company Artisanal Reserve Honey Crisp Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 6.50%
42 4 Crispin Cider Company Artisanal Reserve Cho-tokkyu Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 6.50%
42 5 Crispin Cider Company Fox Barrel Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer
43 1 Spaten Oktoberfest Oktoberfest/Märzen 5.90%
43 2 Spaten Münchner Hell / München / Premium Dortmunder/Helles 5.20%
43 3 Spaten Munchen Dunkel Dunkel
43 4 Franziskaner Hefe-Weissbier German Hefeweizen 5%
43 5 Stiegel Stiegel
44 1 Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier German Hefeweizen 5.40%
44 2 Weihenstephaner Vitus Weizen Bock 7.70%
44 3 Weihenstephaner Original Dortmunder/Helles
44 4 Weihenstephaner FestBier Oktoberfest/Märzen
45 1 Wild Heaven Craft Beers Invocation Belgian Ale
45 2 Wild Heaven Craft Beers Ode to Mercy Brown Ale 8.20%
46 1 Dundees Oktoberfest
46 2 Dundees Honey Brown
46 3 Dundees Imperial Pilsner
46 4 Dundees Genne
47 1 Napa Smith Pale Ale American Pale Ale 5.25
47 2 Napa Smith Amber Amber Ale 5.75%
47 3 Napa Smith Wheat Wheat Ale 4.60%
47 4 Kopparberg Pear Cider Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer 4.50%
47 5 Kopparberg "Strawberry & Lime Cider" Gluten Free - Perry, Cider and beer
48 1 Max Lagers Lager
48 2 Max Lagers ??
VIP
V7 1 "Highland Brewing" 2009 Oatmeal Porter Porter 5.80%
V7 2 "Heavy Seas" Mutiny Fleet Hop Haarvest Ale Porter 5%
V7 3 "Full Sail" Imperial Porter, Brewmaster Reserve 2011 Imperial/Strong Porter 7.50%
V7 4 "Thomas Creek" "Conduplico Immundus Monachus" Imperial/Strong Porter 10%
V7 5 "Sweetwater" "Dank Tank Mean Joe Bean" Imperial/Strong Porter 8.50%
V7 6 "Stone Brewing" Mystery Keg #2
V7 7 Terrapin Wake-n-Bake Coffee Oatmeal Imperial Stout Keg Imperial Stout 8.10%
V6 1 Ommegang 2007 Chocolate Indulgence Stout 7%
V6 2 Dominion "2009 Oak Barrel Stout" Stout 5.20%
V6 3 Left Hand 2009 Milk Stout Sweet Stout 5.30%
V6 4 Terrapin Moo-Hoo Chocolate Milk Stout Sweet Stout 6%
V6 5 Stone Brewing "2009 Imperial Russian Stout" Imperial Stout 10.50%
V6 6 "Founders" "Kentucky Breakfast Stout (KBS)" Imperial Stout 11.20%
V6 7 Lagunitas 2009 Cruising with Ruben and The Jets Imperial Stout 8.60%
V6 8 "Oskar Blues" 2009 Ten FIDY Imperial Stout 10.50%
V6 9 "Oskar Blues" 2010 Ten Fidy Imperial Stout 10.50%
V6 10 "Oskar Blues" 2011 Ten Fidy Imperial Stout 10.50%
V6 11 Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout Imperial Stout 9.20%
V6 12 Mikkeller Black Hole ‘Tequila’ Imperial Stout
V5 1 Lion 2009 Stout Foreign Stout 8%
V5 2 Allagash Aged Bourbon Barrel BLACK Foreign Stout 9.50%
V5 3 Red Brick 16th Anniversary Keg American Strong Ale 11%
V5 4 Red Brick "15th Anniversary Ale" American Strong Ale 9%
V5 5 "Dog!sh Head" Palo Santo Marron American Strong Ale 12%
V5 6 Bells - *VERY LIMITED AMOUNT Batch 10000 Ale American Strong Ale 9.20%
V5 7 Innis & Gunn "Oak Aged Winter Beer" English Strong Ale 8.50%
V5 8 "Stone" "15th Anniversary Escondidian Imperial Black IPA" Black IPA 10.50%
V4 1 Flying Fish ESB Amber Ale Premium Bitter/ESB 5.50%
V4 2 Magic Hat Hex Amber Ale 5.40%
V4 3 Bells Oarsman Ale Wheat Ale 4%
V4 4 "Great Divide" Claymore Scotch Ale Scotch Ale 7.70%
V4 5 "Weyerbacher" "2010 Blithering Idiot" Barley Wine 11.10%
V4 6 Shipyard 2010 Barley Wine Style Ale (Pugsley Signature Series) Barley Wine 8.50%
V4 7 JW Lees Lagavulin Barley Wine 11.5
V4 8 Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine 9.60%
V4 9 "Dog!sh Head" "Pangaea" Spice/Herb/Vegetable 7%
V4 10 "Sweetwater" "2010 Festive Ale" Spice/Herb/Vegetable 8.60%
V3 1 "Boon" "2008 Kriek Mariage Parfait" Lambic - Fruit 8%
V3 3 "De Ranke" Père Noël Belgian Ale 7%
V3 4 "Ommegang" "Gnomegang" Belgian Strong Ale 9.50%
V3 5 Victory V12 Belgian Strong Ale 12%
V3 7 Chimay Rouge (Red) / Première Abbey Dubbel 7%
V2 1 Maredsous Tripel Abbey Tripel 10%
V2 2 "Af#igem" Tripel Abbey Tripel 9.50%
V2 3 Stillwater / Mikkeller Our Side Saison 7.50%
V2 4 Evil Twin Ryan & the Beaster Bunny Saison 7%
V2 5 Evil Twin YIN Imperial Stout 10%
V2 6 Evil Twin YANG Imperial/Double IPA 10%
V2 7 Left Hand TNT Weizen Doppelbock Weizen Bock 7.90%
V2 8 "Weihenstephaner" Vitus Weizen Bock 7.70%
V1 1 Cigar City Mystery #3
V1 2 Sweetwater/Cacao Bean to Brew Porter
V1 3 "Oskar Blues" CASK Dale’s Centennial Dry Hop American Pale Ale
V1 4 Wild Heaven Wild Heaven Invocation Nelson Sauvin Dry Hopped Cask Belgian Ale
V1 5 Thomas Creek CASK
V1 6 Lagunitas CASK Maximus
V1 7 Lost Abbey CASK
V1 8 Red Brick Whiskey Barrel Aged Cask (WBAC)
V! 9 Sweetwater Whiskey Barrel Aged Cask (WBAC)
V1 10 Terrapin Whiskey Barrel Aged Cask (WBAC)
V1 11 ?? Mystery Whiskey Barrel Aged Cask (WBAC)
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Free beer tonight at Smith's Olde Bar!

A 'Red Cup' party? You gotta love it!

Come on, free beer at Smith's Olde Bar? Just bring a red SOLO cup and you are good! Plus one of the ultimate speezots for local talent is hosting some hot music from Atlanta's awesome hip-hop underground scene: particularly my homies 4ize, Senor Kaos and Sean "Soupy" Jones. Nice!
See you there!
Ale
My man Soupy is throwing down at Smith's Olde Bar!

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Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Red Brick's Vanilla Gorilla Porter: Gangster!


I haven't given out a "Gangster" rating since the Sierra Nevada Hoptimum. It's time for another one. 

I will make this plain and simple: Get this brew that comes out today. It is the best porter I have ever had.

Bob Townsend chillin'
at Deckard's
This is the Brick Mason Vanilla Gorilla Porter by local brewery Red Brick (Atlanta Brewing Company). I had the initial version on tap but once it was bottled and chilled out for a minute, the subtle hickory notes coming from the smoked Madagascar vanilla beans hooked up by local BBQ spot Fox Bros., smoothed out with chocolaty goodness all aged in Jack Daniels whiskey oak barrels for six months resulted in one fantastic concoction of deliciousness at 7.8% abv.

Excited about the latest edition of the popular and potent Brick Mason Series (the third after their Double IPA and 16th Anniversary), I had the chance to get a  preview bottle of the Vanilla Gorilla over the weekend thanks to my main man Richard over there and I needed time to just come back down from my high. Plus, with all of the Oktoberfest activities going on including swinging times at both Der Biergarten and Deckard's (thanks for the hospitality homies!), along with kicking it with fellow beer writer Bob Townsend, I wanted to save the praises for this fantastic porter upon the day of its release. See, usually I skip this style and go straight to the typically more thicker, aggressive stouts, but this porter brought me back. Call around, find out where the hell it is and scoop up a four-pack. You did ATL proud RB. Well done!
Drinking from der boot @ Der Biergarten 

And if you disagree, I will happily take the remaining three off your hands for free. I doubt this will be the case though.

Enjoy!

Your homey,
Ale
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Saturday, September 17, 2011

Der Biergarten, Deckard's, FSU and the Mayweather fight? Oh my!



Saturday is about to be nuts!

Are y'all gearing up for a great Saturday? The weather has done its job. I just got back from a good ass jog, grabbed a smoothie from Lotta Frutta and totally justified the awesome varieties of brew I am going to consume today! I'm talking about hitting up Der Biergarten's official kickoff of Oktoberfest (which I featured here) starting at noon followed by one of my favorite spots for imbibing in all of Atlanta, Deckard's Tavern (right on Ponce in that Home Depot shopping center across from the decrepit City Hall East)  for their  first annual "Sausage Fest" at 3 p.m.! No, don't worry about the latter's name, it won't be all dudes. My man Chef Matt Deckard, Manager Alex & Co. are actually serving all-you-can-eat sausages bought from the local Spotted Trotter Sausages who take their links seriously! To add, there's live jamming, HDTVs showing the college games and some off-the-chain brews on tap. Peep their steez: 
Bells Octoberfest, Rogue Maierfest, Ayinger Oktoberfest, Victory Festbeir, Coney Island Freaktoberfest, Heavy Seas Prosit, Ayinger Kirta-Halba, Yuengling Oktoberfest, Spaten Oktoberfest just to name a few... and a special keg top secret keg from Terrapin.
Plus, the place is plush, Chef Matt is no joke on the grill and overall, it's just simply my joint to go and kick it! 
Last, I would recommend stopping by Green's afterwards (or Hop City, Ale Yeah!, The Beer Growler...) and stock up on cold ones for the long night of sports bliss! Okalahoma vs. FSU at 8 should be gangster followed by Floyd Mayweather throwing blows with Victor Ortiz late night. I mean, sh*t, check out this footage of the weigh-in:

Oh, and with those damn Sunday laws still in effect, tomorrow's fridge needs to be stocked too. Unless, of course, you are going to a Taco Mac (Champions, Deckard's, The Grove...) to get your sip on, cheer on your NFL fantasy team and get in the face of your fellow league members. And how could I forget Mike Vick's return against the Falcons Sunday night??? What?!!!
Anyway, wash that Friday night off of ya and get ready for an awesome Saturday and Sunday!

Peace!

Ale



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Friday, September 16, 2011

Georgia's new Red Hare Brewing has hopped on the scene!

Try Red's Gangway IPA and Long Day Lager at taps near you!

We all loved Red Hare's brewbies!
Undoubtedly, Atlanta kicks major tail in the beer world. I have been documenting this southern revolution since 1990 and it has been overwhelming since the mid 2000s. Well now comes Oktoberfest 2011, and the spirit of this global beer celebration has hit our city with a vengeance...in a good way of course! Besides the awesome events going on starting this weekend (especially Der Biergarten I wrote about two days ago and Deckard's Sausage Fest also on Saturday at 3 p.m. that I will post up later), I was recently invited to taste two introductory beers by a new brewery called Red Hare based in Marietta, Ga. just outside the perimeter (the district's first brewery). They were pretty damn good.
I met with the two founders, Bobby and Roger, their distributors of Red Hare and some fellow homies at The Square Pub in Downtown Decatur. We all sipped the Hare's two initial releases: the Long Day Lager (5.2%)  and Gangway IPA (6.2%). I thought the Long Day was definitely something special; it reminded me of a well done pale ale, but still having that traditional crisp finish of a lager. The well balanced Gangway was up next and its Chinook dry hopping provided a great essence of grapefruit at a 6.2% ABV potency. I was really impressed by the work of founders Bobby and Roger, and I expect big things from them. It is awesome how they started with just a couple of beer kits, brewing in Roger's basement in Marietta and three years later, bam! Red Hare is alive and kicking.
Definitely sip some of their hoppy goodness at glass and growler filling stations around Atlanta and Decatur including Hop City, the Bucket Shop and, of course, The Square Pub, so show them some love!
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Cool News for Brews this weekend in the ATL Part 2!

Drink out your glass boot at Der Biergarten this weekend!

Like I said in the Part 1 installment of my Cool News For Brews here, the worldwide Oktoberfest celebration is taking place and Atlanta’s version should be pretty damn nuts! If you want to indulge in an authentic experience, my peoples over at Der Biergarten are definitely getting it oompahppin’ as they kick it off at noon on September 17th through the 18th! Heck, even their next door neighbor—the upscale sports bar, STATS—is getting in on the action. Collectively, they are going to next level indoors and outdoors with the décor, live bands, beer boots, German-themed grub, and, of course, football! The Luckie Marrietta District will never be the same.
If I may add, Der Biergarten was the first beer-themed establishment I featured on this website almost a year ago exactly! (Look for my invite to celebrate this site’s 1st anniversary in a couple weeks at Der Biergarten on the 30th of September. It will be MAJOR so stay tuned!) Anyway, when the post went up, we collectively launched this video, the making of the killer mural they had done by talented artist Alexi Torres Alonso. This time lapsed clip coupled with the spaced-out “Peace To Brother Elvin” track produced by my brother Rashad Suede, the results were killer! See for yourself:

Below  is the official info on this weekend's festivities sent direct from the source. Maybe I will see you at Der Biergarten or STATS on Saturday? I hope so!
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Der Biergarten Set to Launch New Oktoberfest Tradition: 'Munich on Marietta Street'

Atlanta’s Premier German Beer Garden Kicks Off Festivities September 17-18

Oktoberfest takes over the Luckie Marietta District this fall as Der Biergarten and STATS team up for the ultimate celebration of Germany’s famed beer festival.  The restaurants will transform into a Munich-inspired mecca you’ll have to see to believe with indoor restaurant space and outdoor patios styled into a progressive party - each room offering a different German draft beer and themed with authentic décor and team t-shirts.  Live bands will add to the festive atmosphere, and reusable beer boots will be available for purchase.  Guests can bring back their boots for special pricing on refills during the entire Oktoberfest season, which kicks off September 17 and continues through October 30.    

Der Biergarten will also showcase classic German cuisine – including brats, wursts, strudels, pretzels and mustards – and will debut its new rotisserie for fresh, authentic roasted meat.  

WHAT:           Der Biergarten’s Oktoberfest – “Munich on Marietta Street”

WHEN:           Saturday, September 17 – Sunday, September 18
    Festivities begin at 12 p.m. 
    Continues every weekend (Saturday & Sunday) through October 30

WHERE:        Der Biergarten
                        (Luckie Marietta District)
    300 Marietta Street
    Atlanta, GA 30313
    404.521.2728

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

                        Visit www.atloktoberfest.com
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ALE MAX Returns to Fuse Craft Beer & Sneaker Cultures!

Yup! It's that time again! Ale Max Day , the event put on by my boy Craig and I, will be in its second year, and it's going to be an...

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