Fancy Beer Friday: Redbrick 17th Anniversary

It's not Friday but this beer was worth the wait. Believe me, I've been waiting all year for it.

 Over the past four years or so the owners/board of our favorite local brewery have been loosening the reigns on Brewmaster Dave McClure*.  The most pronounced result is the Brick Mason series (and Hoplanta). While it consists of some dynamite beers: Wee Heavy (yep), Vanilla Gorilla (duh). Double IPA (obviously); the anniversary series is world class.
Each anniversary ale is the Red Brick Brown aged in whiskey barrels. They started series with the 15th spending a little over a year on on Pappy Van Winkle barrels. It's become somewhat of  a legend around these parts. (In fact, a beer loving buddy of ours gave us two bottles as a wedding gift.) The 16th was the same base aged for six months in Jack Daniels barrels. I'm not JD's biggest fan and it was a little hot at 11% but I'm looking forward to pulling a bottle out of our cellar  to compare with this years. This years 17th though. Oh this years beer...

The 17th sat on Jim Beam** barrels and it is dynamite. It clocks in at a head leveling 8.5%. As it warms up, it is as complex as a good bottle of bitters. Don't tell my wife, but I'm buying a case of this.
*I don't really know anything about the politics behind the scenes at Red Brick, all I know is that Dave can crank out some stellar suds.

 **I may like Jim Beam as much as I like Jack which is to say, not at all. Luckily we're speaking beer, not whiskey.

 - Oliver

Fancy Beer Friday: Lagunitas' Undercover Investigation Ale

It's five o'clock somewhere and you deserve a beer!


Lagunita's Undercover Investigation SHUT DOWN Ale is a hoppy, bitter, high gravity ale with a great back story. It commemorates what the brewery refers to as the "Saint Patrick's Day massacre of 2005". 


In the Saint Valentine's Day massacre of 1929  two prohibition era gangsters, dressed as police officers, opened fire on members of a rival gang in a Chicago garage. The bait? Whiskey.


76 years later, during the Lagunita's "massacre", eight California Alcohol Beverage officers, dressed as regular people, busted the brewery for "disorderly house and moral turpitude". Their actual offense? A few beer drinkers in the beer garden were lighting up doobies (does anyone still say doobies?). The citation led to an attempt to revoke the brewery's license - which eventually led to this fantastic fancy beer. For more details about the bust watch the following video (but fast forward to the 30 second mark everything before that is intro). 

Fancy Beer Friday: Not a beer!

Today's Fancy Beer Friday isn't a beer at all; it's a cocktail. We were hoping to have a bomber of Stone Ruination's 10th Anniversary IPA in time for today's post - but car trouble and the holidays have intervened. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up a bottle of this super hoppy beer on my way home from work tonight and feature this special IPA next week. 


For now: Mint Julips! Oliver's whiskey based drink is sweeter (and more drinkable) then most I've had. He makes his with whiskey, fresh mint from the garden and homemade simple syrup. This drink is perfect for a summer evening spent working in the garden. 


Happy Friday my friends!

Fancy Beer Friday: Ruby Redbird

It's happy hour, do you know where you beer is?


A new seasonal beer has crossed my path twice in the last few weeks (a thousand miles apart). For me, most seasonal beers blend together: all the summer beers taste the same, same for winter, fall and spring. They're each appropriate for the weather and I enjoy them while they're around - but they're not super memorable. So I was pleasantly surprised by the refreshing ginger kick in Shiner's Ruby Redbird summer brew. Ruby has the perfect body for summer with the added bonus of being affordable and easy to find thoughout the US. (Shown here in bottles in Chicago and on draft at Augustines in Atlanta). Grab a six pack tonight and try it for yourself!

Fancy Beer Friday: Guys Weekend

It's happy hour, do you know where your beer is?


While I was in Chicago for girlcation Oliver was at a cabin in Northeast Georgia for "Lake Beer Day" (read: guys weekend). I asked him to photograph a few of his favorite beers so we could feature them on the blog. I suppose I should have been more specific with my art direction... His photos are to the left. How many beers is that?! 

Fancy Beer Friday: Porter Beer Bar


It's happy hour, do you know where your beer is?


The Atlanta Beer Twitterverse wasn't blowing up with "must haves" this week so Oliver and I headed to the Porter in L5P for a bit of fancy beer after dinner on Tuesday. The Porter is a sure thing for "fancy beer" in Atlanta. Since their inception in September 2008 they've been recognized as one of the best beer bars in the world and the best beer bar in the country. We love it not just for the exceptional beer list but also for the food, atmosphere and service. If you're in Atlanta and you like beer then make time to go to the Porter. 


The sour beer Oliver and I enjoyed at home last week is child's play compared to the one he ordered at the Porter. The Featherleggy Bulrusher Sour Stout by Anderson Valley is as  funkified and pungent a sour beer as I've ever had. 


I on the other hand was looking for something to satifsy a dessert craving so I went directly to the Stout/Porter section of the menu. I wanted something thick and chocolately and I was happy to find Left Hand's Jack Black Porter. It's light on carbonation and rich on chocolate. I recommend this one for any chocoholic new to craft beer. 
 ________
*Note! Neither of us tried the "Clown Shoes Clementine" (we're not big on weitbiers)  but I love the name so I wanted to share it with you. Photos of our beers picks from the menu are below.






Fancy Beer Friday

It's happy hour, do you know where your beer is?


I've decided to capitalize on Oliver's beer snobbery with a new regular feature I'm calling: Fancy Beer Friday. At least once a week Oliver brings home (or heads out for) a "fancy" beer that is only in town (or in season) for a short time. From now on I'll be passing on his insider beer knowledge just in time for happy hour on Friday.


This week we shared a new limited edition from the Lips of Faith series by New Belgium. The fancy Lips of Faith bombers never fail to please; Tart Lychee especially so. This one combines two of my favorite beer variations: oak aged and sour. If you haven't had a sour beer yet this a great place to start. Sour beers are refreshing and a perfect fit for hot summer days. But beware! This beer rings in at an impressive 8.5% (read: it will get you drunk - fast).


Bottoms up!

Wednesday is brewday

Wednesday is local-brew-day; or at least it used to be. In 2006 I was working at Carters (on 14th and Peachtree) and the (then*) Atlanta Brewing Company's brewhouse was just a few blocks to the west. My friends and I had a standing engagement to meet every Wednesday after work for $4 drafts. We'd sit on the loading docks and watch the sunset. It was perfect. 


Six years, several miles and a couple dollars later the operation is still going strong. The brewery now operates on the other side of town and the brewtour prices aren't quite as thrifty they used to be. A handful of new microbreweries have opened around town but they have been unsuccessful at breaking our loyalty to ABC/Redbrick*. (Sweetwater be damned - we're Redbrick folks.)


Those friends from the loading dock drinking days are the same ones that introduced Oliver and I in 2009. No matter how much everyones' lives have changed we still know we can count on weeknights at Redbrick for great beer and friendship.  Suffice it to say:  I love my local craft brewery. Thanks Redbrick. 
*ABC vs Redbrick:. The brewery recently rebranded, going from "Atlanta Brewing Company" to "Redbrick". It's been a lively transition, full of design work and new catch phrases, but who cares about the name as long as the beer is awesome. With the rebranding, they've given the brewer a lot more freedom (and that's a great thing). 
**Visit our Facebook page for photos of the old brewery.