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Owen Ogletree's Brewtopia Brewsletter
May 25, 2020
Owen is founder/editor of Brewtopia.info, columnist for Southern Brew News and Beer Connoisseur Magazine, lecturer at Knoxville's Brewing & Distilling Center, founder/director of the Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting and Classic City Brew Fest, a BJCP National Beer Judge and Great American Beer Festival judge.
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Follow our craft beer adventures...
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- Classic City Brew Fest Postponed to 2021
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If you already have tickets to our 25th anniversary Classic City Brew Fest, PLEASE hold on to them until our postponed 2021 date! All current ticket holders who keep their tickets will be entered in a drawing to give away two luxury suites at Athens' Georgia Gameday Center to use for the night of the BrewFest! All current ticket holders will also be entered in drawings for six pair of tickets to our next Atlanta Cask Ale Tasting!
Since there is no way to tell what COVID-19 is going to do in the next couple of months, we've decided to be safe and delay our 25th anniversary CLASSIC CITY BREW FEST until 2021. Depending on progression of the virus and a vaccine, we will try to pick the best possible date in 2021. We want everyone to feel comfortable and safe when attending this indoor festival.
Refunds can be issued for current ticket holders who can't make the new date. I will announce the new date ASAP.
 Classic City Brew Fest is the NUMBER ONE fundraiser for the Athens-Area Humane Society that is trying to relocate to a larger, more updated facility next year. We hope you can make every effort to attend in 2021 and support the event and the Humane Society.
Please stay safe and well! Thanks for hanging on to your tickets and having patience for the Classic City Brew Fest! It will be well worth it!
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 Remember to grab some take-home beer from your local craft breweries. These businesses need your support right now! Look below for nine great regional beers that Owen has enjoyed in the last couple of weeks...
 Creature Comforts / Burial Beer
Culture Keepers Maibock
A Creature Comforts / Burial Beer collaboration, Culture Keepers is a delicious, 7% ABV Maibock lager with classic German malt complexity, a honey-like note and floral noble hops. This amazing lager is not an easy style to make, but Creature and Burial nailed it. Four-packs are now available at Creature's contactless, drive-through area at the Athens brewery.
 Orpheus Brewing
The 12th Labor
Wow! This 13.9% Imperial Stout aged in bourbon barrels offers smooth, viscous flavors of chocolate, espresso, black malt, dark fruit and vanillin from barrel-aging. Use caution, as this delicious, potent brew that's made with Belgian abbey yeast and dark candy syrup goes down way too easy. Drink it with rich cherry cobbler or burnt ends of brisket.
 Orpheus Brewing
Transmigration of Souls
The original 10% ABV version of Orpheus' popular double IPA has returned! Pick some up now at the Atlanta brewery. The guys at Orpheus say, "Transmigration of Souls is an irresponsibly hopped Double IPA, bursting with life from an absurd amount of aromatic hops." I agree. This is a well-constructed, malty, boozy IPA with exceptional hop character.
 Wild Heaven Beer
Don't Stand So Close to Me
This German-style lager that's brewed with Saaz and Hallertau hops makes for a wonderful, sessionable tipple that's clean, refreshing and packed with classic German flavors. The deep golden beer offers a tasty noble hop character in the finish that pairs well with brats, seafood and white pizza.
 Wild Heaven Beer
Fauci Spring Acai Pale Ale
This new pale ale is brewed with acai berries and experimental hops so new that they don't even have a name yet. Named in honor of Dr. Anthony Fauci, this extremely pleasant pale ale showcases additions of acai berries that hold a high antioxidant quality and interesting flavor profile.
 Atlanta Brewing Company
Conjuring Cultures - Ode Brugge
The brewery only has a few remaining 500 ml bottles of this amazing mixed fermentation red ale made with tart cherries. This well-crafted tart ale took me back to Flanders, Belgium with its complex, fruity nuances backed by beautiful malt and a wild fermentation character that's smooth and complementary of the dark fruit notes. This is a must-try beer.
 Atlanta Brewing Company
Hartsfield IPA
Here's a 6.2% ABV India Pale Ale with an elegant hop profile featuring Citra, Mosaic and an additional rotating hop variety. I love a delicious, no-nonsense IPA with crisp hop flavor and appealing bitterness, and Hartsfield fits the bill. Enjoy it alongside grilled meats or a juicy cheeseburger and fries.
 New Realm Brewing
Jacked Squatch
Do your best to get your hands on this elusive canned release from New Realm. Jacked Squatch is a flavorful, West Coast Double IPA with 9.5% ABV, a gorgeous malt backbone, complex esters and a beautiful hop profile that provides deep hop aroma, flavor and pleasant bitterness. Being a West Coast-style IPA, this ale is only slightly hazy and contains no distracting lactose additions. It's definitely one of my new favorites.
 Highland Brewing
Rising Haze IPA
This unfiltered IPA from Asheville comes in at 7% ABV, packing gorgeous hop flavors from Mosaic, Ekuanot, Galaxy, Apollo, Citra and Centennial. Look for juicy notes of orange, grapefruit, tropical fruits and apricot. This is a wonderful beer to pair with spicy foods like Mexican, Cajun and Indian.
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- Chops & Hops TAKE HOME Beer Dinners Continue
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Readers who live near Athens, Georgia should call Chops & Hops gastropub at (706) 310-1101 to reserve a fantastic take-home beer dinner to enjoy any day this week. Each dinner comes with four mouth-watering courses and four yummy craft beers hand-picked by Owen Ogletree and The Beer Wench. Owen and The Beer Wench also did a YouTube video that showcases this week's dinner (click photo to view)...
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 Wild Leap
ALPHA ABSTRACTION VOL. 12
Double IPA
From Wild Leap Brew Company in LaGrange, Georgia...
The twelfth edition in our Alpha Abstraction series, Alpha Abstraction Volume 12 is a juicy, double dry-hopped IPA with Belma hops. This new IPA is smooth, hazy and loaded with flavor.
ABV: 8.0%
IBU: 44
SRM: 4
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- Read Southern Brew News ONLINE
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Our new Southern Brew News periodical is now available to read ONLINE for free! Click HERE to check out state-by-state craft beer news and read Owen's article on Atlanta's amazing new Bold Monk Brewing Company.
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- 2021 DATE TBA - CLASSIC CITY BREW FEST, Athens, GA. 25th ANNIVERSARY! 50+ exciting cask ales, local Athens draft beer booths, live music from Jim Cook, BBQ food truck and special beers uncapped each hour! Tickets will be discounted to only $39.99! This is Georgia's BEST beer festival value!
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- Brewtopia Events on Facebook & Twitter
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 CLICK HERE and hit the Brewtopia Events "like" button on Facebook to see live photos and news posts as we explore craft beer around the world. Also be sure to "friend" Owen Ogletree on Facebook.
 Follow Brewtopia Events on Twitter.
UP NEXT...
- Since travel is limited, Owen Ogletree and The Beer Wench will post craft beer reviews and beer style summaries from home. Here's an example from Facebook...
AMERICAN PALE ALE
In the late 1970s, Sierra Nevada Brewing founder Ken Grossman hatched the goal of making an English-inspired pale ale with American hops. Grossman's early test batches made him fall in love with the resiny, citrusy hop known as Cascade, and his Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that was released in 1981 invigorated the emerging craft beer movement and helped Americans finally appreciate hops. With an ABV of 4.5-6.2%, American Pale Ales are less robust than American IPAs but still offer moderate notes of biscuit, toast and fragrant dry-hopping. In contrast to classic English Pale Ales, APAs possess lighter colors, New World hop profiles, fewer esters and more restrained (or completely absent) caramel malt character. I still adore the uncomplicated elegance and drinkability of this pioneering style.
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