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Owen Ogletree's Brewtopia Brewsletter
January 31, 2021
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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- Big Changes for Classic City Brew Fest 2021
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 25th-Anniversary
Classic City Brew Fest
Saturday, August 28, 2021
Hotel Indigo
Downtown Athens, Georgia
Get tickets now!
I've been hoping that April would be good for our 25th-anniversary Classic City Brew Fest, but it seems this date will not work out. Our former meeting space can't guarantee that it will be available, the vaccines are coming out slowly, and indoor events are still risky. The city has advised us to move the event to a later date.
So, we've made the exciting move to Hotel Indigo's covered patio and huge observation deck in downtown Athens for Saturday, August 28, 2021. Please note this new date and location on your calendars. I hope you are as excited as I am. I MISS BEER FESTIVALS!
If you have tickets from the original date, these are still good, and you will be entered into exciting drawings and perks for hanging on to your tickets through the pandemic. Thanks!
Why not get a beautiful, deeply discounted hotel room at Hotel Indigo and enjoy downtown Athens after the festival or for the entire weekend? Athens now has SIX local breweries to visit: Creature Comforts, Akademia Brewing, Southern Brewing Company, Terrapin Beer Company, Normaltown Brewing and Athentic Brewing. Wonderful craft beer pubs include Trappeze, Hi-Lo Lounge, Catch 22, Chops & Hops, Royal Peasant, The Root, The Globe and Oglethorpe Garage.
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- Off the Rails in Mandeville, LA
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Old Rail Brewing ranks as one of my top-ten brewpubs in the world. Located in scenic Mandeville, Louisiana, just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, this gorgeous brewery/restaurant proudly serves Cajun and Creole food classics alongside a delightful range of house beers brewed by our extraordinarily talented friend Matt Horney. Each of Matt's beers is well-balanced with beautiful flavors and outstanding technical merit. Here are just a few of Owen's recent tasting notes...
Barrel-Aged Dark Territory Stout. At 9% ABV, this warming, rich imperial stout provides a full-bodied mouthfeel and impressive dark malt and fruit character backed by appropriate levels of balancing hops. There's no unnecessary, distracting lactose to take away from the satisfying malt complexity and roasty finish. I paired this ale with salted caramel ice cream topped with cashews.
I think Old Rail's Barrel-Aged Barleywine comes in as one of my favorite examples of this classic style that's long overdue for a major comeback in popularity. This exceptional malty ale holds 10% ABV and has nice, boozy vanilla notes from resting for six months in 14-year Elijah Craig barrels.
Old Rail Echo Sierra Bravo (ESB) ranks as a 6% ABV UK-style Extra Special / Strong Bitter with outstanding technical merit and attention to style. Look for notes of toffee, dark bread crust and woody hops with mild bitterness. No beer works better with a plate of fish & chips or bangers & mash.
Matt Horney loves classic beer styles as much as I do but he finally broke down and brewed a hazy IPA. I enjoyed Old Rail's Secrets That We Shared NEIPA because of its smooth and interesting hop character and nice balance of malt, cereal grains and lightly bitter hops. Hey, it's not too hazy and sweet either, which is another plus in my book.
Marigny Light Lager made for a pleasant surprise. Quite sessionable at 3.1% ABV, Old Rail's American lager packs pleasant, light, flavorful malt notes and a respectable hop finish. This light lager style makes it difficult for a brewer to hide any flaws, but Matt nailed a perfect example that checks all the boxes.
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- Georgia Craft Beer Highlights
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Tucker Brewing Company
Dunkelweisse
I like the German-inspired lagers and ales at Tucker Brewing, and the brewery's dark wheat ale ranks as one of my favorites. Expect a brown color, 5.4% ABV and appropriate flavor notes of clove, allspice and banana. This underappreciated style takes me back to Munich with its dark caramel character, toasted wheat notes and hints of bubblegum from the Bavarian wheat yeast.
 Tucker Brewing Company
Sir Doppelbock
Tucker hit it out of the park with this popular strong bock that boasts a gorgeous brown hue with ruby highlights. This magnificent lager packs impressive notes of toasty Munich malt and European dark malts. There's no trendy BS with this classic brew, and elegant malts provide a slightly sweet finish with nuances of roasted nuts, toffee and floral noble hops. Head to the brewery's patios to enjoy this amazing lager before it's gone.
 Wild Heaven Beer
Saint Dolly Blonde Bock
Brewed with Zuper Saazer hops, this wonderful addition to Wild Heaven's "Exploration Project" pays tribute to national treasure Dolly Parton. I love a great Bock lager, and this one from Wild Heaven offers a smooth, clean, malty German lager experience that's reminiscent of toasted bread crust and light honey. Pair it with apple strudel.
 Wild Heaven Beer
High Hopes Mango & Plum Sour Ale
This beer forms a part of the brewery's intriguing "Innovation Sour Series." Look for mild tartness with earthy complexity from smoked mango and black plum. This unique wild ale also boasts papaya-like fruit notes and an peaty, smoky, ashy profile in the finish. Head to either Wild Heaven locations to score a rare bottle.
Three Taverns Craft Brewery
 Transcendo IPA
Double dry-hopping with Citra, Mosaic and Loral hops provide an earthy, citrusy, fruity character to this complex and delicious IPA. Loral hops impart herbal, dank fruit notes reminiscent of mango and tangerine that linger into the pleasant, spicy finish. Try a Transcendo alongside Mexican cuisine.
Three Taverns Craft Brewery
 Cush IPA
Talented Atlanta brewer Neal Engleman made the move from Bold Monk to new head brewer and wood cellar manager at Three Taverns, and he's excited to get creative with a line of new brews and tweaked classic recipes. Neal's first new beer at Three Taverns is Cush - a fantastic double dry-hopped hazy IPA with lactose and 8.5% ABV. A powerful nose of citrus and tropical fruit notes follow through into the soft, creamy mouthfeel.
 Rightside Brewing
Citrus Wheat
Rightside Brewing is a new Georgia company focusing on producing a line of flavorful and complex non-alcoholic "near beers." Launching with an IPA and a Citrus Wheat ale, the company hopes to provide customers with exciting, flavorful beverages that are just as satisfying as beer styles containing alcohol. Rightside's hazy Citrus Wheat offers tasty notes of cereal grains, orange peel, spice and a hint of banana complexity.
 Southern Brewing Company
Midnight Train Southern Porter
This crisp, coffee-like dark ale from Athens, Georgia comes in at 6% ABV and paints a landscape of roasted and chocolate malts on the palate, followed by an elegant, mild hop bitterness. Midnight Train makes for a wonderful session ale to enjoy with friends and sip alongside grilled oysters or clam chowder.
 Terrapin Beer Company
Vanilla Chai Latte Wake-n-Bake
Need a caffeine boost with your beer? Check out Terrapin's new-fangled Wake-n-Bake that comes in at 9.4% ABV and 50 IBUs. This bold imperial stout contains vanilla, lactose and chai spice that all meld with Jittery Joe's Wake-n-Bake coffee to create an extraordinarily thick and warming oatmeal imperial stout. The extensive malt bill includes two-row, crystal 85, flaked barley, flaked oats, chocolate, black malt and roasted barley.
Creature Comforts Brewery
 Life in Flux
Life In Flux, Creature Comforts’ flagship barrel-aged imperial stout, emerged from the brewery's barrel cellar recently. Creature's spin for this year's 500ml bottles includes two limited-release variants of the main blend - Life In Flux with vanilla and coffee and Life In Flux with coconut and cocoa nibs. "Life In Flux is a blend of straightforward barrel-aged stout that represents the core philosophy of our spirits barrel-aging program," says Blake Tyers, director of Creature Comforts’ Wood Cellar & Mixed Fermentation Program. "The exquisite depth created from the simple combination of the barrels, beer and time makes it a do-not-miss blend."
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 Tucker Brewing Company
TUCKER LAGER
From our friends at Tucker Brewing Co. in Tucker, Georgia...
"Tucker Lager is your go-to, everyday beer! Both sessionable and flavorful, this helles-style lager beer is a Bavarian specialty. Crisp and refreshing like our TKR Pilsner, the Tucker Lager is the perfect balance of sweetness and bitterness, ideal for any occasion. Refreshing light aromas of bread and citrus packed in a frothy head."
4.7% ABV, 19 IBUs
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Fire Maker Brewing plans one new canned beer for each month in 2021. Mungo, Fire Maker's dragon, continues his exploration of flavorful hops in the brewery's rotating double IPA series called Space Dragon.
"Space Dragon: Mission 3 will feature Strata hops," notes Fire Maker's Elliott Hall. "Our innovative Chattahooch-Tea Southeastern IPA, a sweet tea IPA that utilizes a proprietary blend of teas to complement the lemony hop profile, gets a spring makeover with the limited release of Peach Chattahooch-Tea. This variation uses a blend of hops and teas to support the locally sourced peaches." Folks can visit Fire Maker’s taproom in West Midtown to experience more than 30 exclusive beers on tap."
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- 08/28/2021 - CLASSIC CITY BREW FEST, Athens, GA. 25th-ANNIVERSARY. 50+ exciting cask ales, local Athens draft beer booths, live music from Jim Cook, Hotel Indigo food booth and extra-special beers uncapped each hour! Tickets are on sale now. If you have tickets from the original date, these are still good, and you will be entered into exciting drawings and perks for hanging on to your tickets through the pandemic.
- 01/22/2022 ATLANTA CASK ALE TASTING. Mark your calendars for one of Atlanta's favorite craft beer fests that's returning in 2022 to the wonderful Bold Monk Brewing.
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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 photos and posts as we explore craft beer around the world. Also be sure to follow Owen Ogletree on Facebook.
 Follow Brewtopia Events on Twitter.
UP NEXT...
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Owen continues a series of Facebook posts spotlighting new craft beers in the market.
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