Beering in Dekalb County

What a night we had nice night in Decatur. Just an EXCELLENT little downtown perfect for partying and partaking in craft beer. The next day, we decided to pop open one of the bombers we picked up from Green's.

Beer Log: July 11, 2009
State: relaxing in the hotel room

Dogfish Head Black and Blue
The wife had a headache, so may as well drink some more beer. Malt beer and sour nose. (When I say "beer smell", I'm thinking of what Budweiser smells like). Lots of carbonation in this copper colored beer. The head is reddish white and very strong, nullus. I did not expect that color with a beer that has blueberry in it. The taste is belgiany though, and rather fruity. I can see the raspberry and blueberry in the beer, but I'll confess I read that already on the label, so my mind may have been looking for those flavor notes. Moderate carbonation on the second drink, and the raspberry is coming on strong. Very taste on a hot day. Could go for some of this during my PE party. 4 Stars.

Later on that night after the family reunion pretty much shut down, we made our way over to a Buffalo Wild Wings for UFC 100. I was rooting for The Next Big Thing Brock Lesnar as well as Hendo. If you are a UFC fan then you know I had a good night. The first couple fights were kinda boring, so the wife left to catch some zzzzs. As is my tradition, I was drank the only local beer they had, Sweetwater 420 IPA. The beer was not bad and almost chalky.

Now I know BW's is a very popular chicken wings place, but dammit their waitstaff has to belly up and learn a little something about their own beer selection. That's twice now in two totally different cities where the waiter didn't even know what local beer was on tap. I don't want you to run down the whole list, just what's your stuff. Oh well.

All in all, a nice little weekend trip the Atlanta area. I always enjoy seeing my old stomping ground and checking out what's new. Looks like Dekalb county has stepped it up a few notches, and Taco Mac is taking things over. I plan on going back to the ATL in September, so hopefully I can find more local beer.

Beering in Decatur, GA: How you know your 2 year old got in your beer book

I'm not even going to TRY and read and retype this one. My little girl found my notes and went ballistic. But a couple weekends ago we were in Dekalb County, Georgia for the family reunion, and the wife and I were able to steal away one night for ourselves and ended up hanging out in Decatur, GA.

First off, on Ponce De Leon we found a truly awesome liquor store with a SERIOUS selection of beer. They even had a cellar of just Belgian beer. The place was called Green's. There were a lot of people in the store at the time, and my wife was going crazy with all the beer selection. I was trying to keep my reserve as I was more ready to hit the bar scene. After picking up some beer we would never find in Houston, we went what is considered the #2 Beer bar in the world.

Brick Store Pub
The place was a little difficult to find as downtown Decatur (which I would've thought was real ghetto) was a labyrinth of nice beer bars, regular bars, yuppie spots, restaurants, and no parking. What makes it so wild is that there is a Marta stop right there. For those familiar with the Metro Atlanta area, this area of Decatur is kind of like the bar scene in Buckhead used to be before it got really hood five years ago: young professional crowd, very multicultural.

Anyway Brick Store had a nice somewhat rustic decor and was packed. We eventually made our way to a table after posting up at the bar. The wife and I both ordered a Cheeseburger and it was fantastic. The beer menus have some kind of old school leather covers, very nice. And the selection is AWESOME, with some cellared rare Belgian beer to boot. Combined with the food, I'll go on and say this is the best beer bar/restaurant I've been to (at least before I made it to Toronto). At this point, I'll just post my notes with the beers I tried and whatnot. Consider this a Behind-the-Scenes look at how I go about reviewing beer in real life. You can thank the baby for the extra notes.

You notice on the notes that afterward we made it to Twain's, a brewpub in the area. I was forcing the issue a bit as I wanted to make sure I hit the last brewpub in the metro area I hadn't had. Not on the page is the Russian Imperial Stout I had at Twains.

Russian Imperial Stout
Harsh chocolate and smooth flavor, kind of bitter as well. Moderately hopped and the chocolate is more like chocolate powder. I am pleasantly surprised with the crisp finish. High 3 Star.

There was a Taco Mac in the area as well, which pretty much sealed the deal of hideaways I would spend time in if I lived back in the ATL. Decatur was just a great little spot in the many pockets of bars in the Atlanta area. The weather was a good 20 degrees lower than it was in Houston, nice. We got out of Decatur and made it home to try a few more brews we picked up, then to keep it moving on to Buffalo. But that's for another post. Holla.