Archive for the ‘Beer’ Category

Sweetwater Brew Your Cask Off - March’s Best New Beer Festival

Friday, March 11th, 2011 by Liz

When the weather is just a bit too chilly for enjoying the Spring kickoff to Sweetwater Happy Hours, our favorite local brewery has concocted a new way to enjoy the “almost there” days of March.

The solution? It’s called Sweetwater Brew Your Cask Off and the name couldn’t do it more justice. Imagine the Sweetwater experience times 10,000 in the form of a beer festival where hundreds of Atlanta establishments (and amateurs I might add) submit their entries for a full blown beer “cask” competition.

What do the attendees get for the measly $35 entry fee? A small sample glass, unlimited access to all beer tastings over 4 hours and of course, the power to vote. The beer you’ll get here is literally one of a kind - because none of them are made elsewhere. While that can be a good and a bad thing (there’s only so much one can take of smokey suds and wait, is that pine tree I just tasted?), it doesn’t hurt to try them all. You already paid for it. My cohorts and I found the naming conventions quite entertaining and loved seeing what our favorite Atlanta bars had come up with. If you get sick of all the competitive attempts, go inside to fill up your sample glass with Sweetwater’s own brews - which flow like water just as they do normally. And certainly take the edge off any unfiltered bad taste in your mouth.

Location wise, the beer festival is held in the same location as the brewery but expands into the parking lot so that live bands can perform comfortably. This year, due to the rain showers, Sweetwater did a great job of encompassing the majority of walking paths outside. Also, food vendors are plenty to curb the appetite (think Ormsby’s, Mellow Mushroom and yes, I saw someone carrying Indian samosas around).

My one complaint? Word seems to have gotten out from last year, so the crowds entering, navigating and even filtering out towards the end were quite overwhelming. But to take the positive route, I was proud to see that Atlanta and Sweetwater still strongly support the art of craft beer. After all, that complex porter or IPA you may have tasted could make its way to a liquor store or a bar near you. Or maybe enter yourself next year if you’ve got the street cred?

Overall, a worthwhile addition to the year’s string of festivals, so set a reminder for next year!

Share on Facebook

Tags: , ,
Posted in Beer, Events | No Comments »

Buckhead meet Brookhaven

Thursday, January 27th, 2011 by JonathanG

A cold, icy week. Confined within four walls. Limited to Sunday’s grocery shopping.

You see, I live in Brookhaven between two hills (yes, uphill both ways) and could not leave my house at all during the winter ice storm of 2011. Almost everyone reading this can relate and share in the pain felt due to the city-wide shut down. By Thursday night, cabin fever had absolutely set in, and I was ready to venture out to explore the white winter world that had enveloped my neighborhood.

My exploration took my fiancée and me to the most recent addition to Village Place at Brookhaven, Kaleidoscope. To understand my excitement, let me first explain a little bit about myself. I grew up in Atlanta, experienced the Mid-West for 4 years while in college, and returned to my beloved city. But growing up in Atlanta doesn’t mean you know all the great places to eat and go out. I remember when I first discovered Everybody’s Pizza - and, of course, my friend’s were shocked that I hadn’t discovered it earlier. So finding new (or new to me) places to eat is like a really good book that you can’t put down. As with the turn of each suspenseful page of a book, I can’t wait to see what a new restaurant will bring.

So here there we were, a new place to eat and the first time venturing out in four days. Kaleidoscope, or K-pub, is a gastropub in Brookhaven. As a self-declared food-junkie and beer enthusiast, having a gastropub within walking distance of my house was too good to be true. You see, gastropubs concentrate on the quality of food. Not that other restaurants don’t, but you get a little bit more quality of food at a gastropub than you would at your other local watering hole. K-pub, as with other gastropubs, has a more relaxed atmosphere, allowing Brookhaven dwellers a comfortable place to eat, drink, and be social.

Having only been there once, I can’t say too much about their menu - though the “made-from-scratch” broccoli cheese soup was not only flavorful, but filled you with cheesy goodness. The best part of this place was really the beer selection. While they do have the typical Miller or Bud for those seeking more timid waters, the variety of new and different beers (on tap and in the bottle) made my walk home, just a little bit more fun than the cold walk there.

Overall, Village Place at Brookhaven is definitely doing their part to provide the “urban lifestyle” in this Buckhead meet Brookhaven neighborhood.

Share on Facebook

Posted in Beer, Good Places to Eat | No Comments »