Sunday, August 29, 2021

Winners at our 25th-Anniversary Classic City Brew Fest


I want to thank everyone who made yesterday's 25th-anniversary Classic City Brew Fest so much fun: great volunteers, wonderful brewers/distributors, Jim Cook, Athens Area Humane Society, and the awesome staff at Hotel Indigo Athens Downtown. If you were able to attend, thanks so much!





We had a wonderful variety of cask ales from Georgia breweries, and the crowd awarded these casks as People's Choice:

FIRST: Burnt Hickory Brewery Cherry Pie Sister Disco Berliner Weisse

SECOND: Akademia Brewing Company Phobia the 13th Imperial Stout

THIRD: Athentic Brewing Company Barleywine




Thursday, August 19, 2021

Cask Ale List: Classic City Brew Fest - 8-28-2021


Look below for the exciting list of exclusive cask ales that will be available at our 25th-anniversary CLASSIC CITY BREW FEST in Athens, Georgia on Saturday, August 28, 2021. This list can change without notice. 


·        Akademia Brewing Phobia the 13th is our 13% ABV rich and robust Phobia Imperial Stout with additions of vanilla beans, cinnamon and Oreos.

·        Arches Brewing Bob's Your Uncle ESB. At 5.5% ABV, this ale offers a medium/light body accentuated by mild fruitiness and an emphasis on hop aroma rather than hop bitterness. Look for a dark copper color with notes of toffee and earthy tea.

·        Athentic Brewing Barleywine comes in at 10.6% ABV and was produced from a 100% two-row grain bill that was triple mashed and boiled overnight on our direct fire system to impart deep caramel and toffee notes with a luxurious mouthfeel. Hop aromatics arise from Idaho Gem and Cascade hops.

·        Atlanta Brewing Southern Pale. Our 6% ABV southern classic ale was cask-conditioned to bring the flavor. Citra and Denali hops give this brew slight tropical notes that help the southern heat fade away from one pint to the next.

·        Beacon Brewing Funky Goosey is a gooseberry Brett Saison dry-hopped with Centennial. It's a blend of three Saisons, all inoculated with different strains of Brettanomyces and a Belgian Saison yeast.

·        Blackbird Farms Brewery Xmas in August. This full-bodied Porter from Lilburn's newest craft brewery is loaded with fresh additions of cherries, nutmeg and cinnamon for a truly inspired cask ale. 6% ABV.

·        Blue Tarp Turncoat Hippies Hazy IPA is a soft, creamy, hazy brew that's dry-hopped with Enigma and Loral. If a turncoat is not an enigma, we don't know what is.

·        Bold Monk Bourbon Barrel-Aged The Way Tripel with raspberries. Flavors and aromas of raspberry, honey, wood and vanillin play beautifully with melon/citrus hop notes and spicy Trappist yeast phenolics. 8.8% ABV.

·        Braselton Brewing Braseltoberfest! A 6.4% ABV German Fest Bier that's malty and delicious. Prost!

·        Burnt Hickory Cherry Pie Sister Disco Berliner Weisse. This fruited pastry kettle-soured ale comes in at 5% ABV and 15 IBUs. Tart like fruit, yet sweet like the crust, this is the cask that some beer nerds will tell you they hate, but they will secretly drink it all.

·        Cherry Street Grease Monkey is a 10% ABV bourbon barrel-aged English-style Barleywine blended with bananas, hazelnuts and cinnamon. It was crafted in honor of the mechanics, machine heads and bruisers that bust the daily grind.

·        Creature Comforts Railway Ale is a "New World Bitter" with 4.3% ABV and US Chinook and New Zealand Pacific Sunrise hops. Inspired by the fine cask ales we enjoyed a couple of years ago in Manchester, England; our version is lightly dry-hopped and supremely drinkable.

·        Dachshund Brewing Biscotti Brown Ale - A light brown, malty ale with notes of almond, vanilla bean and a hint of chocolate for a delicious hand-dipped biscotti experience.

·        Eventide Brewing Blackberry Smoke Kolsch. Blackberry puree was added to our traditional Kolsch-style ale to create a fun fruit beer for summer. Blackberry comes through immediately on the nose, along with the floral characteristics of German noble hops.

·        Flowing Cups "Porter? I Hardly Know Her..." is a 5.2% ABV roasty American Porter with macadamia nuts. It's dark, sweet and chocolatey with an appealing nutty flavor. 

·        Gate City Light Lager. This refreshing golden lager stands out in the crowd because of generous dry-hopping with Zuper Saazer hops. 4.3% ABV and 8 IBUs.

·        Good Word Friends in High Places ranks as a 4.5% ABV English-style Bitter that's dry-hopped with Brambling Cross. The beer comes from a collaboration with Wooden Robot Brewery and Brasserie de la Senne.

·        High Card Brewing Planet of the Vampires is a crisp, golden Pilsner made with generous additions of blood oranges for an exceptional citrus bite and eye-catching hue.

·        Hippin' Hops Chocolate Stout. This fantastic 11.3% ABV stout comes from Georgia's first black-owned brick-and-mortar brewery that's located in East Atlanta Village. Expect robust notes of cocoa, espresso and dark fruit esters in this potent brew.

·        Indio Brewing Puff Nutty. This oatmeal stout was brewed with Madagascar vanilla beans, Georgia peanuts and eight pounds of Nicaraguan cacao nibs. Expect aromas and flavors reminiscent of Little Debbie Nutty Buddy bars and Reese's Puffs Cereal.

·        Khonso Brewing Hey Ya! is a fun take on a Belgian-style Golden Strong Ale brewed to make folks "shake it." Made with orange peel, a hint of cardamom and single-hopped with Mandarina Bavaria, this 9% ABV ale makes for a flavorful beer experience.

·        Left Nut Brewing 42 - An 11% ABV British-style Barleywine aged in new American oak barrels crafted by Gainesville Cooperage. After 7.5 months in the barrel, this beer holds the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything.

·        Lincoln Fill Station / Cherry Street Lincoln's Summer of Love is a delicate imperial sour ale brewed with fresh cherries and blackberries along with a touch of vanilla and a dash of cinnamon. 8% ABV.

·        Max Lager's Excommunication. This Flanders-style Red Ale was fermented with our house mixed-culture yeast strain for six months in our Solera barrel program. After initial fermentation, the beer was conditioned in a port wine/whiskey barrel for an additional four months. This special cask contains mission fig puree to highlight the dark fruit flavor and contrast beautifully with the rich tartness.

·        MAZURT The Time of Returning is a 9.5% ABV "Nordic Quad" aged in an Independent Distilling bourbon barrel. Generations have passed since Ragnar worshipped the old gods. Aegir, the god of sea and brewing, provided the yeast to brew this otherworldly elixir with grains and sugar aged in oak barrels as brewed for the banquets of the gods. This is the Season of What, now is The Time of Returning. Done in collaboration with Southern Brewing Company.

·        Monday Night Wish You Were Here. Our malty Drafty Kilt Scottish ale melds with additions of coffee, vanilla and macadamia nuts in this scrumptious cask ale that packs lovely notes of toffee, fruit, roasted nuts and espresso.

·        Monkey Wrench Adventures in Guava Land. Made with real pink guava and fresh basil, this exceptional sour ale is sure to invoke your adventurous side. 4.7% ABV.

·        Moon River Wacky Wit-Chata - Our 2017 Great American Beer Festival gold medalist Wacky Wit gets a horchata-inspired dose of flavor from additions of lactose, vanilla and cinnamon in this exclusive cask. 4.1% ABV.

·        New Realm LutraCrisp Lager is the brewery's popular Italian-style Pilsner that offers a beautiful, light malt profile balanced by gorgeous additions of Saphir and Cascade hops.

·        Normaltown Brewing "It's Pronounced Fronkensteen" is a delightfully tart ale conditioned on toasted coconut and vanilla beans for complexity. We also added a touch of lactose for an appealing mouthfeel and finish.

·        Orpheus Brewing Imperial Stout. This luscious, rich and roasty dark ale offers notes of caramelized sugar and nougat produced from a long overnight boil. This fruity, coffee-like strong ale comes in at 10% ABV.

·        Pontoon C’est la Açaí Berliner Weisse. This kettle-soured ale was brewed with whole açaí berries, strawberries, Sauvignon Blanc grapes and local apples for a wonderful depth of fruit intensity and complexity.

·        Rainy Day Brewery Brew-No-You-Know is an old-school American brown ale boasting dark malt notes of cocoa and roasted nuts - all balanced by American hops. It's direct and straightforward but filled with all the character you'd want in this style.

·        Red Hare The Drunken Hare is a special cask of our Hasenpfeffer Oktoberfest lager with additions of bourbon-soaked oak chips for a smooth, nutty and malty treat. 6% ABV.

·        Reformation Brewery Curuba Collision is a spicy rye pale ale conditioned in the cask with fresh vanilla, strawberries and curuba (banana passionfruit) for a delightful explosion of flavors.

·        Round Trip Oktoberfest. This remarkable beer was lagered at cold temperatures for five weeks, and the cask version includes additions of oak chips soaked in port wine for additional complexity.

·        Sabbath Brewing Trapped in the Grasp of a Memory is our oak-aged Hazy Raw Ale DIPA brewed with floor-malted barley, flaked wheat, Citra Cryo, Ekuanot Cryo and TRI2304 Cryo hops.

·        Schoolhouse Brewing Evil Queen. The Evil Queen is at it again - this time using her skills to take a Quad to the next level. This 13.5% ABV Belgian-style Dark Strong Ale was aged in apple brandy barrels for 12 months and boasts a dark reddish hue, subtle sweetness and notes of raisin, toffee, fig and apple pie.

·        Service Brewing Caramel Macchiato Golden Stout is an 8.5% ABV ale blended with PERC cold brew coffee and salted caramel. Delicious coffee shines through the honey-like malt bill that provides mouth-watering toffee notes.

·        Southern Brewing Company / Owen Ogletree Collaboration Cask. In a nod to the Old Fashioned cocktail, we took Cuchulainn Red Ale and aged it in a barrel that once held ASW Irish whiskey made with the same Loughran malt that we use for Cuchulainn. Additions of Woodford Reserve bourbon cherries and Angostura aromatic bitters add a mouth-watering cocktail nuance.

·        Southern Brewing Company Dulche de Leche Moon Eyes Imperial Stout is a 9.5% ABV dark ale. Decadent, rich caramel and lactose sugars meld with our Moon Eyes Imperial Stout to create this one-of-kind cask treat.

·        Steady Hand Celestial Orifices. This 6% ABV hazy IPA was dry-hopped with aromatic Comet, Bravo and Calypso hops. Expect notes of tropical fruit, grapefruit and orange with hints of sweet cannabis-like terpenes.

·        StillFire Brewing Thoroughly Good Bourbon Barrel-Aged Scotch Ale. Our 13.5% ABV award-winning Scotch Ale was given a 16-month quarantine in an ASW bourbon barrel. The result is truly "one bourbon, one Scotch, and one beer."

·        SweetWater Brewing HAZY Habanero Mango. This special cask contains our 6.3% ABV HAZY IPA that's juicy, fruity and slightly sweet with just a touch of enjoyable heat in the finish from the peppers.

·        Terrapin Casktime Pale Ale is our Pastime Pale Ale generously dry-hopped with Citra, Simcoe, Mosaic and Galaxy for an extra punch. Malts include two-row pale, flaked oats, malted wheat, Vienna and Red X. We used both pelletized and Cryo hops for an extra smooth hop presence.

·        The Queenswood Pub La Lucy was created in memory of Chelsy Giles, a beloved Terrapin employee who passed away last month. La Lucy is the name of Chelsy's cat, and Chelsy would have loved this Imperial Gose ale almost as much as she loved her kitty. The sour beer packs fresh mango and Tajin (a blend of mild chili peppers, lime and sea salt). Chelsy would say, "This beer is worthy of a flower crown."

·        Three Taverns Old Bones is a 5% ABV English-style Old Ale brewed out of a passion for classic English pub ales. Delightfully simple, yet subtly complex, this elegant beer is brewed with an intentional blend of floor-malted Maris Otter malt, medium English crystal malt, black malt and a touch of flaked wheat. Notes of toffee, baked biscuits, black cherries and molasses are prevalent, along with stone fruit esters from the English yeast.

·        Urban Tree Hopped Up on Peach. This cider is packed with aromatic and floral hops at the start and then finished with Georgia peach juice. Enjoy the bright, citrusy flavors of one of our favorite seasonal ciders that's ready-made for summer.

·        Variant Brewing Over the Top Imperial Pastry Stout. This 13% ABV Imperial Stout was brewed with maple syrup, toasted coconut, double-stuffed Oreos and cassia bark.

·        Wild Heaven Townsend's Landlord Ale is an authentic British-style Best Bitter style brewed with Baird's Maris Otter malt, UK Burton yeast and Styrian Golding and Willamette hops. 4% ABV.

·        Wild Leap Tonic Boom. This impressive blonde ale was brewed with juniper and peppercorns and then aged for six months in a fragrant gin barrel. 8.5% ABV.

·        Wrecking Bar Brewer's Droop Oak-Aged ESB. Our exceptional British-style Extra Strong Bitter (ESB) was oak-aged to accentuate the ale's toasty caramel character and woody hop essence with a pleasing note of vanilla.