HotLanta: Anything But!

Howdy, Beer Nation. What’s been keeping you busy? Hmmm? The USABeerTrends crew found themselves in the great frozen city of the South, Atlanta, last week on “other business”.  Actually, we were in Peachtree City, about 20 miles south of downtown. But, as always, we make room for beer, no matter what or where the “other business” is.

And by frozen, we mean frozen. The temperature only got above 32 a couple of times during our stay. Kept thinking I was in Durango, except there were no mountains, and no Ska, no Steamworks … OK, snap out of it.  Back to Atlanta.

Ah, the first night. After travel and all day meetings, we were hungry and thirsty. Steak sounded good. Turns out, the options were fairly limited, and our client was all hot for Outback. OK, then. While Outback has a variety of macros, they are kinda thin on imports and American Crafts.

There was a guy at the bar talking with a construction company buddy about his new online business – a women’s cosmetic web site. He was knocking back a Bud Light and looked at me kinda funny when I ordered the Sam Adams Winter Lager. I asked if he’d ever tried it. Taking another pull from the Bud Light, he said, no, that he didn’t like no beer he couldn’t pound. Well, now.

Pounding a Bud Light

Steak was on the barbie, Sam Adams Winter Lager was in the house, and in our glasses.

As the time in Atlanta passed, it became evident that the USABT crew was not going to be able to get to Twain’s or Brick Store like we wanted to. They are priorities for our next visit, though.

Mmm, another group meal with the client, who really likes chain casual dining establishments. This time, we found ourselves at the Red Lobster in Newnan. Again the requisite selection of

Sam Adams Winter Lager

macros, a couple of imports, and a couple of American craft beers. I asked the bartender what beer was selling best recently. He said it was the Sam Adams Winter Lager. I was surprised, and glad folks are venturing outside the normal macro bounds. Yuengling was also present, but not as popular in the colder weather, he said, as it had been a few months ago. I’d already been the Sam Adams route, so, wood-fire grilled trout and Yuengling this time.

I was able to report back to our home base for a couple of days, thank goodness. Spent some time at our Flying Saucer‘s 2nd anniversary bash. Special casks, special prices. Good times. Met the guys behind Hops and Grain, a soon to be brewery here in Austin. Learned about their sustainability mission. Pretty cool ideas. Check ‘em out.

The trip home was over as fast as it began and the USABT crew was back to the frozen tundra of Peachtree City, GA. Still no opportunities to hit those famed beer joints in Decatur. Rats. Next time!

Nope. The “other business” kept us locked under the bubble that is Peachtree City. Watch out for them golf carts! Our only opportunities for beer, once again, came with the tour de chain restaurants. The first evening, we met our client and someone from their Brooks transit division at Longhorn (Yep, steaks again). I was happy to see Sierra Nevada on the beer list this time and made that my choice for the evening. The bartender was very proud of their selection of Budweiser, Miller and Coors (and associated breweries) products. They had a few imports, too. Mostly the same fare we found at the other chain joints. There were a couple of guys at the bar lamenting their pay compensation plans. They were in some kind of high tech sales jobs. Travel around quite a bit. It was funny to see one of them raise his right eyebrow and give a knowing nod when I ordered the Sierra Nevada. I told him of our adventures, searching for American craft beers under the Peachtree City bubble. Turns out, he’s a craft beer geek like us.  That’s when he told me about the Taco Mac.

Now I have heard of Taco Mac. Have even eaten and had beers at one elsewhere in the Atlanta area in the past. I even think we’re Twitter friends. I did not know they had a location in PTC almost next door to Longhorn! Oh, happy day.

The next day, it was hard to concentrate on the tasks at hand, knowing we’d go to dinner at Taco Mac. Why the excitement? If you don’t already know, Taco Mac is an Atlanta chain that started with a restaurant in the Virginia Highland section of town. Wings and beer. Lots and lots of beer. Now they have locations in and around Atlanta and also in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

At the Peachtree City location (275 Market Place Connector 770-692-0006) they boast 100 beers on tap and 300+ beers in bottles. Our kind of place. The USABeerTrends crew fit right in. In fact, they were nervous we wouldn’t leave at closing time. Check out the bottles, taps and cold room. Excellent!

Duck Rabbit Milk Stout

On this evening, Taco Mac was featuring some Colorado beers. Tommyknocker Cocoa Porter, Breckenridge Vanilla Porter and Fort Collins Brewery Chocolate Stout. Our crew rotated through the Breckenridge Vanilla, Terrapin’s Golden Ale, and Red Brick Porter from Atlanta Brewing Co. Then, finished with Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. We were pleased with all of the choices with one of the crew complaining that the Terrapin was a little too light. Maybe so. compared to the other beers we were sampling. But still plenty good! And the Duck Rabbit Milk Stout – creamy, roasted goodness.

(l-r) Terrapin Golden Ale, Breck Vanilla Porter, Red Brick Porter

Hooray, Taco Mac. Our savior in beer. And the wings don’t suck either!

The 7:00 a.m. flight came too early. But sleep on the plane came easy.

Cheers!