Homebrew

Scott played a really great show last Wednesday night. The venue was really cool, but unusual. It was a local brewery, Atlanta Brewing Company.

On Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays they do brewery tours and tastings and have live music. It's a really neat idea. Just brilliant marketing. For the brewery and the musician. The shows are run by the owner/president of a local label with an impressive list of artists, so the music is far better than what you might expect for free.

The crowd was pretty big and reasonably attentive for an alcohol-fueled event. A lot of our friends came out which is always fun. And appreciated. My friend Josie – whom I haven't seen since 1992 – even came out with her fiance. That was pretty neat. Her fiance compared Scott to Neil Young. Always a nice compliment for a singer-songwriter.

ABC is ATL's oldest microbrewery and makes Red Brick Ale. I had had Red Brick and it's fine. Not awesome, but good enough.

At the tasting, I tried two of their other beers and decided I like beer again. If you're a beer drinker and can find either of these in your area, I strongly urge you to give them a try. The first is the Red Brick Blonde. It's very light and refreshing with a real clean palate. Nice. An excellent spring and summer beer.

The second I never would have expected to enjoy as much as I did. I like dark beer, but I've never been able to finish a Guinness. As Scott has so charmingly put it on many an occasion, "Drinking a Guinness is like drinking a loaf of bread." And we're both Irish. So, that's sayin' something about my particular tastes.

But, to my point, ABC's Double Chocolate Oatmeal Porter was amazing. If you like coffee, you'll love it. It has a rich, creamy coffee flavor with a strong chocolate aroma. There's no bitterness and best of all, it's not super-heavy. I wouldn't want it every day, but as a treat once in a while, it's pretty nice. Nothing like a loaf of bread. At all.

If you're in the Atlanta area, you should definitely go check the place out sometime. Give the beers a try and support a working musician.