Decatur boasts one of America’s most unique craft beer festivals and is also home to The Brick Store Pub, often mentioned in the same breath with establishments in cities like Philadelphia, New York, Toronto, and San Francisco.

It seems only natural that the little burg just east of Atlanta is evolving into a brewing center as well. Twain’s Billiards and Taps, which was one of the co-founders of the Decatur Craft Beer Festival along with the Brick Store, is now distributing kegs of its seasonal offerings from an expanded brewpub.

Wild Heaven, a wildly successful start-up due to its Ode to Mercy American brown ale, is planning its own new brewery in Avondale Estates, cheek-by-jowl to Decatur. Three Taverns anticipates a launch of its first beers from a new $1.9 million facility that will feature Belgian styles made on New Street in Decatur. The nano-sized Blue Tarp will open a tasting room and provide tours on College Avenue this summer as well.

“I think that craft beer and Decatur is a good match because Decaturites tend to be open-minded, worldly, and adventurous folks who appreciate the independent and creative spirit that informs craft brewing,” said Uri Wurtzel, who co-owns Twain’s with his brother Ethan. It was Ethan who first brought up the idea of Decatur hosting a beer festival, first held in 1998.

In our effort to craft content in our Atlanta offices that will keep even the most experienced beer drinker engaged, in this issue we have reached out to local, national and international sources.

Owen Ogletree, who hails from nearby Athens, Georgia, lends his expertise in food and beer to the question of what makes pizza a perfect match for flavorful brews? Writer Jim Pedley traveled across town – his place of residence being Kansas City – to get the lowdown on why people in the Midwest and now other regions are so keen on the beers of Boulevard.

We then went across our northern border to Montreal-based Martin Thibault, a connoisseur who believes in getting down to the last ingredient whenever he visits a country with intriguing beer makers. In this issue, the readers can travel with him as he discovers a whole new concept of farm to table in Japan.

In addition to a brewery tour in Texas at Jester King, yours truly went down the road and across the street to 5 Seasons Brewing at the Prado to chat with head brewer Kevin McNerney about recent developments in craft brewing. Not surprisingly, his place of work was recently listed among Atlanta’s best beer bars by Atlanta Magazine, because Kevin’s small batch creations are unsurpassed for body, structure, mouthfeel and flavor.

As we said, thinking and drinking local is often a rewarding experience for beer connoisseurs – wherever your travels may take you.

- Jonathan Ingram

The buzz for this annual gathering of brewers, distributors, and acolytes began even earlier than usual this year when 49,000 general admission tickets sold out in less than an hour. By October the beer community’s Twitterati was already starting to make predictions and recommendations well before the doors of the Colorado Convention Center swung open for the eager public.

Craft beer pioneer Jack McAuliffe made an appearance along with his New Albion Ale, 110 brewery booths were added to the main festival hall, and an 84th category (Fresh Hop Ale) was added to the list of beer styles in the competition. Even for the seasoned festival-going veteran, this four-day event that typically spills over into various bars and breweries in Lower Downtown, River North, and Capitol Hill, is not something to be taken lightly. It requires a certain amount of dedication to come out on two feet. And no amount of Cicerone training could prepare you to make it through a tasting menu featuring well over 2,000 beers from more than 600 breweries in a modest 92 hours. Honestly, that’s probably for the best.

Here in the offices of BC in Atlanta, we're lobbying for flavorful stories. The man who led the BA's charge up the Capitol steps, Dogfish Head Brewing founder Sam Calagione, is the subject of our front cover and Innovators Series feature. If ever there was a brewer who pushes the style boundaries, it's Calagione, whose profile comes with telling insight from the Philadelphia-based Carolyn Smagalski...

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AVAILABLE WEB STORIES
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Since the House of Beers opened its doors, Bangkok has seen the arrival of upscale beer bars and brewpubs with English, Belgian and German themes. Not to be outdone, Thailand’s flagship brewer Boon Rawd is leading a homegrown movement with Est. 33 – a $1 million brewpub. Would you like a Copper ale made with germinated brown rice to accompany your buffalo wings and chili lime sauce?

“Thai food goes well with Belgian white beer, with its citrus notes and subtle sweetness. I’d love to get the line of Brooklyn beers in here, or Dogfish Head, or something else that’s well-hopped and fruity, bitter and strong.”

- Jarrett Wrisley, owner of the new Soul Food Mahanakorn

In the capitol of Thailand, there’s a new kind of temple in town dedicated to matching traditional dishes with beer and food styles more common to points west. Since the House of Beers opened its doors, Bangkok has seen the arrival of upscale beer bars and brewpubs with English, Belgian and German themes. Not to be outdone, Thailand’s flagship brewer Boon Rawd is leading a homegrown movement with Est. 33 – a $1 million brewpub. Would you like a Copper ale made with germinated brown rice to accompany your buffalo wings and chili lime sauce?

We track down the Jack Kerouac of craft brew, Tony Magee for an exclusive look at how he built his beer kingdom, and press our luck with the growing number of craft breweries in Vegas, the city of neon and steel.

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AVAILABLE WEB STORIES

FEATURES

Up A Notch With Emeril Lagasse
The New Orleans Chef Talks Beer, Boudin
 

Resident world traveler and Connoisseur Martin Thibault crafts an amazing journey into the top secret world of Lithaunia's Farmhouse Brewers, John Holl sits down with Sierra Nevada founder and legend Ken Grossman, and we take an early look at pale lagers, a style growing more popular by the day.

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Traveling without internet? Download the PDF HERE.

AVAILABLE WEB STORIES

FEATURES

Great novelists did not just write about strong beer. Take James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” for example, undoubtedly one of the great books of the 20th century. Here we find a name-check to Lord Ardilaun and Lord Iveagh, great-great grandsons of Arthur Guinness I, and learn how Guinness is made. At one point a character is brought:

“…a crystal cup full of the foaming ebon ale which the noble twin brothers Bungiveagh and Bungardilaun brew ever in their divine alevats, cunning as the sons of deathless Leda. For they garner the succulent berries of the hop and mass and sift and bruise and brew them and they mix therewith sour juices and bring the must to the sacred fire and cease not night or day from their toil, those cunning brothers, lords of the vat.”

Well, perhaps that’s not really how it’s done. But beer and brewing and breweries and brewers do pop up surprisingly often in the very best novels. For instance, you will discover in one of the great books of the 19th century, Thomas Hardy’s “The Mayor of Casterbridge,” an excellent recipe for homebrewed ale of the sort made in country pubs in the West County of England early in the 19th century:

The cannery building still stands, extensively remodeled and abutting rows of new houses. It’s now the home of the very up-to-date Dogfish Head Craft Brewery – the maker of extreme beers like 120 Minute IPA, Chicory Stout, Raison D’Être and Palo Santo Marron.

The brewery draws up to 800 visitors a week in summer and a smaller but steady stream the rest of the year. They come for the beer and to meet the people who make such oddities as Midas Touch, a drink akin to mead; Black & Blue, a Belgian-style ale fermented with blackberries and blueberries; Olde School, a barleywine fermented with dates and figs; and Fort, a raspberry beer with 18 percent alcohol by volume.

You may catch a glimpse of the founder and president, Sam Calagione, who turns 41 this spring. He started Dogfish Head in 1995 as a brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, 16 miles away. The name comes from a point of land on the coast of Maine near Boothbay Harbor, which Calagione, who is from western Massachusetts, used to visit with his parents. His wife, Mariah Calagione, is credited with bringing him and his ideas to Delaware, her native state.

Visitors flock to the Peach State’s oldest city in search of a connection to the genteel past of antebellum mansions, cobblestone streets, garden squares, fountains, trees draped in Spanish moss and deep Southern hospitality.

Savannah holds a quirky, eccentric charm that quickly endears itself to almost anyone, and its popular downtown historic district – now more beautiful than ever thanks to the restoration of countless historic homes and businesses over the last 20 years – provides an extremely pedestrian-friendly locale. Just over four hours by car from sprawling Atlanta, the city offers its guests an inviting, tranquil environment where life seems unhurried. Whether pausing in a coffee shop, relaxing on a park bench, enjoying a plate of local seafood, or admiring the architecture on a leisurely walk through its 21 squares, Savannah never fails to please. And for lovers of great beer, the city also boasts a variety of personable, Old World-style pubs and restaurants in which to imbibe, eat and relax.