Another Taco Mac Challenge Update

This is a week old, as it was LAST Sunday that I went to Taco Mac to continue the Passport (Now known as the lame Brewniversity) challenge, but I still needed to log it.

Two more beers means that the count is up to 73. That also means I am two beers away from reaching 75, which will earn me a $10 gift certificate to Taco Mac.

Now, a recap…

Red Hare Long Day Lager

I started with a Red Hare Long Day Lager. I had never had it before — hell, I had never heard of it before — but I figured, what the hell?

Red Hare is a local brewery located in Marietta. I knew it was from Georgia when I ordered it, but I didn’t know it was from Marietta. If I had known, I wouldn’t have gotten it because I hate everything from Cobb County.

Except, maybe, for this. It was a light, refreshing pilsner that I really enjoyed. It was a bit sweet with some hops — not a lot and no bitterness to it.

If you’re looking for a light, golden beer that wouldn’t weigh you down, I’d recommend it. Despite my hatred for Cobb County, I might order another Red Hare again. Just for the awesome logo alone.

Victoria

The second and final beer that I had was a Victoria in a bottle. I already had a Victoria on draft, but since I was without my list and didn’t want to risk getting a beer I already had before, I played it safe and got the bottled version.

When I got Victoria on draft a few months ago, I loved it. I thought it was delicious, refreshing, perfect taste for an amber. Now, meh.

Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was still good, but it did not live up to its hype. It’s a good taste for an amber, but the finish was anything but smooth. In fact, it had a big kick at the end.

And not a good kick.

To be fair, though, Victoria’s website recommends serving it with a lime, and Taco Mac did not serve a lime with it. Maybe that’s what it was missing, but who knows?

73 down, 52 to go… 

Past Taco Mac Challenge Posts

Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee

This weekend I got to experience one of the most fun things I’ve ever done in my six years of Georgia as Katie and I went river tubing down the Chattahoochee River.

Now, I’ve heard of the Chattahoochee through two ways in my time in Georgia — as the cause of Sweetwater Beer to “Save the Hooch” and the terrible, annoying song they play at Atlanta Braves games.

SIDENOTE: Why the hell would Georgians like that song played at Braves games? That would be like LSU fans going nuts because “Cotton Eye Joe” comes on before kickoff. Dumb dumb dumb.

We had no idea what to expect. I mean, the name of the company we went to was called $10 River Tubing. With a name like that, you know you’re getting quality, right?

Well, more like bare bones river tubing, but that was perfect. And shockingly enough, it only cost $10 to do it (plus a couple of add-ons and fees, but A LOT cheaper than I would have thought it’d cost).

What the company lacks in amenities, though, its clientele make up in personality. I must have missed the requirement for back tattoos and nipple piercings in the fine print. It was like Jersey Shore had come to Gwinnett.

I tried to Guido myself up, and I guess that was enough as we made the cut to hop on the crappiest school bus I’ve been on since second grade.

After a short ride, we get to the river. THE 55-DEGREE RIVER!!!! Despite being hot as hell outside, the water remained a nippy temperature that was reminiscent of this year’s winter (if it even got that cold winter).

Katie and I — being the smart, non-nipped-pierced people that we are — opted for a closed bottom tube, so we were barely touching the water and we were good while others screamed when their butts were introduced to the cold river. Amazing what a college, high school, high school equilavant education can do for you.

For two hours we floated down river, dodging a couple of sticks and logs along the way and seeing some cool ducks. It was one of the most relaxing experiences we’ve had here.

The only problem came a few hours after the tubing was done. I apparently am not good as consistent coverage with sun screen.

Using the spray sun screen and with my right hand, I completely covered my left side and am doing fine there. My left hand, though, sucks at trying to do the most basic task of holding down a button and going up and down. The result: My chest looks like it believes in Harvey Dent.

Overall, I recommend tubing the Hooch. Get your piercings on, find the perfect tribal tattoo to decorate your shoulder blades and grab a tube.

Now I can drink a Sweetwater and know that while I may not have saved the Hooch, I at least had fun on it.

Taco Mac Challenge Update

All right, folks. We’re trying this again. And maybe this time I’ll keep the blog going.

As you may or may not know, I am embattled with Taco Mac and it’s challenge to drink 125 different types of beer. Going into the weekend, I was at 67, but Saturday night I knocked four more off my list, with Katie contributing one herself.

I figured this would be as good a topic as any to post on the blog, so here are the four beers I had with a review of each.

Red Bridge

I have tried to order this beer five times at the Taco Mac in Decatur, each time with the waitress coming back to the table to say they were out of it. Jerks.

But this weekend, we ventured out to the sticks and went to the Taco Mac in Suwanee. Surprise, they actually had this beer. When I ordered it, our (extremely beer knowledgable) waitress told me it was a gluten-free beer and if that was OK with me.

Uhhhhh, sure?

I’ve heard the term before, but I have no idea what gluten-free means. I come to find out it means it wasn’t made with wheat or barley. Crazy!

What’s crazier is that this was actually delicious. The carbonation was weird, but I liked the taste. It’s an amber beer with a hoppier taste than most ambers. I liked it Katie, however, not so much.

Abita Amber in a CAN!

OK, so it wasn’t a “new” beer, but with the Taco Mac challenge, you can get the same beer in a bottle and draft and it counts as two.

I already had Abita Amber in a bottle, but not in a can. So yeah, I went there.

I’m not even going to review it because it’s Abita Amber, my favorite beer. It’s glorious! Putting it in a can, though, makes it that much better. As I always say (or will start to say from now on), a beer in a can makes you feel more like a man.

Magic Hat No. 9

I’ve had this beer WAAYYYY too much, but it must have been during my pre-Taco Mac challenge days because it never ended up on the list. Until now.

Taco Mac listed No. 9 as a malt/flavored beer. Uh, not so much, guys. According to the Magic Hat site, No. 9 is “A beer cloaked in secrecy. An ale whose mysterious and unusual palate will swirl across your tongue and ask more questions than it answers. A sort of dry, crisp, refreshing, not-quite pale ale. #9 is really impossible to describe because there’s never been anything else quite like it.”

Good enough for me. It’s a lighter beer with a lot of taste, a tiny bit of bitterness and some hops to it. I love it, and you will, too.

Leienkugel’s Berry Weiss

This was Katie’s fruit juice beer selection.

It’s a beer that has absolutely no taste of alcohol in it and instead tastes like cranberry juice. I like cranberry juice, so I have no problem with it; I just wouldn’t get it if I wanted to taste beer.

Katie, though, loves it. And our beer encyclopedia waitress recommended she try Asskisser’s line of beers. That should help me get closer to 125.

71 down, 54 to go …