We finally got out of town this weekend. We love Asheville, but having been achored here since November, we decided to head down to Athens, Ga. for the Classic City Brew Fest at The Foundry. KP and Ed were there, furiously taking notes. (Thanks, Ed, for hooking us up with tickets!) Bob was there, as was Don, Chris, Lisa from Southern Brew News, Sandi from Highland, and of course, the guys at Terrapin Brewery. Highlights? The new Jolly Pumpkin E.S.Bam, a deliciously hoppy Belgian with some funk that is the trademark of JP brews. We also had a firkin of Heavy Seas Loose Cannon, which was pretty wicked. The best though was seeing Devin from Dogfish Head, who was running 90 Minute IPA through the Randall using mint, basil and coffee. Holy cow! It sounds so wrong, but oh so tasty. Rather remarkable.

There’s also an amazing new beer bar in Athens, called Trappeze. That is a must stop.

On the way out, we hit Five Points Bottle Shop, because even though we own a humble storefront, there is always something you will find. Sachin is great and treated us well. We walked out with five boxes of goodies. (Yes, indecisiveness is a huge issue.) Among the bounty is an old North Coast Silver Jubilee; Avery Thirteen; Cantillon St. Lamvinus; JP E.S.Bam; Ellezelloise Saison 2000; Drie Fonteinen Schaerbeekse Kriek (made with the best cherries in the world); Drie Fonteinen Oude Gueze; Draco (made with blueberries); and Taras Boulba to name a few.

A short trip over to the brand-spanking-new Terrapin Brewery was worth the stop. It’s huge! (There’s an event upcoming there this spring, which we’ll post more on later.) We took them a Bell’s box o’ goodies, and in return, we got special tastes of Oak-aged Rye Squared and Spike’s second Side Project, which is a subtlely smoked lager, straight from the tank. There’s also a bunch of new Terrapin merchandise we picked-up. Very cool tees, hats and even some of these, so you can make your own “Dirty Turtle.” Avoid shipping costs and get yer Terrapin gear at Bruisin’ Ales.