I got the news on Facebook:
Growlers are ordered, kegs are coming in, 3 tap system is almost finished. Should be filling 32 and 64 oz growlers by next week. A few of our first drafts will be Dogfish Chicory Stout, Grimbergen Double, and Great Divide Fresh Hop.
That is the news from the Big M in Potsdam NY. You'll recall I visited there in late October and again in December. I have fallen in love with the place - and the idea of the place especially. But who wouldn't? The very idea that you can go to your local grocery store to buy a growler at that same grocery store is an unbelievable freedom to a Canadian. Me, I have a growler before me, a jug of Church-Key House Red. It's malty lovely that sort of almond-y cherry thing, black tea hopping barely imposing on the cloy, sticky sweetness and full of joy. But I have to drive a hour and an half to buy it at the brewery. We are not allowed such things being distributed locally around here. Because we live in Ontario. Not so in Potsdam, soon. You'll be going to the Big M if you are near Potsdam... or your nearest place where you live I suppose. Enjoy that freedom, please.
And while you are there, there in Potsdam, if the season is right and the hour is right, too, you'll have a chance to have BBQ from their own smoker trailer that is parked in the lot. That's it above. To review: growlers + home made BBQ = freedom. I like that math. I wonder if they do minor beer writer celebrity beer and BBQ weekend? I'll sign anything from a cast to a six pack to get in on that sort of Saturday afternoon.
Update: we now have the evidence as growlers have been filled since last Friday, the 21st:
Comments
The Beer Nut - January 14, 2011 8:05 PM
Current forecasts indicate I'll stop snickering childishly at the headline perhaps around next Wednesday, though subsequent outbreaks can be expected.
barbecuesteve - January 15, 2011 12:14 AM
Alan, if by any chance you make it to Atlanta, I will serve you homebrew beer and home-made BBQ. The beer's likely to be an IPA, as that's what the house beer is, but depending on your timing, you might get a winter warmer, or a märzen, or an Oktoberfest. Otherwise it's an IPA.
Alan - January 15, 2011 12:30 AM
Excellent, M. Noix: I love it when I am subtler than is immediately apparent. Delight in the implications adjectival, too. Note that I also used the terms "jug," "it" and "Potsdam" in the post... if you know what I mean.
Joel - January 15, 2011 8:00 AM
It's not often I feel lucky to live ten miles from Potsdam, but this is one of those times. Alan, let me know when you're headed this way and I'll meet you there! I still take great pride in the fact that I was there for your first-ever Big M visit.
Two If By Sea - January 15, 2011 9:56 AM
Just might be almost excuse enough to go back to wifey's home stomping grounds....almost.
Aaron - January 20, 2011 12:49 AM
I just discovered that Georgetown Brewing Co in Seattle fills growlers for $6 Monday thru Friday. If I could make BBQ in my apartment, I would be a free man.
JohnH - January 23, 2011 10:47 AM
I discovered the delights of the growler this year. We have a great little brewpub in downtown Chattanooga where I regularly fill up (although it's a little pricey at $14), and another good beer shop that offers a rotating selection of craft beers for $9.