And on that note we're gonna get right on with a little anecdote that we completely forgot to mention last week and that's The Bestowing of the Paddle! For those of you who don't know the Lore behind this lil' tradition of ours (it's been a little while), its origins date back to when Jared got his first-ever brewery job and his friend Dave got it in his head that all the brewers would have their own mash paddles that they'd bring to work. This is maybe impractical on a 100+ BBL brewhouse like where Jared was working at the time, but it turns out that it's an incredible idea for a tiny little brewhouse like ours so whenever one of our brewers reaches a certain tenure in the brewhouse (somewhere in the 1-2 years range) they get their own paddle and just last week (you guessed it) Macon got his paddle! And while many Paddles Past have been made by Jared (who is very much Not A Woodworker), this one was largely made by T-Bone (Jared's dad, who made both of our bars, all of our tables, a fair amount of our tap handles, and who is also not a woodworker but he's a lot less likely to accidentally glue his hand to his face, which is apparently something that can happen when making a paddle out of a single piece of wood) but anyway the actual point here is that we're stoked to have Macon in the brewhouse and now he's officially One Of Us!
Then on Thursday we've got Tim Burton Trivia! Burton's done a bunch of great movies that are definitely thematically appropriate for this, the most spooktacular of months (and the prizes we got are similarly spooktacular), but given Matt's tendency to try and throw trivia curveballs it's worth noting that he also directed Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and was apparently an uncredited puppeteer in The Muppet Movie. Anyway, thus concludes our Blog Exclusive Burton Facts* that I definitely did not learn by googling his name just now, and thus begins me telling you that you should come out because it will be fun!
And speaking of the spooktacular, this weekend is our Halloween Beer and Candy Pairing extravaganza! And while we may have gone a little less "all out" than the candy pairings of yesteryear** but we've got TWO kickass flights full of curated pairings (each flight has two chocolate pairings and two non-chocolate pairings) and we're offering that all weekend (and also past the weekend until Actual Halloween) and we'll entertain suggestions for future spooktacular beer/candy pairing ideas*** so come on out and "trick or treat" the way god intended - by sitting around at the bar!
Then on Saturday we've got a big day lined up and it kicks off with Halloween Yoga in the morning! Then in the afternoon (on what currently looks like it'll be the first non-rainy Saturday since friggin' forever) we've got our much-awaited (by us) dog costume contest! The setup is simple: dress up your pup(s) in their best spooktacular duds and come on out and you (or rather your dog) might win a prize! (And yes, the real prize is getting to spend the day surrounded by dogs in cute costumes, but there are also tangible physical prizes too). And as an added bonus we've got Craig Mac 'n Cheese in the house slingin' some cheesy goodness, so come hang out with us!
And takin' a little "sneak peek" into next week, we've got fun stuff next week too! On Thursday we've got a "look back in time" music trivia that focuses on 2013 (a year which I frequently insist was "a couple years ago") and on Friday we've got a last minute doom and sludge show in the taproom (details below) then on Saturday we've got the triumphant return of Hot Sauce Day! Anyway the point is that next week will also be lots of fun and you should come hang out with us because we do fun things and we are fun.
** We used to come up with a chocolate and a non-chocolate pairing for every beer on the menu, and then build-your-own-flights would come with their respective candy pairings. The bartenders kind of hated us for it (finding four specific candies out of a selection of like twenty is kind of a pain in the ass, especially if you're in a hurry) and the menu was physically painful to write (we do not advise drinking five beers and eating thirty pieces of "fun size" candy in one sitting) so we pared it back a bit.
*** We are not accepting suggestions from Adam of DnA's Evolution, as he is King Of The Food Crimes.