Ravens vs Broncos Feating Abita Brewery

Rejoice... the barren wasteland of a football-less summer is over

Unprecedented are the times we find ourselves at the onset of the 2013 NFL Season.

Washington is arguing over who wields the power to draw red lines, a skill possessed by most kindergarteners.

America is only beginning to recover from the nausea inducing display Miley Cyrus put on at MTV's Video Music Awards, and I'm still struggling to cope with the decimation of the entire Stark family in last season's GoT finale.

I think the most startling news of the offseason was the sudden divorce of the Bromantic Relationship with Tom Brady and Timmy Tebow in New England. Tragic. Pretty soon, Tim will be relegated to Christian Mingle commercials, and even as a UGA alum, I wouldn't wish that fate on anyone; not even a Florida Gator.

Luckily some things haven't changed. In sporting news, A-ROD is still a world-class cleansing product, Roger, Barry and Sammy all remain out of Cooperstown, no one realized the WNBA season started (has it finished... who knows), a Brit finally won Wimbledon (read: Andy Murray) and Lefty (Mickleson) looked world class at the Open Championship in July, but that all pales in comparison to what arrives today: the beginning of the NFL season and the long road to New Jersey and the Lombardi Trophy.

Tonight's marque match-up features the retooled and explosive Denver Broncos led by veteran Peyton Manning against the Ravens of Baltimore with reigning Super Bowl MVP, Joe Flacco.

About the Game Watching Party

Location: Upstairs Mellow Mushroom Avondale 7-TBD

What: $2 Abita Amber Lagers  --  $5  1 Topping Smalls  

For this first Thursday game watching party, anyone who has registered for the beer club can attend. Bring a friend to sign up and get your first beer on the house. We'll also have NFL Bingo ongoing in house for your chance to win $50 house cash for 1st, $25 for 2nd, and $10 for 3rd.

New Belgium Brewery - Beer Club Happy Hour Week 7

Finally, after weeks of non-relenting torrential downpours, the sun once again is shining in the Holy City. In our town that boasts one of the Southeast's highest bike-friendly rates, it's little surprise that not long after the flood waters had ebbed, bikers had taken back to the streets.  Consequently, pedestrians were again scrambling and drivers scratching their heads as bikers wove through tightly packed sidewalks and up King in the wrong direction.

I digress because this is a post neither advocating improvements to existing bike lanes or construction of new bike lines across the Ashley River along Highway 17 (although I wouldn't argue against them). I'm writing to talk about the inevitable marriage of the Mellow Mushroom Beer Club Happy Hour series and the prominent brewery from Fort Collins, CO, New Belgium.

Not only does the brewery's label (a rendition of its famous Fat Tire label) feature a fixed gear, fat tire bike, recognizable to anyone who's ever spent 5 minutes in Charleston, but the brewery's history and core beliefs mirror that of Mellow Mushroom both here in Charleston and across the country.

One of our lucky customers won this in 2011. Mellow Mushroom and New Belgium are a great team in Charleston. 

Both companies started with a singular vision: to create an exceptional product using the freshest ingredients and to deliver an outstanding experience to each and every customer. From humble beginnings, both reach people across the country and have grown to not only be a recognizable brand but moreover, to be a symbol of consistent excellence in quality.





About this Week's Happy Hour

The shenanigans will get underway promptly at 6PM, and as previous events have foreshadowed, if you want to taste the most select growlers brought by the New Belgium Reps, be sure to arrive early. The event is for beer club members, anyone working on their 100 beers, and guests of beer club members who would like to sign up to begin their quest of becoming a 100 beer club member.

Any existing beer club member that elects to drag a friend along to join the beer club will be endowed the high reward of a free Fat Tire Amber Ale. Throughout the event, guests will be entitled to the ridiculously low fare of $3 to procure these Belgian Style Amber delight, and will also be able to guzzle down at least one other specialty beer from the brewery.

More About New Belgium

New Belgium is the nation's 3rd largest Craft Brewery and the 7th largest overall. While their accolades are as diverse as is their beer selection, some of the most notable of recent are Best Green Brewery (2009), #1 Top Brewery Tours (2011), #5 Best Places to Work (2011), Top 25 Most Audacious Companies (2012) -- and that doesn't even begin to take into account the 90+ awards they've earned for their beers in the past 21 years.

More Info

Want to know more information about upcoming Beer Club Events? Be sure to sign up here. You'll be one of the privileged few to receive all the latest on goings in one of Charlestons most storied social drinking society.  See you tomorrow at Mellow Mushroom Avondale.

Remember to use #mmbeerclub when checking in, tagging photos, or tweeting from the event for your chance to win Mellow cash and prizes. 

Stone Brewing Co. - MM Beer Club Week 5

Go home, Super Moon; you're drunk.

Now that the Sun's rays are creeping south toward the Tropic of Capricorn and the Super Moon wanes, lost to us is the innocence and temperance of spring. Summer is squarely upon the Holy City, and although many downtown bars are brimming with kolches, hefes, and summer wheats to appease the palettes of tourists and drive by beer drinkers, rest assured, ye ole timeless ale aficionados, the Mellow Mushroom Beer Club will remain a bastion for true beer drinkers' delight.

Summer is rife with poolside Bud Light Limes and shotgunned Natty Lights; coolers will inevitably overflow with malt liquor this and fruity flavored that, but when you find yourself on the edge, wondering much like Hunter S. Thompson, how you've gone over into a pit of crap beer despair, Mellow will be waiting with ambers, IPA's, Pales, Nut Browns, and even a Pluff Mud Porter to help pull you back up.

To kick the summer off in fashion, we are hosting representatives from the world renowned Stone Brewing Co. Not only has the brewery been named All Time Top Brewery (2008 & 2009) by Beer Advocate, but the company's philosophy is to only brew artisan beers, not yielding to whimsical pressure to produce any  "industrial adjunct beers" or "fizzy yellow beers" (credit stonebrewing.com). What they do produce are some of the most flavorful and well bodied ales in the industry. Utilizing only locally harvested ingredients without artificial ingredients or additives, each brew delivers an exceptional beer drinking experience.

The Happy Hour

We will get the happy hour event underway promptly at 6 sampling our way through some select growlers from Stone. From 6-8 Stone's Pale Ale will be $3, and we will have 22oz bottles of the 10th Anniversary Ruination, a 10.5% ABV Double IPA. For the first time ever in Mellow Mushroom Charleston Beer Club History... 2 customers will have the opportunity to share this beer and have it count toward each of their beer club quests.

Ruination Dbl IPA

More about Stone Brewing Co.

Stone Brewing Company was founded in Escondido, CA in 1996 launching with its first batch of Stone Pale Ale. It has been recognized as one of the world's best craft breweries and ranks as its 10th largest based upon output.

Looking to score more Stone Beers to your Beer Club List or your Untappd account? Presently, you can get Ruination in a bottle and Pale Ale on tap in Avondale. Downtown boasts a broader list with Arrogant Bastard on tap and bottles of the Pale Ale, IPA, and Cali-Beogique.