2 Casks, this Friday, July 20th| Are you ready?

If you’re not already aware, this Friday marks history in the making. It wasn’t that long ago that Knoxville experienced it’s first cask night at Woodruff Brewing Company by then brewmaster Dave Ohmer who has since moved over to Saw Works Brewing Company. The historical evidence is to the right – don’t worry, I’ve already submitted it to the Tennessee Historical Society. Dave is no stranger to casks and has churned out several since this inaugural day. Since then our very own Smoky Mountain Brewery has put a firkin (cask is to firkin as petrol is to gasoline) under it’s belt with another on deck. Now, if you’re not sure what a cask ale is – see the second paragraph of this post. The short explanation is that a cask is a way for brewers to try something new and different with their existing brews – and we get to try something tasty.

And that’s what makes this Friday so epic….wait for it…wait for it…..we have TWO cask tapings THIS FRIDAY!!! 

First up: Smoky Mountain Brewery – Turkey Creek| Firkin Friday

Smoky Mountain Brewery has decided that firkins should be a regular occurrence – as they should. So they’ve made it a point to start with a monthly Firkin Friday at their Turkey Creek location. The way this works is you buy a ticket – as early as 6pm with the tapping to occur at 9pm. There are roughly 72 pints in a firkin, so there might be a chance you can have more than one.  Brewer Adam Ingle tells me that this Friday they’ll be tapping an ESB hopped up with Challenger hops – sounds tasty to me! Big thanks to Adam for the pics in this post as well.

Second up: Downtown Casual Pint Grand Opening| Saw Works Brewing Company vanilla infused brown ale 

Honestly, the Downtown Casual Pint Grand Opening is a post that could stand alone. The fact that our fair town has enough demand to support another completely craft beer focused store is awesome. I love walking into the Bearden location at just about any point and seeing the bar full and people standing about with a tasty beverage in hand. To celebrate this momentous occasion Saw Works Brewing Company’s Dave Ohmer has vanilla infused their quite already tasty brown ale. I haven’t been given a specific time just yet but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’ll probably be close to 6:30. Ratchet has posted some pics of the store in progress – so check those out.

We’ll see you this Friday – cheers!