Atlanta Beer Envy - Part III

@BeerPurgatory had lunch at beer nirvana - Decatur's @brickstorepub     

This past Monday, in between visiting Red Hare Brewing & Monday Night Brewing, I got the extreme pleasure to score some lunch at the Brickstore Pub.  This was the first time I had ever visited, and despite reading a little about them, I was unprepared for the sheer awesomeness that I encountered.

The regular draft menu alone would leave most bars (even craft beer ones) in the dust.  But what really blew my mind, was the beer cellar list...  But before we get to that, lets take in the rest of the place. 

Downstairs has an cool horseshoe bar, with some close to 20 awesome taps of American craft beer, and many unique bottles in the fridge.  And then "upstairs to the left"....

...is a bar that serves only Belgian beers.  Very, very cool!

Our large party was a bit unexpected at the late lunch hour, but the folks at Brickstore were extremely accommodating, opening the normally closed-during-lunch upstairs bar area, and didn't miss a beat with both food and drink service.  Many kudos to them!

While eating a tasty lunch, I got to browse the 'Beer Cellar List' that was hanging nearby.  I was totally blown away by the number and variety of aged beers they had to offer.  I knew they had a cellar, but this was much larger than I thought.  Unfortunately, since I was between brewery tours, I did not get to delve into the exotic, sticking with the fresh (yet still awesome) draft beer selection.  This was where I actually got to try the Thrice Hopped Imperial IPA, that I had just missed at the Red Hare brewery.

As we were exiting, I was fortunate to talk with Reid (Reed?) at the upstairs bar, and he was kind enough to show me the upstairs "cellar".  An impressive ~10x10 humidor-like space, kept at proper cellar temps, for easy access.  But it was what he told me next that was the mind-blowing event of the day.  In an adjacent store space that used to house a bank, Brickstore rents out the basement vaults, and cellars over 15,000 bottles of beer......damn!


Check out this video for a cool (though somewhat dated) tour of the subterranean utopia....

 
Now, I know I am a noob, and late to the game on how totally cool the Brickstore is for beer geeks.  But give me a break...'cause I will be back for the upgraded cellar experience.  Count on it!