After a couple of happy hour PBRs at Bardog with Mikey and John D, I headed to the Saucer at 7 for their Oktoberfest celebration. Ghost River Brewing was there with their specially-brewed keg of Black Magic, a black beer. I tried a couple of glasses and it was really good. Black beers are not like porters and stouts in that they’re not heavy; they’re easily drinkable. Sam Adams Black and Xingu are other well-known black beers.
While I was there, I learned that Ghost River donates a portion of the proceeds from every keg they sell to the Wolf River Conservancy. Memphis’ exceptionally clean drinking water is a key ingredient in their beers, so they have every reason to want to preserve its quality.
Then I moved on to Orleans on Front at 8, where they were giving away free food in their “voodoo room” downstairs. The chef had e-mailed me and described the room as “the speakeasy Downtown Memphis has always needed.” It has lattice-covered low ceilings and a stage for bands, with plenty of table seating and a bar in the back. It has a New Orleans theme, of course, but friends who were there with me commented that it reminded them of downstairs/basement bars they had been to in New York.
They put out red beans and rice, shrimp, chicken fingers, and fried green tomatoes for their guests. Here’s a pic of the Nuh-Uh Girl loading up her plate:
After that I headed back to the Saucer for a little while. I would have liked to go to the Orpheum party at the Warehouse (and was actually offered a free ticket, twice) but was just too tired to make the trip down there. Was home in bed by 11.
Nothing definite on the agenda for the rest of the weekend, except for The Dempseys at Huey’s tomorrow night. Guess I’ll be in front of the laptop today, possibly writing WordPress plugins, and maybe some new articles for my consumer review site.