Got a visit from Dan who is the Master Brewer at Bud's Georgia facility (that's it above). He's getting a new Holy Roller singlespeed and happened to be in town visiting family. Not wanting to be an ungracious host, I took off early to show Dan around town. After a beer and sandwich at a local cafe around the corner from the old Salsa shop where I spent 7 years toiling (10 total), we wandered over to see what new business inhabited the space. Our eyes lit up when we spied a bunch of fermenting and brewing equipment behind the roll up door.
A couple of guys invited us in and right where the old Salsa shipping bench used to live was a full fledged bar.
It's not open to the public, but since Dan and I both had some link to this place, they gave us the full treatment. They make all kinds of booze in there. Whiskey, Gin, Grapa, Absinthe, and yes, we sampled them all. The guy below is showing Dan the "hrdrophobic" properties of Absinthe (he distributes Mansinthe, Marilyn Manson's official Absinthe). I can't comment of the chemistry of it all, but I can say that I now know how that shit can make people crazy.
It had been almost exactly 10 years since I stepped foot in this space, and had some intense moments of deja vu, or maybe it was the booze. Afterwords, we made our way up the block to Bruce Gordon's shop. Bruce was gone visiting his mother for Thanksgiving so Dave DiFalco (on the right) of DiFalco Fabrications let us in to rifle through Bruce's drawers.
Dave was working on a 1949 Chrysler that has a factory remote gas cap and a 20 pre-set radio (nothing is new) .
The guy who owns the car used to work for International Harvester and check out the cool sticker. Makes me long for the old days.
I have to thank Dan for getting me to venture out in my own town. I'm not usually one to knock on someone's door to ask, "Whatcha guys up to in here?", because I'm always afraid of bothering someone while they work. But in this day and age where people are looking to strengthen their communities via business contacts, commerce, the arts, or what have you, meeting your neighbors is how it all starts. And if your neighbors happen to get you drunk, all the better.
