21st Amendment Beer Now at Taco Asylum

McOriginals

Was lucky enough to sneak in on Friday evening during the 9-11 happy hour and got a taste of "Brew Free or Die" and "Back in Black" for $4 a can. Pretty amazing. Pretty much by error, my merry band of brothers and I discovered that the Back in Black get's even tastier if you let it warm a bit and open up. Rich chocolate flavors and a smooth finish. MMMMMMM. Good beer.

Nettielovesbeer

Reading your posts is cracking me up, guys. I detect much sarcasm and bitterness, so rare in beer-loving males!!! I agree that there's a stigma to canned beer just like there's a stigma to screw-caps; time will tell. Then again, I don't even like soda from a can, so who am I to say? Any of you make it to Hi-Time's canned beer tasting last week? I missed it.

MayhemInTheHood

Taco Asylum: where the good beer only comes in cans and 8 dollar "street tacos" are made with flour tortillas.

It's actually a pretty rad concept: it's an "asylum" right? That's why nothing makes sense. I want to try it out, but I heard they don't accept cash or credit. Seashells and wooden nickles only.

DanGarion

I'm not sure where these 8 dollar street tacos are...

MayhemInTheHood

My mistake. Their street tacos are only 5 to 6 dollars a piece. I apologize to Taco Asylum for my gross over exaggeration.

Honeyman

"good beer should be canned, not bottled". I've never heard that philosophy before. I guess Sierra Nevada, and Anchor Steam, and Stone are full of shit breweries.

Shuji Sakai

No more full of shit than wineries that still insist on natural cork vs corq or screw tops. Stone, Sierra Nevada and Anchor Steam package their freshest beers in large aluminum cans called a keg. I suspect they're not interested in scrapping their bottling facilities just because this micro-canning trend started about 5 years back

If you give up the long held beliefs (i.e. only cheap beer comes in cans, good beers only comes in glass) and look at it objectively, cans have a lot of advantages compared to glass.

They're impermeable to light spoilage, lighter weight for lower transportation cost, less likely to break in transportation, and so on. For the consumer, only that first one is a real tangible difference, but in terms of overall benefits, it makes sense to me..

Greg Daniels

Honeyman,

None of us at Haven Gastropub or taco asylum have ever said that canned beer is better than bottled beer. The philosophy behind some of these breweries is exactly that - and Shuji explained it best, so I'll leave it there - but we like all good beer.Whether it's in a can or bottle, keg or firkin keg, whiskey or wine barrel, we tend to enjoy beer.As for the reason why we carry ONLY cans at taco asylum, yet carry 100+ bottled beers at Haven Gastropub, I have a few. Firstly, cans take up a lot less space in a small establishment such as ours. Secondly, the beers we carry taste amazing. Another reason is that we find them to be environmentally responsible, which is important to us as well. The last reason, and probably the biggest reason, is that we just plain feel like it. As for the haters, stay at home. The tacos are $5-$6, because they're worth that. I use only humanely raised meats, and source specialty ingredients that I believe are worth sharing. These tacos are not "street tacos." They are full size, 6" tacos, packed full of ingredients. 2 is a meal, and I don't think $10 for lunch or dinner is that much to ask for what we serve. You try running a restaurant.As for the tortillas, we tried corn, and the flavor of the tortilla interfered with the different types of cuisines we were representing. Our flour tortillas are made in house daily, and my Mexican friends say they taste as good or better than the ones their grandmothers made at home. Flour tortillas are ever-present in the Northern parts of Mexico, and whether for a burrito, or for the carne asada tacos they are usually used for, they are authentically Mexican.I hate getting into semantics on the internet. Taste the food; if you don't like it, don't come back. No hard feelings here. We just like to have good food and good beer. If you want to bitch about it, go to Yelp.

Warmly,

Greg DanielsExecutive Chef/Managing PartnerHaven Collective~Haven Gastropub & taco asylum~

MayhemInTheHood

Very true. One of my favorite breweries(at least that's easy to find) is Anderson Valley, and their canned stuff is just as good as bottled. I've been a craft beer lover for about 10 years now, but I'm not snobbish about it. Give it to me in a bottle, can, balloon, Pyrex conical flask...it doesn't matter. As long as it tastes good. That being said, the quote that they believe good beer should only come in cans IS kind of odd to me. The first thing it makes me think of are bottle aged beers. Do cans provide the same in-bottle fermentation as, say, a Russian River Supplication would, via glass bottle? If so, carry on Taco Asylum.

Shuji Sakai

By the way MITH, where do you get Anderson Valley's canned beer? I usually buy their Hop Ottin bottles at Trader Joes. It's my go-to hopmonster.

Honeyman

Whoops...you answered it in the one post. Now, I'm the sloppy one!

I need a beer. I believe I have one Sierra Celebration Ale left....but damn! I can't find a fucking bottle opener! Why don't these goddamn craft breweries,.......

Honeyman

Appreciated, Prof....we're good.

I do find it odd that Haven Gastropub has about 30+ bottled beers on their menu. I thought the ownership was the same with both of these places?

Shuji Sakai

Point taken, and sloppy attribution on my part. Fact is, Taco Asylum sells beers in cans or draft only, no bottles. To say that "Taco Asylum believe good beer should be canned, not bottled" is not a quote by anyone from their group, but the author's intepretation of that policy. My apologies.

Honeyman

Thanks for seeing my point Mayheim, even if the good Professor didn't. I never said "only cheap beer comes in cans and good beer in glass", but questioned that rather ridiculous, black and white comment that TA, 21, and apparently the Prof hold as gospel.