Lordy, lordy, look who’s forty! None other than the Taco Mac chain of sports bars. I could tell you about their origins, but why duplicate efforts? From the Taco Mac website:

It all started back in 1979 when a couple of guys from Buffalo, NY, made a pit stop in Atlanta on their way to Florida. After touring the city and enjoying the weather, they decided to stay and bring their favorite food, buffalo wings, to the sunny South.

The perfect location was found, but with limited funds remaining, a decision had to be made – renovate the kitchen or change the sign out front? The kitchen won and the Mexican-Irish-sounding name, Taco Mac, remained. Before long, other Buffalo natives came down to help the guys introduce Atlanta to Buffalo-style chicken wings.

So, 2019 marks the 40^th anniversary of the Taco Mac chain, now with locations in Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Almost every location offers at least 100 taps in addition to their legendary wings and pub fare. A plethora of TV screens provide access to any game you might want to watch.

As a prelude to their anniversary, Taco Mac has partnered with the Wild Leap Brewing Company of La Grange, Georgia to offer beer lovers the ’79 Series of draft only beers, exclusively at Taco Mac. I enjoyed the first release, Wild Leap ’79 Series Cranberry Cinnamon Ale, in late October.

Wild leap says:

The first installment of the ’79 Series is a Cranberry Cinnamon Ale, featuring 500 lbs of fresh cranberries and a mild cinnamon flavor to give it a tart, clean finish. Cranberry Cinnamon Ale is best enjoyed with a basket of finger licking buffalo wings, while screaming “touchdown” at the Taco Mac bar.

You could very well pair this with Buffalo wings, but my money was on Sweet Chili Sesame, with the subtly sweet and spicy wings working well with the slightly sweet fruit and spice of the beer.  

Wild Leap ’79 Series Cranberry Cinnamon Ale has an alcohol content of 5.2% by volume with 10 IBUs. I paid $8.25 for my 23-ounce mug.

My mug of Wild Leap ’79 Series Cranberry Cinnamon Ale arrived a pinkish red color with a medium head of foam and a cinnamon dominated nose. Taking a sip, the tart bright cranberry pops in the wheaty crackery palate and the cinnamon spice dries in the finish. I like the marriage of spicy cinnamon with bright tart cranberry here, the cranberry is very nicely presented in this tart refreshing ale.

I’ll confess the price was too high, though not a deterrent to keep me from trying this special beer. I will take off a half star for that all the same. I would drink it again, but doubt I’ll be able to do so.

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