Nov. 18, 2008
Rumors are swirling that my lack of energy today and
the failure to update the site is due to overindulgence.
I don't think that's entirely fair. Instead of
overindulgence, might it not just as easily be a mild
depression which arrises from the knowledge that more
such opportunities are not likely to come around soon?
Let me tell you the story and you decide.
On Saturday past, I drove to Hayward, CA with a
pipe smoking, beer drinking buddy. It was about 1/2
drive hour, and when we arrived at The Bistro, we were
nearly stunned to find that we were in the middle of a
Barrel Aged Ale fest. All of the brews, and some were
quite exotic (and none were from Bud, Miller or Coors,
believe me) had been aged in old barrels of Scotch,
Bourbon, Cognac, etc. In some cases, the beers were
aged for well over a year. With the rarest of
exceptions, none of these will be available commercially.
We got there early, so as to enjoy what is known in
some circles as 'the breakfast of champions.' Of
course, that is mostly not true any longer, now that
Babe Ruth is dead, but the liquid all went down quite
easily. Reid and I, however, limited ourselves to one
buy-in of 10 tastes. This we deemed sufficient as a lot
of the brews were in the double digit ABV (alcohol by
volume) category and I had to drive home. Had I been a
local, I'd have opted for more tastes, as the variety
was quite seductive. My favorite was a Barley Wine
aged in, if I can shake the haze, an old Bourbon barrel.
Tart, even sour, smooth, complex, and even a bit
sweet, too. Just excellent.
On top of that was the mention, by a young couple also
at this event, that a beer dinner was being held at a
restaurant in S.F. on the following Monday night (last
night). The restaurant is known to be good, the beers
were to be supplied by Russian River Brewing (home of
Pliny the Elder, a Double IPA) and I had a brilliant idea;
go to that dinner. See, Joy, my wife, had been asking
me what I wanted for my birthday, which is due at the
end of this month. What could I say? "Nothing." What
do I need or even want, another pipe? So, when I came
home from the beer fest, I was finally able to tell her
what I wanted for my birthday, to go to that dinner
with her, at her expense. Sold.
Last night, at Chenery Park in S.F., I dined on
saffron infused Mussel Chowder, then a seafood andouille
sausage, then a main course of Beer Braised Beef Short
Rib with Pesto Mashed Potatoes, followed by a large
platter of three fine, local artisan cheeses, including Pt.
Reyes Blue and Humboldt Fog (which, until I began eating
it and contemplating the name, didn't realize was a bit
of a double entendre), and finally a dessert of a
chocolate pudding-like cake. We took the accompanying
cookies home with us.
The beer for each course were Damnation Belgian
Blond, Blind Pig IPA, Pliny the Elder Double IPA,
Temptation Barrel Aged Sour and finally, with the
choclolate, Salvation Strong Dark Ale. After Salvation,
a special Consecration was poured, a Belgian Triple aged
in Cabernet Sauvignon barrels with 30 pounds of currants
per barrel. But that was it, the evening was over and I
was just getting warmed up, as Hank Greenwald used to
say.
So, no, I don't think I"m sagging as a result of too
much of a good thing. My problem is: when is such a
good thing going to happen again? It can be demoralizing
to think about. What's your take?
Marty
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