Friendship Brew (Green Flash/ St-Feuillien)

    It is late October and free time will soon be taken by the leaves. I have a lot of trees and every fall it becomes a battle. A battle between the trees and my ability to think about how to best get them up without spending every waking moment beside a rake.
   We recently had a very in depth meeting about Belgian beers and the goose island rendition of these beers. As I was raking/blowing leaves this past Saturday I was fantasizing about being a Belgian farmer working hard to support the house hold. I was getting really thirsty, thirsty for some liquid nutrition.
    Belgian beers are the gutter punk of beers. Their real attitude is fucken ferment, whatever, it's boiled, it's sterile, it's better than this piss water. There has recently been some new personalities who have published articles about the benefits of drinking beer to regain mineral, vitamin, and water loss due to physical activity. This is old news to the Belgian farmer, keep running and drinking yuppie (old news).
    I don't really know much about the two breweries who got friendly on this brew. I have had friends who have suggested that I try the hop bombs that put green flash on the map. St-Feuillien is a Belgian brewery that has been around for almost 1000 years. The subtle adjustment of yeast over the years that this brewery has been around is responsible for the incredible flavor. San Diego based Green Flash brewery is best known for their "west coast" IPA's and hop bombs. This brewery is not afraid to produce beers that will assault your palate and have been know to put their own spin on Belgian classics.
     I shared this beer with a true friend in the company of good family. I really appreciate how awesome that they are and they allow my family to meld into theirs and use their kitchen as a backdrop for my low rotation blog. Luck is coming our way folks and we know just what to drink when we can celebrate.

Burbon DIPA (Hardywood Park Craft Brewery)

          This remote post was experienced at the Lakeside Rockers MC clubhouse. I did not realize all the dodo splatters on the refrigerator in the picture but lets proceed. I bought a three pack of these Bourbon DIPA's over a month ago and have been itching to crack one open ever since. Sure I could have drank one by myself in my cave of solitude, but I really enjoy sharing the experience of big beers like this one. We have drank waaaay to much Busch, bud, and loose cannon in this garage recently. Bring out the glassware.

        Hardywood has released two of their barrel series this year, the Bourbon Cru and now this Bourbon DIPA. I believed I have heard they will be doing a Bourbon Gingerbread stout. I really liked the fresh Bourbon Cru but I had a sneaky suspicion that it would age well. I have two 750's left from that series and after drinking a two month old Bourbon DIPA, I am sure they are aging well. The fresh versions of this series taste very similar and Bourbon heavy, the flavor was very subdued even after two months. I suggest storing corked and caged big bottles on their side for aging so that the cork doesn't dry out.

       I get a bit ridiculous about my big bottle beers. I buy something that I have been sold as special and I hold onto it. I have a Brooklyn Black Ops from this time last year that I have been saving. Originally there were two. My friend Robert bought the other one then held it hostage. We drank it when we got his scooter running. Why hold onto these beers so long? special occasion, or a holiday, maybe it is that I want to share it with someone who will appreciate the complexity? I am thinking I will take this to Thanksgiving this year, or maybe wait until the dutch year 10 trip in January, but those guys don't really appreciate big beers.    

     There is a group in Richmond that does a beer dig in March every year. I wish I had enough friends who would get into it. You go buy good beers, live yeasty bold beers and bury them in the ground for a year. The following year you mostly dig them up and let people discover them one by one and enjoy the fruits of your patience. I met the guy who does Richmond beer dig, maybe I should just get in with his peeps.