Back in Action

I know, I know, fellow Beer Nuts. I seem to have been AWOL. But I really wasn't and I'm not. But a few things transpired (conspired?) to help to keep this page somewhat muted recently.

The first was was simply recovery and detox, and that was dictated by my week here in the South with the Northern Command of the venerable PBBC, We laughed, kibitzed, shot the sh!t and drank more beer than I thought was humanly possible--and that's not counting our three days in Charleston, SC. Before Dorian hit.

On second thought, that may be WHY Dorian hit the Holy City--to cleanse it of our shenanigans. But my goodness, we ate and drank and ate and drank until we could barely move. Then we drove back to my home in NC and ate and drank and smoked cigars and shot the sh!t some more. And by the time I transported my brothers and sister to MYR for their flight home, I was fairly waddling.

So I jumped off the Malt-Hops-Water-Yeast Barley train for at least two full weeks, much to the astonishment of my family. But it worked.

Other than a glass of plum wine in a Wilmington Asian food emporium, I didn't imbibe again until I saw some lederhosen advertised on FB and glimpsed a Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest in the fridge. It tasted absolutely fabulous, so there's definitely something to the "less is more" theory.

I'm also writing for three local magazines down here, and they're buying my stuff, which precludes me from sharing it here.

But speaking of tasting fabulous, I stopped into Publix after 120 miles on two wheels, grabbed a half a sub turkey "sangwidge" and popped into Tap Time next door. I matched the sangwidge with a Catawba Festbier on Keith Berciunas's recommendation and it worked perfectly. The amber beer is malty and crisp with a hint of sweetness, so it's definitely a marzen relative. But it's also supremely sessionable, and at just 5.3% ABV, I could have had two or three more. If I wanted to try detoxing again. Which I didn't.

But Keith and Christa are driven to find good beers. The Mill Whistle Oktoberfest I actually stopped in for was not yet on tap, awaiting its turn in the rotation. But Mill Whistle's "Girl in a Rum Barrel," a 7.1% American Stout sure was, and that baby was a solid winner. Great cooler weather brew and a positively super dessert beer with coffee, chocolate and rum. Feminine pulchritude in a glass it is.

Keith also poured me some flight-sized samples of two beers from Bill's Front Porch in Wilmington. The Citra Pale Ale was very nice, but Bill's "Power Fowlure," ( a nod to Dorian, I suppose) was an 8.3% Imperial IPA that was remarkably smooth and, because the mixture hid the alcohol so well, remarkably dangerous.

The final sample I got (I was on two wheels, after all) was an absolute knockout from a brewery up in Newport, NC called Shortway. The beer, called Newport Strong, was an Imperial Red with a smoothly camouflaged 9.6% ABV and a nose that smelled like somebody broke a bag of malt open on the table. I'll be heading back to Tap Time for a full pint of that baby, for sure.

And I'll also be at Tap Time on October 30 at 7 PM for the business's FIRST TUTORED BEER TASTING, which Keith is dubbing "TRYDAY BEER SCHOOL." It's open to the public, but seating is limited, and anyone who comes will not only be given a free course in the finer points of how to taste and appreciate various beers, but you'll get 6 beers in flight glasses to titillate your tastebuds and exercise your enzymes. Hopefully, you'll order a pint or twain of those that tickle your fancy. And keep coming back to taste even more.