Saturday, May 3, 2014

Three Beautiful Things 05/02/14: For Sale Sign, Ploughman's Lunch, Russian River Blow Out

1.  Simon, our realtor, and I had a few details to settle and did so in a relaxed manner.  We set picture day.  He pounded the For Sale sign in our yard.  Things continue to move forward.

2.  This month the Bier Stein is featuring food to pair with the English Pale Ale.  I didn't drink any English Pale Ale today.  Instead, I met with the Deke when she got off work and I poured two of my favorite IPAs from the cooler:  Deschutes' Fresh Squeezed and Hop Valley's Citrus Mistress.  BUT, I did order from the English Pale Ale food pairings menu.  It's been nearly thirty years since I've been to England.  When there, I enjoyed the Ploughman's Lunch and today, thanks to the Bier Stein, I returned to that pleasure:  Sliced ham & salami, Full Circle Cheddar, pickles, radishes, ale mustard, hard boiled egg, and Humble Bagel baguette. Perfect!

3.  I thought after a couple of beers, we were done, but the Deke informed me we were making a stop at 16 Tons.  Perfect!  After all, I knew that at noon two fantastic beers had been tapped:  Russian River's Pliny the Elder Imperial IPA and Russian River's exquisite sour/wild ale, Consecration.  I thoroughly enjoyed both.  I especially enjoy drinking a sour beer as my last beer of the evening (or the late afternoon) and  the half pint of Consecration worked for me like a glass of wine or brandy before bed time.  It doesn't taste like brandy.  To me, it does have some red wine qualities, especially the dry finish.   It's the perfect finishing beer and I savored every drop of the Consecration (spendy as it was [that's a warning!  if you decide to try Consecration, it's a tad bit expensive!]).  Tomorrow is the Wild Ale Fest at 16 Tons.  I hope I can get there while Sofie and Lolita from Goose Island are still around.  I checked out the 70 beers they'll have available and many of my very favorite sour/wild ales are going to be served. 

No comments: