1. Some things came together really well today: the Blu Ray player and Fire Stick are hooked up to the television and it all works and we are ready to watch some movies and other stuff. The Sube was ready to be picked up and the air conditioning runs consistently, not intermittently, so that repair deal is completed. My last pressing project is to get paperwork submitted to the transplant center at Sacred Heart.
2. After I picked up the Sube, I glided down Government Way and decided to check out Smokes and Suds, a vape and bottle shop in Dalton Gardens. I'd read much praise for this place written by members of the Beer d'Alene Facebook group and discovered all that praise was very well founded. Since we were having a Beer Club session at Shawn's today, and since he had declared today's club meeting to have a tequila theme, I was very happy to find a bottle of 2017 Abyss, aged in tequila barrels. I purchased some other barrel-aged ales, some for future Beer Club sessions, and some for the Deke and me to enjoy at home. I will write more about them as we open them. I am stoked to return to Smokes and Suds again and can hardly wait to take the Deke there.
3. We had an awesome Beer Club meeting. I was very happy to introduce Shawn, Teresa, the Deke, and Patti to one of my favorite styles of beer, gose. Gose beers are tart, not as biting as a sour ale, and fruity with a hint of saltiness. Since our Beer Club session was loosely based on tequila, I was very happy when, on Wednesday, I discovered cans of Sierra Nevada's Otra Vez Gose-style ale, brewed with lime and agave. For anyone interested in dipping a toe into the waters of sour beers, I'd say the Lime and Agave Otra Vez would be a perfect beer. It's light, refreshing, tart, but not mouth puckering, and the lime and agave compliment each other beautifully. As we sampled the Lime and Agave Otra Vez, Teresa mused that it might taste good with tequila mixed in it. So, Shawn brought out their bottle of tequila and we heartily agreed that a small hit of tequila enhanced this beer's taste. We were all smiles.
Friends of Shawn and Teresa's had come to Kellogg earlier in the week and had a single can of Bell's Hopslam and Shawn told them he'd like to save it for Beer Club. Now, understand this: Hopslam is a powerful Imperial IPA weighing in at 10% ABV and is released just once a year in January. I never dreamed, after drinking some Hopslam at Old Line in Beltsville, MD and drinking a four pack in our apartment home in Greenbelt that I would ever see a Hopslam out west in Kellogg, Idaho, let alone have one sitting in front of me on a July evening. I was thrilled and the Hopslam pleased me deeply. I'm glad we shared the 12 oz can around the table and I just loved entering back into the grapefruit aroma and the hoppy fireworks in my mouth lit by drinking about five ounces of this superb beer.
Next, it was time to dive into the dark and mysterious depths of Deschutes' masterful Imperial Stout, The Abyss. I will admit that I didn't taste the impact of the beer having been aged in tequila barrels, but no problem. I loved sinking into the black bottomless blend of molasses, black licorice, cherry bark, vanilla and other rich tastes that make The Abyss one of my favorite ways to indulge my nose and my taste buds in joy and pleasure.
I enjoyed the beer and, even more, the company at Shawn and Teresa's. Rod, Patti, and Cathleen came to tonight's Beer Club and I loved yakkin' about all kinds of different things, getting to know everyone's dogs, and learning more about everyone.
When we left Shawn and Teresa's, the Deke and I hadn't had quite enough good cheer among good people, so we stopped in at the Inland Lounge and the joint was buzzing with the happy sounds of people around our age talking and laughing and enjoying a gorgeous July evening in Kellogg. I talked with Eddie Joe about his round of golf up at Stoneridge, had fun conversation about golf and other things with Jim White; Riles came up to where the Deke and I were seated and he talked lovingly about his and my parents, especially Mom, and about working at the Bunker Hill. I got to yak with Cas, had a good session with Mike Grebil (but had to accept the news that his brother Steve, who is recovering from an elbow infection, won't be in the Silver Valley this weekend for Mike's daughter's wedding), and talked with Harley about his meat smoker.
I left the Lounge beaming, having enjoyed seeing so many fellow Silver Valley people and being a part of so many people enjoying one another. It was epic.
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