1. We will be celebrating Zoe's birthday on July 17th and Carol asked me to bring a rice salad to go with the burgers that Zoe requested. I didn't want to interrupt my Saturday morning viewing of the Open Championship, so I made the salad today -- I didn't do anything out of the ordinary -- just a standard jasmine rice, olive, almond, tomato, chickpea, feta cheese salad garnished with basil, parsley, and mint and dressed with a little olive brine, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. I forgot to buy cucumber. Dang it. Luckily, I doubt any one will miss it.
2. I dropped in at the Inland Lounge around 4:00 this afternoon. As planned, Ginger and I enjoyed a beverage and shot the breeze, and, lo and behold, Ed and Brian were in the house, too. In my most recent visits to the Lounge, I've been enjoying the Champagne of Bottled Beer, Miller High Life. Today, though, in keeping with my recent enjoyment of pale ales, I ordered what might be, along with Deschutes' Mirror Pond, the USA's finest pale ale, the tasty, reliable, and venerable Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. I sure enjoyed its crispness, and its citrusy hop forward slight bitterness. It was a great follow up to the pale ales I enjoyed over the last week or so -- a crowler of MickDuff's Lake Paddler and a pint of Georgetown's Manny's Pale Ale.
3. Earlier in the day, I'd seen Molly walking up Main Street, dressed in her Radio Brewing gear, and figured she was working today at Radio. After a couple of Sierra Nevada Pale Ales and some solid yakking at the Lounge, I strolled up to Radio. Molly was seated at the bar. Her shift was over and she was relaxing with a beer and some food. She saw me come in, invited me to join her, and I did.
Since Radio didn't have one of their pale ales on tap, I took Molly's advice and ordered a Brandy Barrel Aged Amber and enjoyed it a lot before I dove into my burger and fries. I loved the depth and intensity the brandy added to the Amber, making it, to my taste, seem similar to a Strong Ale. I love drinking memory beers and I wasn't necessarily expecting this aged Amber to be a nostalgic experience, but after about two sips I was suddenly transported back to the Church Key, a second story tap house I loved in Washington, D. C. and a day in February of 2015 when I first drank Troeg's Nectar Nugget, the first Imperial Amber I'd ever tried. Radio's Aged Amber isn't an Imperial Amber, but the moderate boost of booziness the brandy barrel gave it brought back that splendid February day when I walked 8.5 miles, wandering from Foggy Bottom to the National Gallery and up to Logan Circle, capping off a perfect day in the District with a perfectly tasty and satisfying beer.
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