1. Debbie and I decided to get out of the house and go out for beers, something we used to do regularly, but not lately. We piled into the Camry and blasted up to Wallace, to City Limits. Debbie knew she wanted a Blood Orange IPA and I hadn't tried a Loft Honey for a long time and I ordered a 12 oz pour of it. Loft Honey is a very easy to drink, subtly sweet Pale Ale, but it weighs in at 8.5% ABV and must be consumed with caution.
As we sat at the bar, I told Debbie the last time I was at City Limits, quite a while ago, I had hoped they'd have their Bourbon Barrel-Aged Pulaski Porter on tap, but they didn't. Debbie heard me and said, "Didn't you see they have it now? Look at the beer list!" Astonished, I looked at the tap list on the wall and, yes, indeed, the Barrel-Aged Porter was on.
Well, I was eager to taste this beer, but it weighs in at 9.5% ABV and so I ordered a four ounce pour. It was perfect. The beer had been aged in a Buffalo Trace Bourbon barrel for a year and so the beer now was slightly boozy, sweet (but not overwhelming), and held some of the woody flavors of the barrel. Combined with the coffee and chocolate flavors of the Pulaski Porter itself, this was a fascinating beer, complex, flavorful, and fun to drink -- so fun, in fact, I ordered a second four ounce pour, relished it, and Debbie and I ended our visit at City Limits.
In addition to enjoying our beers, we also had a superb visit with our server. She was not only an energetic and efficient bartender, she was fascinating and even inspiring to talk with. She and Debbie both work with children and their devotion to helping children learn and grow sparked heartfelt conversation between them.
2. Debbie and I hadn't been to Radio Brewing together for a long time and we decided to drop in when we arrived back in Kellogg. We wanted a bite to eat and one more drink. I ordered a small pour of a light on alcohol Japanese lager and Debbie enjoyed a glass of wine. We ordered an Indian dish to split, Butter Chicken, and it was just the right amount of food and tasty, too. It could have been too spicy for me had I eaten the peppers that were sliced on top of our serving, but I didn't eat them and so the Butter Chicken was mildly spicy and replete with flavors from India.
3. Somehow, as Debbie and I were yakking at Radio, the movie All the President's Men came up and we decided right then and there to watch it again when we returned home. And we did. It was, as always, perfect because it just might be a perfectly made movie.
The movie ended, and we decided to cap off our viewing pleasures by watching another episode of Monk. It turns out Adrian Monk has a brother, Ambrose, from whom he's been estranged ever since Trudy died. Ambrose is agoraphobic and has not left his house for thirty-two years. Ambrose reaches out to Adrian because he's convinced he heard his next door neighbor shoot and kill his wife.
Reluctantly, Adrian Monk gets involved in the case and a topsy turvy story involving a town's centennial celebration, a raffle, a potato sack race, a Bingo session, and three cherry pies unfolds, testing Monk's skills as a detective and forcing him to confront his estrangement from his brother.
No comments:
Post a Comment