Updates…with beer?

Darren here. It’s been a while — almost two months to be exact — since I last wrote on here.

Per usual, I am re-invigorating my blog while being on the west coast. Currently, I am in Anaheim, California visiting the uncle. Yesterday was my long anticipated visit to The Bruery (pun intended I suppose) founded by master cicerone Pat Rue. The first time I had their stuff was at a bar underneath the 59th St Bridge called The Jefferey. My buddy had picked out a great bottle of their Rueuze (their lambic gueuze take) aged from 2013 (so about 8–9 years) and boy, was it a good one. It was bright with some acidity, not too tart with funk and oak barrel tones. Definitely an amazing find (especially for its price point as well).

Anyhow, yesterday I was able to finally get to The Bruery (their Terreux tasting room actually) and pick up the last two bottles of their Rueuze (one for drinking now, one for aging and drinking later. Or I’ll just age both now).

My beer hobby had rocket jumped considerably from 3–4 months ago largely impart to my buddy Kyle (thanks man, I could be saving so much money). It started out with learning about lambics, gueuze, Brussels, aging, sours to buying my own beer [wine] fridge to rack and age my lambics to 54F (I hear 50–55F is the range you want). I had a few Obercreek bottles already so I stuffed those in there. I went to my nearby craft beer store and discovered 3F and Tilquin and threw those in my fridge (I didn’t actually throw them). Then my search began for the ‘oh so elusive’ Cantillon, king or queen of fruit lambics from Brussels, a rarity in America but commonplace in its origin of birth. During the tug-o-war in my brain in deciding to pay ridiculous shipping fees from Europe or merely find it by luck in the back of a local craft beer store, I found a store that was able to ship to me. Now that’s stored on its side in my fridge.

There’s a few bottles of red wine in the fridge but now it’s packed with lambics and sours and spontaneously fermented beers, all mostly barrel-aged. Currently, my favorite thing to drink right now are barrel-aged blonde ales (something not too tart or mouth puckering but retaining a mild acidity).

My beer story

Going down memory lane, I can’t seem to pinpoint when I started really — and I mean really — loving beer. Some flashbacks to eating wings and loving Blue Moons to bridging to Allagash Whites and UFO unfiltered wheat beer and traveling to Portland, ME to get more Allagash. Then during my annual roadtrips, naturally incorporating brewery pitstops to our itinerary. Allagash wheat beers and sours were my jam! Then a fateful stop to Treehouse brewery in CT on the way back down started by interested in the modern-era IPA craze for me. First time I really tried a juicy IPA was in 2019 from Treehouse and little did I know I started from the top of the IPA food chain.

The awesome concept beer sharing (and it really is a show of hospitality and fun) really started when I brought a case of Treehouse to my childhood friends’ home during Thanksgiving of 2019. My friends brought Evil Twin and Root and Branch and boy was it a great time of indulging in each others generosity (as well as trying different hops). That was a time.

Soon after, the pandemic hit and my friend delivered me beer mail as a care package. It was a heartfelt and wholesome way to deliver warmth and care from a brother during a tough time in my life rounding in the COVID ICUs. The beers were life-changing as I was shown different styles of beer (stouts, smoothie beers, ales, sours from places I would probably never visit). I will cherish that memory always. Now you can fast-forward to now.

Now?

As my personality continues to “develop” (along with my determination in perfecting each hobby), I find myself truly trying to learn more about beers and how to taste each exquisite sip of its nectar. The prequel to this may have likely been my fascination with the sommelier world of wine. Eating and drinking food is an experience that can be heightened by knowing the history and background of what you’re consuming as well as training the palette, the taste buds and the nose.

Next step? You’ll know when it happens. Hint: learning beer styles, its history, ABV, IBU and differentiating between the word clusters of spontaneous fermentation, lambics, wild ales, etc.

Cheers,

Darren