Saturday, January 14, 2006

Some don't age well

No, I'm not talking about me (though I am unsettled about having to select such an "old" category in surveys). Barley wine.

For those of you not familiar with this high-alcohol content malted'n'hopped beverage think high octane with a murky/musky growl. OK, just try it.

The reason age and barley wine are on my mind of late is that Lisa and I have tapped several from my cellar of late only to be disappointed by how poorly most of them have stood up against the ravages of time. (Again, unlike moi.) To date, offerings from smaller brewers have bombed almost unanimously. I have a couple from Fish Brewing and Lagunitas awaiting trial.

Salvation may be at hand: I'm on the East Coast right now ready to descend upon Dogfish Head tomorrow. Not only one of my all-time favorite brewers but rumor has it they're also doing microdistilling, now have two establishments, tomorrow is their monthly brewer's dinner, and they close the DE facility Tue for remodeling. Wish me luck.

Meanwhile the spirit shopping in Beantown ain't that bad. I finally caught up with a bottle of Tito's Vodka only to have the cashier gush over how good it was and tell me to ignore the VT and Nantucket.

Oh yeah, I caught up with some blood orange bitters and imported rose water too. Given the rain in Seatown, I may never go back!