Douglas E. Berry

Dragon's Milk Bourbon Barrel-Aged Stout

So smooth and rich, with a full-bodied flavor all through the sip. Coffee, chocolate, and you can just get the aging process. No after kick which might be dangerous! 11% ABV.

This is not an everyday beer; it is a special occasion, a big meal beer. I really want to pair it with a hearty stew and fresh French bread with real butter.

Try this if you love a good Stout, which is not my typical beer style, as I tend to prefer lighter brews.

Halford, what a day. Wanting to get a good start to the new year after watching 2/3rds of TCM's Thin Man movie marathon for New Year's Eve (seriously, the last two films are really bad.) we decided to start getting the Free Trailer Beowulf ready for sale. Cleaning out the things we want to keep, inventorying what is still there, and beginning to check everything that needs work.

We also needed to fix a tarp over the trailer, as the cover we bought had disintegrated. So the first stop was Home Depot for some ratchet straps, as it was more or less on the route to the storage place. It was a lovely drive, and we got into Pedron's and found that the damn door was warped shut again and utterly immobile. We did get the tarp on, but we're unsure how much moisture made it into the trailer. At this point, we've begun a serious discussion of just having the thing junked after stripping it. I'll be looking into who we could call to do this.

The advantage here of course is that we can use the current marine battery and battery box, along with the hitch lock, instead of needing to buy new ones. We can also pull the places and use them on the new trailer. We'll research that tomorrow.

But we do need to get in, so I suggested going to our storage unit to retrieve our crowbars. Then we could go out tomorrow morning and break into our own trailer. Back up 101 to the storage place (which is right across the street from the Home Depot we visited early, and after much shifting of boxes and searching while getting covered in Playa dust, we came to a startling conclusion.

The damn crowbars may be in the trailer.

So, back over to Home Depot, which had a cool little set of prybars on sale. We also grabbed a can of WD-40, a new key caddy for me, and a set of new work gloves. We also tried to get a new spare key for Darby cut, but no love. We'll have to try an actual locksmith or the Ford dealership.

After that, we went shopping. At least that went according to plan! I bought a case of Budweiser because we are reaching the bitter end of the Beer advent calendar I bought, and there are several cans remaining that I am very suspicious of.

It has been decided that a pizza strike will be called in when Kirsten wakes up from her nap.

Or, at least, a momentary break from life at Offhand Manor during the siege.

There were several errands that needed to be done. We were out of taco seasoning, Darby needed to be filled, a couple of things had to go into the post, and I had a prescription to pick up. Now, there was a perfectly logical way to line those errands up. One that, given my years of trip-setting experience as both a driver and a dispatcher, you would think I would have taken.

Fuck that. I took the long way. This will only make sense to locals, but from Costco where I filled up, I headed east to 880 North, to 101 North, all the way to Lawerence Expressway. From there I dropped down to El Camino Real where all my destinations lay waiting.

I skipped the bank because the line literally wrapped around the building. I couldn't find the mailbox that was supposedly in the same shopping center as my pharmacy, which was annoying. Got in and out of Rite Aid quickly. At Smart&Final I found the last jar of taco seasoning and gave into temptation and bought a 30-pack of Budweiser. I like it, and it's a good beer on a hot summer day. I really am not in the mood to hear from beer snobs on this, OK?

Which left the mail. Luckily, there is a mail processing station not too far from us and they have a mailbox. I'll try again tomorrow for the laundry quarters. Also, Darby needs a bath, badly.

About 16 miles and lots of time to listen to SiriusXM's Liquid Metal and just be outside. I also had a fun conversation about legalized weed with a nice lady that mortified her kid.

Okay, I admit it, I bought a beer because of the label and association. But as Metallica was once better known as "Alcoholica" due to their hard-drinking ways, I felt this deserved a shot. We picked a four-pack of 16oz cans at BevMo yesterday, and I had one with my pizza dinner. Note, I drank from the can.

The beer has a strong citrus aroma. It's very light and surprisingly hoppy for a pilsner-style beer. The taste was clean with strong citrus and grassy impressions. Really bitter. It had a clean ending, which made me happy, as too many American pilsners end with a watery taste. Equally good when sipping or taking a big gulp to kill the chili pepper flake lodged at the bad of my throat. I think this would be a good beer for a hot day when you just want a cold one. Also good with spicy foods.

It's a little pricy ($12.99 for four 16oz cans) so this will probably be a special occasion beer or one I pick up if we happen to be near BevMo and I think about it. I'll probably bring a pack to Burning Man next year.

But seriously, the cans are awesome.