Friday the 13th

Friday the 13th is a special day in the beer world, ever since the Grey Lodge Pub started hosting their Friday the Firkinteenth party. Guest cask ales are brought in, and a random 7 casks are provided at any one time to the customers. There was only one event this year (there are 3 next year), so I had put this date on my calendar early in the year and had told Jenn of my intentions. My drinking buddies (Chris and Christopher) couldn’t make it (it’s tough having Christian friends that have a desire to support their families) but I had planned to go anyways. So after taking Jacob to school, I got on the road.

I made it there right after they tapped the first cask, so I headed upstairs and got a seat at the bar and ordered a Lodge steak (it’s a Philly cheesesteak with slices of salami added in for good measure). I met a nice couple from Boston, and we talked about our beer experiences. They had actually participated in several 3 Sheets events so I was impressed. I started off with the Wells Banana Bread beer, a dessert in a glass. I also had the Sixpoint Modern Rye. Delicious. I had several of the other casks, so I instead ordered a couple of Port beers on draft (Hot Rocks Lager and Shark Attack Double Red). Food was good, company was great, and the beer was excellent. But I didn’t have my pals with me and I didn’t really desire to stay all day, so I headed off to the Memphis Taproom.

The Memphis Taproom has great food and a potent beer selection, and I chose the William Brothers Seven Giraffes (a delicious Scottish ESB) on cask. I sat and decided that I wanted to make it a short day, so instead of more imbibing, I moved on to the Foodery to see what bottles that they had to offer. I wasn’t disappointed. I picked up the Dogfish Head Hellhound, a lemon ale coming in at 10% ABV, as well as the Evil Twin beers Yin and Yang. It was too early to sample at either the Standard Tap or the 700 Club (I’ll need to try these two on a separate trip). It was a good day, but I wanted to get to my folks, so I headed out the city and ended my adventure for the day.

The next day I was traveling to the UK, and I had discovered long ago that my parents would give me a ride to the airport if I treated them to dinner (they’d probably give me a ride if I didn’t, but it always fun to go out and eat and drink). So since they liked mussels, I took them to Monk’s sister bar, the Belgian Café. I scored a parking spot right in front of the bar, so we went into eat. We each got a ½ pot of mussels (the Van Eyck, the Jerge, and Monk’s mussels), and I split a Gouden Carolus Easter ale. The beer was potent, and very sweet, and complemented the mussels extremely well. The mussels were so tender that my folks each needed to order some more. It was a great evening.

Sated, we went to the airport so that I could catch my flight. It was the beginning of a new adventure, and I was truly thankful that my trip had started so well. - 5782/10641

"The mouth of a perfectly happy man is filled with beer." – Egyptian Proverb