The Good Life

This is long overdue, I know. There have been so many things happening that I couldn’t stay off of so I’ve neglected the fun side of this forum; sharing the good life.

I’ll just recount some of the good things I’ve found in the last few weeks and offer up suggestions for celebration accoutrements.

First I have to recount the tale of the best tasting specialty beer I’ve ever had.

AeroSarge was in town this past weekend and we found ourselves (myself, Sarge, Adam, and Whit) sitting around the house drinking and stinking. I like to try new beers and had quite a few stored up in the beer fridge. We were watching Tombstone which, I have to say, is one of the most entertaining westerns of all time. Many of you may not know that I grew up in the same town as Doc Holiday and have spent some time in his family home that still sits on the old town square. While the character (played flawlessly by Val Kilmer) is probably a bit more gregarious than the real Doc was, the shear punch of his one-liners alone make the film worth seeing…twice.

So we’re drink some of the new beers I’d collected and we decide to crack into a bottle I’ve been saving, as I’ll probably never find it again.

A couple of months ago I found a bottle of Sam Adams Chocolate Bock. I read about it online and found it at my trusty bottle shop for a pittance. It comes in a large bottle (right around 175 or so) and has a large faux pewter label. The effect is quite dramatic but after all, this was a one off.

So after about half a second of consideration we popped the top and poured three equal shares. The color was of course a rich, dark chocolate brown. I’m not even sure if it was carbonated, but it didn’t need to be. Much like a cask aged or bottle conditioned ale, this beer was thick and rich and full of so much flavor that the carbonation might have just taken away from the experience.

We all dutifully sniffed like the aficionados we’re not, taking in the rich, chocolaty aroma. The first taste was almost as confusing as it was wonderful. It starts off as a meaty, dark ale, though much smoother. Then the magic happens. It goes to a lush, nutty-buttery complexion and then it hits…

Chocolate unlike any you’ve had. If you can imagine the richest dark chocolate on earth and then imagine the beer equivalent, this would be it. I’ve enjoyed beers before, but I’ve never had the desire to swish beer around in my mouth to maintain the flavor like this before. The finish gets even meatier.

There were many oohs and ahhs, some “oh” faces (what can I say, we were blotto by this point) and a consensus that should we find another bottle of this fine brew, it should be acquired at all cost.

So there’s my pick of the week: Sam Adams Chocolate Bock