Summer of Beer About To Start, Again

Tomorrow (Friday) marks the last written test I will have to take this year, granted I still have a little practical-style exam on Monday which I'm not too worried about. I've already got a lot of stuff planned for Summer. First and foremost was a little trip today to a liquor store down the street to pick up some Woodford Reserve for Old Fashioneds this Saturday when we have a get-together for Mother's Day. I wasn't expecting much else, but I decided to just browse through the beer isles which I don't normally expect to find anything out of the ordinary in. Just as I was about to walk away I was stunned to catch a glimpse of some tiny 375mL Belgian style corked bottles. Tempation! I couldn't believe there were over 10 sitting on the shelves, for $9.99 no less. I had purchased some off the Russian River website a couple months ago (about $15 a bottle), but I couldn't pass up a deal like this so I picked up a few more.

The name of the game this Summer is HOPS. I've had my fair share of IPA's and other hop bombs but it hasn't been till recently that I've just wanted to assault my palate with as many hops as possible. Thus the basis for some of the things I have planned...

Once I'm completely done next week I have a San Diego + Alpine trip already planned for Thursday the 15th so I can load up on growlers for a little party we're having Sunday the 18th. If all goes well I'll be able to get a few growlers of Alpine Pure Hoppiness (+ Duet IPA, or anything else hoppy Alpine has for fills). A stop to Liars Club in Alpine will be included as well as most likely O'Brien's as I start heading back. A couple more growler fills at Stone (IPA and Ruination) should suffice. I already have a growler of Port Brewing 2nd Anniversary Double IPA I'm saving for later.

Being that I am only working Monday-Wednesday this Summer it's going to leave plenty of time to get some things in. A Santa Rosa trip is tentatively being scheduled for June 11th-15th. It'll be mostly for visiting Russian River but I'm planning stops at the Toronado in SF, as well as visits to Bear Republic and maybe another place or two.

This is all beside the fact that I already have way too much beer in my fridges. But now that I won't have to come home from a full day of school and study till I go to sleep, I'll finally have some time to invite a couple friends over and sample a few beers during the night. It should definitely be a fun first couple weeks of Summer when we get around to some of the things I've crammed into my beer fridges to be on deck...