A Four-year Five

Some pretty amazing things happened in the year 2008.

 

- At least three states broke free from Republican Cranio-rectal inversions and allowed same-sex couples to have civil unions or marriages.  (47 more will follow suit, I suspect.)

 

- The Eyak language in Alaska became extinct as its last native speaker died.  (Apparently, a young man stepped forward at a later date claiming to know the language. He did indeed, but he was not a native speaker. He learned it from tapes.)

 

- Fidel Castro retired as the President of Cuba. He was at the post for 50 years.  (Rumors that the world's last surviving Ivory-billed Woodpecker found safe haven in his beard cant be confirmed at this time.) 

 

- A fire at the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood destroyed several icons from movies including the clock tower from Back to the Future.  Truly tragic.  (I wonder if the fire produced the required 1.21 gigawatts?)

 

- Barack Obama became the first African-American to be nominated by a major political party for President of the United States. He later wins the Presidency.  (If you did not know this, I presume you were incarcerated in a Turkish prison.)

 

- The Large Hadron Collider at CERN, described as the biggest scientific experiment in the history of mankind is powered up in Geneva, Switzerland.  (It is a smashing example of science in action.)

 

- Human remains previously found in 1991 are finally identified by Russian and American scientists as those of Tsar Nicholas II and his family.  (They were gunned down by the Bulsheviks in 1918, dumped in a ditch and given an acid bath.  DNA testing confirmed the identities of the skeletons.)

 

- I bought the Stone Brewing Company Vertical Epic in August and stashed in my fridge.

 

- Bernard Madoff was arrested and charged with securities fraud in $50 billion Ponzi scheme.  (What a complete ass.)

 

- The Detroit Lions finished the season 0-16 with a 31-21 lost to the Green Bay Packers.  ( I don't even know what to say here.....)

So, if you actually read this list, I'm sure you saw one event in particular that suggested something amazing.

Yes, the Republicans have bee turds for a very long time.

Oh wait, that's not it.  I mean, thats true, but that it not what I meant.

The beer.  Seriously.  No, really.  I have had a bottle of beer in the refrigerator since August of 2008. 

Brewed by the Stone Brewing Company in California, the Vertical Epic series is a "buy it and wait" sort of endeavor.  There are twelve in the series and each is released one year, one month, and one day later than the previous beer in the series.  I secured a bottle of the 08.08.08.  Brewed with the intention of aging, I stashed it.  Directions clearly state the bottle should be opened after December 12, 2012 (12.12.12.)

A few nights ago, with my good buddy Neal in town from Texas and Natalie in town from, um, here, we busted open the bottle.

 

Sure the photo, is a bit fuzzy. After all, it was taken with a iPhone camera smudged with a fingerprint.  But, if the camera had the ability to smell and taste this beer, you would all be salivating. 

 

Pouring a wonderful gold, the heads were a bit shortlived, but I did not care too much.  Some sediments (yeasts, I presume) ended up in the glasses, but that is not unexpected given the situation with the bottle.  Citrus tones on the nose complimented the estery notes.  Natalie noted apricots. On the tongue, the body was perfect; not syrupy or thick. Certainly not weak and gross.  Tropical fruits and spices balanced out the hops. The finish was dry but not at all distractingly so. The 8.6% alcohol was completely hidden.   What a damned good beer.

 

This is one of those drinks were I thought of giving it a "four" at first.  I'll be honest.  It was pretty similar to some Belgians I have had.  However, given the knowledge needed to put this together and get it to age so well, I would be a complete Madoff for giving it anything less than a "Five". The Vertical Epic 08.08.08 (#1,383) was an outstanding beer. 

 

Sadly, given the reality behind it, I'll NEVER get to have another one......