Washington Post Beer Madness

So, the other day I threw my application in to the Washington Post's Beer Madness beer tournament. The tournament, obviously inspired by the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament, pits hometown favorite craft brews against each other to see who emerges victorious in a tasting panel. This year (I'm not so sure about previous years,) they're allowing readers to take part in the tasting, but there's a catch - each entry has to have one sentence (yep, only one) which lays out your beer credentials, or should set you apart from other readers to get the spot, and you have to list your favorite five American craft beers. On the application, I indicated that I once wrote haiku for beer, but that I no longer had a copy of it. It turns out, I was wrong. The following was written prior to Portsmouth Brewing Company's 2009 Kate the Great release. They allowed three entries

One last drop remains.

An oily tear chicanes slow.

A warmth reconciles.

Pulsing painful drone.

Ruby digits taunt sleepers.

Monday morning comes.

A drinker’s pub math.

Wallet’s loss gains a soul’s joy.

The whole breaks even.

At the time, I was living in Boston and my beer fanaticism was growing at an alarming rate. Having grown up in Michigan and being exposed early to Founders Kentucky Breakfast Stout (which I've been so very lucky to have had every year since about 2004 or 2005) I tend to believe the hype about Russian Imperial Stouts. I was so excited for Kate Day, but I was very very broke and didn't have access to a car that could get me an hour north to Portsmouth, NH to the Smuttynose/Portsmouth campus so I decided the only shot I had at getting a couple bottles of Kate was through their contest. It turns out I didn't win, but that's what I figured.

On Second Thought

While considering my proposal for the Restaurant Draft Project, I think that would not be a very considerate thing to do without first talking to the restaurant or bar manager, asking them whether they would like to take part in a "draft audit," and then giving them the results rather than just posting them online. If I feel still feel like moving forward with it, we'll see.

An Apology, and a Return

It's been a very, very long time since I last posted here. I can say things have been very crazy on my end - I've had 2 family funerals, myself getting engaged, losing my job (which at times required crazy 14+ hour days) - all of which kept me from thinking about blogging. Well, that being said, I'm ready to come back pretty shortly to the world of beer blogging - possibly beyond. I'll keep everyone posted, but look for a march comeback.

I'll leave you with this, an interesting article about scientists researching a beer that was found in a shipwreck. Sounds to me like something Dogfish Head might have some interest in, given their previous "Ancient" beers.