Indian (PA) Summer

Every summer has its own character. I don't want to talk like its all over, but it is September already and I think we're in the the last throws of warm evenings. Felecia's back in school (teaching) this week, while I have only a lonely couple weeks of laziness and masturbation still in the bank. I'll remember the warm months in 2006 as my summer of IPAs... and I'll be releasing a commemorative coin.

The Belmont Station Beer Forum reports that there will be a Fresh Hop Beer "Tastival" next month at the NW Lucky Labrador in October. Its a fitting harvest festival for a pleasantly bitter summer. I can't believe I spent the last one drinking gin and tonic. (I'd ask to have it refunded, but you should never ask back for the gin that's drank.)

The IPA-tion of summer was partially fueled by local breweries:

The Lucky Lab, besides having an exceptional IPA, Superdog (I claimed it as my favorite beer to the AP, I'll stand by it), serves a limited release of single hopped IPA's, for educational purposes, I assume. They change roughly by the month, whenever the old one runs out. Right now the Lab on Quimby has a Cascade hops IPA, which I haven't tried yet.

Other pivotal events were Laurelwood's brewers' IPA-off a couple months ago, Widmer Bros. permanent bottling of Broken Halo, my discovery of Terminal Gravity and Deschutes' introduction of Inversion.

I've consumed more super-hoppy ales this spring and summer than the rest of my years on earth combined. People from my generation are branded by our consumption I'm... damn trendy. My cells are constructed from molecules sold by Widmer, Deschutes, and the Lucky Labrador. So this summer has been a pretty good time.