March 5, 2010

The Session #37: The Display Shelf: When to drink the good stuff


This month's Session hosted by The Ferm is about when do we actually get to drink our prized bottles that we hoard. It's a topic recently touched upon in the LA Times, and those cats down in LA take "cellaring" to an on-the-real level. I still have a bunch of junk in my parents' basement down in LA, but certainly no beer. And just to get this off my chest, I'm still not entirely comfortable with how the beer community has joined winos in turning cellar into a verb. But I do appreciate the irony in essentially "lagering" our fine ales.

I've blogged about my Beeradise in the past. I recently thinned the herd to make more room in the Beeradise (aka malt vault), which of course one again overfloweth. I figure, it's proof I don't have a drinking problem (just a collecting problem). The good and the bad part is that Half Pint has put her foot down and limits our stash to whatever can fit into the armoire-half and the chiller-half (and whatever I invariably sneak into our hall closet, until such time as it starts to block access to her shoes).
As such, I don't buy a case of beers like Anchor Old Foghorn or Sierra Nevada Old Bigfoot every year. A few I do procure annually are Anchor Our Special Ale, Alaskan Smoked Porter, and Deschutes The Abyss. I don't think anyone would fault me there, right?

But the question at hand is: when do you actually stop mentally masturbating over looking at them like high-gravity centerfolds and actually have your way with them? Like a kick to the head, I feel I’m snapping out of my hoarding mentality. Life is uncertain. What if a piece of blue ice falls from an airplane and fatally knocks
the shit out of—or into—me and I never get to try those 300-ish bottles including the three-year vertical of Cantillon Blåbær peacefully laying at rest in there? No way, Jose. I’m
gonna drink those bad boys sooner than later. Late May/early June sounds good, shortly after my wedding and honeymoon. That’s as good a reason to celebrate, yeah?

As for the other 297-ish, I never really need my arm twisted to find a reason to rejoice with good beer and good friends.


4 comments:

Jason said...

Congrats on the engagement/wedding. I am planning on taking a bunch of my stuff to my wedding (October)- the best time to drink is in the company of others who can appreciate it.

Jesse said...

I don't know if I could hold off on drinking that Cantillon - enjoy, and congrats on the wedding. I'm getting married in October and trying to select the "special" beers to bring with me now.

Anonymous said...

i'd make big dent in that stash during the "world cup" come june...if you need an extra lip..call me...lol..cheers

Brian Yaeger said...

Hey Anon,
I'm happy to drink a beer from the winning country (provided I have one from there). I'd be happy to share with you, but d'oh, who are you?