Beer and Pavement

I am a lucky bastard for many, many reasons. There’s my family, including the two loves of my life. One of those loves is my daughter who always comes before beer and Pavement^[1]. There’s the smartest, most interesting woman I have ever known who allows me to sleep in a bed with her^[2] and was willing to fill out marriage papers with me five and a half years ago.

As demonstrated in this blog, I have little about which to worry. There have been the jobless scares, that time I hit a deer, and a few other minor brushes with misery, but my problems are typically first-world problems^[3]. The kinds of problems I have are the kind that only happen in America to middle-class, white dudes. So, that makes me pretty lucky.

I’m lucky that I can write about craft beer and indie rock as a hobby. Hell, I’m lucky enough to be able to afford craft beer and indie rock. Someone who reads said writing even offered me a free Archers of Loaf poster, circa 1997. That too makes me pretty lucky. Life’s good.

Another way in which I’m lucky is that I have family in another market who will fill my need for hard-to-get beers^[4]. Even though we here in Missouri will be getting beer from Stone in the spring, there are some brews for which I can’t wait. Tonight was my lucky night because I popped open a Lukcy Basartd^[5] Ale, a blend of all the Arrogant Bastards (regular, oaked, and double).

Oily, grassy, citrusy hops smack you as only a bastard would. The sweet maltiness of all Bastards is there and it’s welcomed. The dry-hopping sets this beer apart from its brethren IMHO. With all that, this beer is not as intense or astringent as the originals. The right touch of oak and hops balances this beer nicely. I truly am lukcy to be able to drink this beer. Now, if only they’d hurry up and ship some to the Show-Me state.

Notes:
1Especially when she tells me that she will drink and brew beer with me when she’s bigger and when she asks me to sing the “Ooh-Ooh Song” (aka “Cut Your Hair”).
2When I’m not snoring, that is.
3Of course, it’s all relative. Problems are problems. Problems don’t compare outside of their context. For example, the protests in Wisconsin and the Middle East are not the same thing, but there are parallels to be drawn. However, I won’t do that here as this blog is about first world worries: beer and indie rock.
4This too is relative. Beers that are hard for me to find are easy for my family in Ohio and vice versa. Luckily, I’ve done right by all them to afford me the luxury of “importing” beer from the fertile markets in the Buckeye state.
5This is how they’re spelling it. You should see the narrative on the back of the bottle.