TTB: It’s alive!!!
True confession: I almost quit the blog game last week. I was on the edge. The good news, if you’re a fan of the blog, is that I have decided not to quit. But first, why so long since the last blog post? April 25 was the last one I did. I was starting to feel conflicted about the blog. Trouble is, I want it to be a good blog, and rule No. 1 of any good blog is you must post frequently. And the truth is, the time needed to post frequently is not something I always have. TTB has always been a side job for me. Really, it’s been sort of like a side job on two fronts: to my full-time job at The Oklahoman and to spending time with my family. So I can’t make every pint night or tasting event, or always get out to try to latest brews. I started to feel like that was really hurting the blog. If I couldn’t give it the time it needed, and do the “research” needed, it wasn’t going to be as good as I think it should be. And so I sort of turned off the past couple weeks to take some time to think about it. I came to these conclusions:
1. I like beer.
2. I like to write.
3. I am not a quitter.
Did I quit when I had like three beers and then decided to try and take down an entire bottle of Choc Oak Aged Quad by myself? No! Did I quit when I tried to lay down like 800 square feet of hardwood floor in my house and then discovered how long it would actually take to do that? No! Did I quit when I tried to rotate my car’s tires by myself and the car rolled off the jacks? Yes. But only because the car crushed one of the jacks.
Point being, I’m always doing crazy stuff, and I always find a way to get it done in the end. (Tow truck and mallet-wielding wife may be required.) Why should this blog be any different? So, I’ve devised more of a routine/plan for the blog, and I’m ready to do this thing. Let’s get started today. The topic: summer beer.
I spent some time on the manicured grounds of the Northwest Oklahoma County Memorial Sports Coliseum this weekend, armed with Leinenkugel Summer Shandy and Sierra Nevada Summerfest. And let me tell you: I’m putting the changing of the beer seasons near the top of my list of favorite things.
I first had Summer Shandy two summers ago and thought it was great. A refreshing choice for a hot summer-like day. Last year, however, the batch was off for me. It had too much of that Pledge taste to it, too fake lemony. I can report that this year’s version much more closely resembles the batch I tasted in 2009. It’s one of my preferred fruit beers.
Summerfest, like pretty much everything else I’ve had from Sierra Nevada, is quite good this year. As the temps soared this weekend, this was a great companion beer. Crisp, refreshing — just a tasty beer for a hot day.
Now bring on the Choc Summer Ale and I’ll be ready to roll!
Beer news and links
-Tickets are still on sale for the inaugural Oklahoma Craft Beer Festival, set for May 21 in Bricktown. You can get your tix at www.tapwerks.com.
-Choc has scheduled its next beer dinner. Volume 8 will be June 10 at Pete’s Place. Call (918) 423-2042 for reservations.
-McNellie’s OKC pint night tonight at 5 p.m. Tecate. Buy the beer, get a glass.
-Speaking of McNellie’s OKC, online registration closes at 4 p.m. today for Saturday’s Pub Run. Online registration is available at https://www.signmeup.com/75722. After today, registration is available only at Red Coyote at Classen Curve.
