Beery Advent Calendar #4
It's been a strange day. Domestic niggles (broken lock, bathroom door falling off, leaking gutter), transport shenanigans (broken buses, traffic snarls), random frustrations (too many books, not enough shelves, wrong batteries, broken lamps). Still cold outside but enjoyed a summery chicken-basil-lemon bake. Still knackered but enjoying typing this rot onto the tinternet.
Tonight's beer: Thornbridge Saint Petersburg Islay Whisky Reserve. Brewed in 10.2% but it may have, ahem, varied a little since bottling in 2006. Still some condition to be coaxed out of it, enough salty smoke that you can smell the glass from the other side of the room (yes, I've just tried), there's still plenty of Islay spirit that refuses to be diluted, a mocha echo that clings to the edges of your gums. A resolute beer that's maybe close to being the best that it can ever taste. I've opened a bottle every year since 2007; this is my last.
I remember the day I bought the beers. I'd seen mention on Scoopgen about St P being whisky-aged; semi-legally, maybe. I knew I had to have some. The trip was my first to the brewery; my wife and I stopped at the Monsal Head Hotel for lunch, got lost on the way to Thornbridge and had to phone them for directions. I remember leaving my chequebook behind and having to backtrack. I remember cradling twelve bottles of beer all the way home. Looking back, it'd been a fun, beery day.
The next day, my Mum had a stroke. The day after, she died.
There are a million and one things that remind me of my Mum. Tonight, it's this last bottle of St P Islay.
Today's gift: a gift for others. Please.
Today's picture: a place that my Mum loved. But would probably have loved even more if there had been a tea room near the car park :-)
Tonight's beer: Thornbridge Saint Petersburg Islay Whisky Reserve. Brewed in 10.2% but it may have, ahem, varied a little since bottling in 2006. Still some condition to be coaxed out of it, enough salty smoke that you can smell the glass from the other side of the room (yes, I've just tried), there's still plenty of Islay spirit that refuses to be diluted, a mocha echo that clings to the edges of your gums. A resolute beer that's maybe close to being the best that it can ever taste. I've opened a bottle every year since 2007; this is my last.
I remember the day I bought the beers. I'd seen mention on Scoopgen about St P being whisky-aged; semi-legally, maybe. I knew I had to have some. The trip was my first to the brewery; my wife and I stopped at the Monsal Head Hotel for lunch, got lost on the way to Thornbridge and had to phone them for directions. I remember leaving my chequebook behind and having to backtrack. I remember cradling twelve bottles of beer all the way home. Looking back, it'd been a fun, beery day.
The next day, my Mum had a stroke. The day after, she died.
There are a million and one things that remind me of my Mum. Tonight, it's this last bottle of St P Islay.
Today's gift: a gift for others. Please.
Today's picture: a place that my Mum loved. But would probably have loved even more if there had been a tea room near the car park :-)
I've read this four times and I still don't know exactly what to write in the comments.
ReplyDeleteAll I've got is that the beer is very special, as is this post.