V18: Alive Day IPA
Tattered Flag Brewery & Still Works

It is the ocCANsion of New Beer Sunday (Week 682) & I am CANducting a brewery horizontal of Tattered Flag Brewery in advance of my planned visit on W, 28 March 2018. Viva The CANQuest (tm)!

From the CAN: "Craft Beer * Raise a Flag"; "Vanilla India Pale Ale"; "My Alive Day [:] 6-28-11. This Galaxy[-]hopped IPA, with vanilla added, was made on the 6th anniversary. Some days we catch a lucky break, some days we don't. Here['s] to those who made it out[,] but more importantly[, to] those that have paid the ultimate sacrifice. In memory of those that lost their lives 6-28-2005. U S Navy SEALS - Michael Murphy, Matthew Axelson, Eric Patton, Daniel Healy, James Suh, Jacques Fontan, Erik Kristensen, Jeffrey Lucas, Michael McGreevy, Jeffrey Taylor. Army Night Stalkers - Shamus Goare, Corey Goodnature, Kip Jacoby, Marcus Muralles, Stephen Reich, Michael Russell, Chris Scherkenbach, James Ponder. We raise a Flag to these brave heroes, may you live forever in our memories. Until Valhalla."

My Alive Day, by extension, was 25 February 1991, my 26th birthday. I was the starboard-side .50-calibre Browning machine gunner aboard the USS Normandy (CG-60) on the morning of the beginning of the liberation of Kuwait. We were north, well up in the Persian/Arabian Gulf, starboard side to, pointing south for a quick exodus once the non-amphibious assault began. The mount was secured with chains & I had no ammo since the skipper saw me as a loose CANnon & did not want us to be perceived as the aggressors, ala King Arthur, Mordred & the adder. I was simply standing alongside the mount as the invasion began & an armed member of the Iraqi Imperial Guard ran past on the beachhead, in full retreat. To this day, I CANnot explain what motivated me, but I waved & he waved back, rather than opening fire! SeCANds later, the underway whistle was blown & I hit the deck as we made way at an exceptional speed with a huge rooster tail in our wake. My parents were a Blue Star family, but they could have easily upgraded (?) to Gold Star that day. This coming 11 November 2018 will mark the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended WW1. Chew on that one, thinking of everything that has transpired in the past century.

Fittingly, we are celebrating this one with a 1 Pint CAN since anything less would not be enough. I Crack!ed the CAN open & bowed my head in deference to my fallen CANrades before CANtinuing with a slow, gentle Glug as I played Taps via YouTube. I suppose that we all pay tribute in our own way, but this was mine & it was reverent. I sacrificed clarity for reverence in this case. Color was a cloudy Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9). An in-glass swirl raised two-plus fingers of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head that slowly bowed out, leaving me with my ghosts. Kenny, Baby Doc & Jimmy had all shown up in my kitchen to watch me drink this one. Master Chief Biebault still eschews me & my antics. Nose was softer in terms of its bitterness than as in the previous two. That said, I am not sure that I would have identified "Vanilla". It had a slightly tropical bent, but I was really getting orange/tangerine in abundance & what I would have sworn was caramel malt. Time for a toast & a taste! Sláinte, boys! Mouthfeel was very soft, lightly carbonated, almost creamy. The taste was like a slightly bitter Orange Creamsicle! OMFG. I loved those frozen CANfections as a kid. I have never really liked chocolate or anything sweet & as I get older, it becomes even more ingrained. This was a wonderful tribute to our country's fallen. Finish was dry, certainly, but not as sharply bitter as the previous ones. I CAN only hope that they have this one on draft during my visit.

Pounder can appears hazy copper with offwhite froth.

Aroma is sweet with vanilla contrasted by citrus hops. Little bit of herbs and otherwise pleasing.

Taste is vanilla upfront then gets bitter with herbs and grass, pulp and pithy/rindy feel. It almost has a cola quality about it.

Medium in body with modest carbonation. Its ok.