NW bottle share/gathering

What an am amazing day. Thank you Matt for the incredible hospitality and wonderful bottle share. Couldn't have asked for a better day. Thank you very much.

 

I'm still sobering up, and just wanted to thank @Texwild for his incredible generosity and hospitality, and everyone else for the warm welcome! Cheers!

 

Yes, many thanks to @Texwild for hosting, to @cherche for getting this off the ground, to all the Fremont staff for their roles in running our favorite brewery, and to all of you for the beers and the company

 

Photo dump. More words later—maybe. Very cool to meet a lot of people I hadn't before! And a big thanks to @Texwild for having us!

 

Heading back to green acres but just wanted to expressedly thank the hospitality of our host as well as highlight the excellence of the company. Want to give a shoutout to @mrdmbond for bringing the SA as well. Can't wait to do this again!!!

 

Pretty sure the Spring Elixir was never opened. Jared mull's homebrew, either. If @drone still has them, all the more reason to do this again soon.

 

Oh crap, that homebrew sounded delicious, too!

 

Checking in on the epic bottle share I missed and WTF! You didn't open my bottles! Damn! I'm sure I'm about 8 beers behind you guys at this point so I'll do my best to catch up tonight. Cowiche sounds delicious right now. Oh yeah I still got 4 in the fridge ... cheers!

 

Well, even I am at a loss for words to express just how delightful an occasion that was..............Okay, maybe just a few...

Above all, I must reiterate the gratitude that has already been extended to our incomparable host. That guy has struck upon some magic formula of pride, humility, thoughtfulness, generosity, and grace. The world of beer and world at large could use more, many more, like him. We are forever in your debt, sir, and the love for you in this forum and in the wider community is very real indeed. And it's real because you've earned ever last drop...

Thanks must also go to his staff, who provided assistance on the day, taught us a thing or two on our tour, and generally put up with our presence -- though I should like to think we were definitely on our best behavior, the incident at the end involving keg stands and some partial nudity notwithstanding.

@cherche was the other critical piece here, and without him this whole thing might not have actually happened for who knows how long. I already knew he was an especially good guy, but I hope that those who got to meet him for the first time today had enough time with him to see that for themselves. Welcome back to Seattle, my friend. Long may you stay here.

Of course, the best part of today was not the beer, great as that was, but the company, and the bringing of people that extra and meaningful step closer together. My sense was that there many new introductions among the attendees, which is fantastic. We all sorta know each other one way, but the way we got to know each other today, insofar as we each did, is better. I, personally, loved getting to meet and speak with a number of you. You know whom you are, and I look forward to one day meeting again. Until then, and beyond, our interactions on this board will now be that much more significant and real.

As for regrets, there were a few. Terry, needless to say, was sorely missed. But his presence was none-the-less keenly felt throughout, and he fondly figured in many a conversation. We'll see you at the next one, up there in your principality in the hinterlands, ya big lug. Count on it. I'm also sorry for those who had to back out at the last minute, for various reasons, or were never going to be able to attend because of a preexisting conflict. You were all missed, too. Please, however, know that you need never wait until the next bottle share to make a new friend or two on this site. That is only ever a direct message away, even for the introverts...

Finally, I'm deeply ashamed to have dropped the ball on the vintage Spring Elixir and @jaredmull's national award-winning Razzhole Sour homebrew. It was my personal duty to make sure these bottles were consumed and duly rated, and, though I tried in my own feeble way to make this happen, I failed. My deepest apologies for this. It will be rectified, one way or another. Maybe, with the Spring Elixir, we can hold onto it (properly cellared, of course) until Fremont does it again for Bartell's 150th anniversary a couple decades from now, and do a crazy vertical? That would be some kind of fun, methinks. For the Razzhole Sour, I'm probably just going to go ahead and post my first-ever ISO on the trade boards. Desperation is not my thing, but I really need to try that beer.

All right, this is a preposterously lengthy post even by my standards, so I'll just close it by saying that I wish @John_M, whom I was otherwise thrilled to finally meet, had let us talk about anything other than beer today. But, schoolmarm that he is, he kept going around and shutting down all our tangents. What a prick.

Cheers, NW Forum....

-Ed

 

Well, a hobo set his shopping cart on fire across the street from work a few minutes ago. That was the highlight of my day.

 

Sorry, but there's no way he said anything so concise.

 

Lemony 66's Series of Barrel-Aged Event(s)

• A sincere thanks to @Robomunky, as I might not have made it to this event otherwise. He is as good a driver as he is company, and if there's any doubt, both are in high regard!
• @BadBrett was surrogate-drinking for a regular here. Who was that again? Anyhow, I'm glad he joined us - and given the bottles shared, I'm sure he was, too. I hope he becomes a regular here in our quirky neck of the woods on BA.
• It's been written only umpteen times above, but it bears reiteration: @Texwild was an amazing host. @EdwardAbbey's description of "some magic formula of pride, humility, thoughtfulness, generosity, and grace" nailed the bullseye. Matt's candor and hospitality made this event even more amazing than it was already destined to be.
• Speaking of @EdwardAbbey, that was our hero in the waning minutes of our share, wielding mop to remove all melted bucket ice to assuage our host of any further headache on what must have been an already, crazy busy day of a Unicorn Tears release - and a day that he chose to spend hosting us ruffians, instead.
• @beertunes' presence was sorely missed. I didn't make it to the Toronado share, but if that was A New Hope and this was Empire, perhaps we can make a third share up north as Return of the Terry. Today was evidence that the community we share here is special and truly our own, and it will only be better when our beloved, curmudgeonly mainstay is there to celebrate with us all. I eagerly await the next episode!
• My wife picked me up, and naturally, she figured the best thing to do for her barleywine-sloshing-stomached husband was to hike Discovery Park down to the beach and back up. With golden retriever and three-year old in tow. Sans stroller. Truth be told, the former two fared better than me, and I could've used the stroller, but all of us needed something to slake our thirst afterwards, and the day dovetailed nicely at the Urban Beer Garden. Delicious beer, swift and friendly service, and a wonderful atmosphere over some take-out fish and chips. Although I ended with Unicorn Tears, I'm all smiles here at the end of this busy, hot, memorable day.

 

He did! I heard it with my own eyes.

 

@EdwardAbbey - I only have one other bomber of the original Razzhole Sour, but I'm brewing another batch right now. Should be ready in a few weeks. July 7th or 8th is my next brew night in my garage in Bothell. It should be on tap by then and if you or anyone on this thread wants to hang in my garage and brew and drink beer, I'm game! 5 Gallons at a time!

 

Great to meet everyone! Thanks @Texwild for hosting the share, and his time and generosity.

 

It does happen.

When I had the pleasure of meeting @EdwardAbbey and @66jzmstr a while ago, there were two occasions where Mr. Abbey responded with "Yes, absolutely." to a point someone made. There was also a head nod, but I don't think that added any verbosity.

I'm glad to hear yesterday's event was such a great success, but I'm not surprised. The Northwest forum has a gratifying
preponderance of good people.

 

I still have both your homebrew and your Spring Elixer; let's plan some North side impromptu meetup somewhere and give your Razzhole Sour a proper tasting (sorry if that sentence is awkward...)

I won't repeat half of the honest sentiment here, but it bears repeating a thousand times: eternal thanks to @Texwild and the entire Fremont crewing for housing us. It was a fantastic time meeting all of you, and I'm already looking forward to future meetups.