special birthday treat?

My birthday is mid-August and I'm here in New Mexico, so not much goes down. So I started a tradition last year of saying to my wife, "I don't want anything for my birthday, but for Labor Day, we're going to travel and I don't wanna hear no shit about my drinking and we're just going to visit a lot of breweries and bars and I'm going to waste a ton of money on beer. It won't cost you nothing but your silence."

So last year I drove up to Colorado and caught the Trinity anniversary party, then continued up to Ft. Collins and hit New Belgium, Odell, Black Bottle, Mayor of Old Town and Funkwerks, then on to Denver for a ton of breweries and a Rockies game.

This year I'm really stretching it out. Headed to NYC for Labor Day and planning the usual debaucherousness running around the city to every brewery and bar I can (Proletariat and Other Half are always must-stops) and then 2 weeks later I'm planning to jump in the car and drive up to CO for Zwanze Day.

 

I mostly like what my friend's buy me.

 

Late February for me (2-2-7). For the past decade+, every other year or so I find myself in the Caribbean for my birthday, so I embrace the local flavor:

Jamaica - Red Stripe... or Dragon Stout if I lucked out a few times
Costa Rica - Imperial
Antigua - Wadadli
St Lucia - Piton
Dominican Republic - Presidente... or some of the mamajuana behind the bar is he/she has some
Mexico - Victoria or Montejo if you have it, please.. if not, some tequila azul would be great

 

I always make a 6 pack for my birthday (first week in may). It started when I was first getting into craft beer. Now it has solidified itself as tradition and become all the more complex.

 

My B-Day lands near the end of October, so a dynamite Stout is usually on tap. Of course some top notch Bourbon would pair nicely.