Thank you John and Judy!

Thanks so much for the card and gift, we loved the time you've shared with us and hopefully it'll be a good day for a motorcycle ride soon. We tried to use your gift in a way that would remind us of the two of you, and here is what we came up with:

along with

and a set of pub glasses. We went to Ithaca to go to the Lowe's there, and we couldn't help but stop at the Wegmans. They had all the beers, and the glasses I (Mick) had been looking for for some time now (years). They'll show up later in the post. So the first one we had was the Kriek. Neither of us had had it before, but we both have read about it and really wanted to sample some. Plus, the teasing taste you get from Three Philosophers might have goaded us on. It was super sweet, so definitely not made from the traditional sour cherry (it says black cherry right on the label), but nonetheless it was delicious. Perhaps the most striking aspect was it's physical beauty...the color, the effervescence, and the beautiful, tall pink head:

Oh, Sarah had never had Newcastle before, that's why that is in there. One of the finest mainstream brews, I think. Sarah says: Brown ales have always been very attractive to me, probably because they are malty more than hoppy (Mick adds, "And sweet.") This makes them very drinkable to me. So the Newcastle bottles have always tempted me, and we sprung for it! It is a delicious beer, smooth and complex flavors. I'm very glad that now I have a taste to put with the beautiful bottle! (Mick again) One thing I noticed in this batch that I've not before was an earthy flavor/smell that reminded me of the chickens we are keeping. Bizarre. Anyhow, the next beer we had was Brooklyn's Monster Ale. I've had it once before a long time ago, and Sarah has never had a Barleywine at all. Sweet, slightly fruity maltiness rushes in with the beer, but the hops quickly took over. It gives way to a more balanced arrangement, and the longer you held it in your mouth, the more the thick malty flavors shined through. But once you swallow, the hops come back to dominate, and linger. One of those things that's so complex I can't begin to pick the flavours apart. (Sarah says) The malt is strong at the beginning but the hops come in strong. Like I said before, hoppy bitterness is a taste that I am still acquiring, so as I drank it, I thought, eh this might end up being too hoppy. But right at the last minute, the malt comes back to save the day and balances the hops. Mick wants to keep the other three bottles for a time so we can see how the beer ages. He was so excited to see that Wegmans had it! so of course we had to try it. :)

The last beer in the bunch was Sam Smith's Oatmeal Stout. Sarah has never had an oatmeal stout before (and has wanted to try it since she first heard the name), and it's been a long time since I've had one too, much less Sam Smith's. The smell of it was very bready with fruit, almost like banana-bread. It fit the profile of an oatmeal stout, with one addition...it tasted really smoky to me. Which fit somehow, and it was really good, but I didn't remember tasting anything like it in something that wasn't a rauchbier.

So thanks again, we love you, and hopefully we can enjoy some pints together sometime soon out of our new glasses.

Thanks!