Saturday, a few of us gathered at
casa-de-Squish for a celebration of beer, bourbon, and BBQ. We wanted to recreate the local festival of
the same name in a relaxed environment. Man
that was a party.
The twelve of us ordered take out
from Andy Nelson’s BBQ. The participants
brought a selection of whiskey, ciders, and beers—emphasis on the whiskey and
cider. K&K brought some home crafted
sparkling alcoholic blueberry juice and Southern comfort. I think they brought some beers as well, but
honestly, I don’t remember. The juice
came from a home-craft set you can pick up on Amazon called spike my
juice. You take a 64oz bottle of your
favorite fruit juice, drop in one of the yeast packets, screw on the provided
vented top and let sit for 2-4 days. The
yeast converts the sugar into alcohol venting the extra gas through the top
while it self-carbonates. Based on
several reviews, there’s an art to getting the alcohol content to the desired
level while leaving the right amount of sweet in the drink. We’ve ordered one of the kits and should have
a test batch to try this weekend. I’m
looking at making my own Southern Comfort as well because this stuff is
a-ma-zing—more on that later.
There were several very nice
bourbons on display. I brought a
selection of high end items I’ve been hording for just such an event. While I brought three E.H. Taylors and Thomas
Handy rye, it was my Elijah Craig that took the biggest hit. I find it interesting that of all the premium
bourbons I brought it was the least expensive of the batch that attracted the
most attention. Granted, it’s my
favorite for value and flavor; but it was a little odd. Number two was the willett. It had a very bold flavor that appealed to
everyone.
Amongst the alcoholic wonderland
several of us settled down to try a game of iron & Ale. I&A is a
dwarven themed drinking card game. My
lovely wife backed it on kickstarter for me as a gift a couple years ago and
this was the first chance I had to take it for a spin—and man what a spin. Game play involves each player picking a
dwarven lord. Each lord has a special
ability so most people will want to randomize the selection. Then the person with the best beard
starts. Each player in turn draws up to
2 cards from the mountain deck which is composed of monster fights and
different kinds of metal ingots. Then
they draw one physical challenge. If you
win a fight or challenge you keep the card and the associated honor. The player with the most honor at the end of
the game wins. The way the rules are
written makes clear that players are encouraged to bet on challenges, play side
games, and generally carouse in typical dwarven fashion. Many of the penalties and contests involve
“drinking” whatever one happens to be holding at the time. Since several players started off with
bourbon things got interesting quickly.
Things we learned after playing two rounds of the game:
1.
Next time we play drinks will be standardized for alcoholic
content and volume.
2.
I still can’t beat Squish at arm wrestling.
3.
Doctor ninja will run out of energy punching my arm before I
flinch.
4.
I can do more pushups than anyone in the group.
5.
Game needs to be sleeved.
6.
Those Lego drinking glasses need to be drunk from the flat
side.
7.
Standing on one foot and drinking is hard,
That list says a lot about how much fun this game
is. I haven’t laughed that hard in a
long time. It put two of our Dwarven clan
on the floor, but them’s the breaks. I
can’t wait for the expansion we preordered to come in.
Cleaning up
the next day it turned out that most of our friends left their booze at
Squish’s. He didn’t want it which leaves
me in an interesting place. I have so
much bourbon. Some of the lower end
stuff will get turned into cuffs and buttons:
That is going to be some serious experimenting—especially
if I end up mixing it up with our nitrogen infuser. God, I love science.
The
afternoon and subsequent evening recovery period were a great deal of fun. I oft time wax professorial on fine spirits,
games, and food. I enjoy the finer
things in life as grace notes to memorable moments. The element that makes those moments worth
remembering is fellowship. Saturday was
filled with pleasant company. Thanks to
all who made it possible.
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