Breweries "Visited"

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Beer 276: The Gubna and September 11 Ramblings

I'm of the mind that if you're going to claim patriotism on one day, you really need to follow through the other 364 days. I'll also admit that I'm not the most patriotic person in the country. I've freely stated on more than one occasion that my fellow citizens embarrass me. Or so I thought.

Today started quite normal except for the fact that me and the Army of Dachshunds were on our own for wake up call, breakfast and the rest of the morning routine. Without someone else to trip over in the morning, I'm pretty efficient and found that me and the guys had time for breakfast outside. If you weren't out at 7am today, treat yourself to it tomorrow morning. It is GLORIOUS this week. I even remarked to Sal how beautiful and perfect it was. He agreed if that's what dropping a deuce in my flower bed means.

I headed off to work and that's when it hit me. It's September 11 and the day looked eerily similar to the one eleven years ago. Only I noticed how clear and so very blue the sky was much earlier...something I didn't notice eleven years ago until I was trying to figure out how to get from Philadelphia to my home. My mind wandered the way one's mind wanders when thinking about such a terrible event and I flipped on the radio for distraction. And that's when I turned into a patriotic blubbering mess.

God rest her soul...that Whitney Houston could sing the national anthem.

There was so much encouragement on the radio and online to spend time today doing something for someone else. Isn't that the way you should always conduct yourself? If you don't look out for others, do something kind for others, then doesn't that mean you're only looking out for yourself? And if you're only looking out for yourself, you're probably being a dick. And that goes against my philosophy of life: Don't be a dick.

So on this 11th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, don't be a dick and carry that with you from September 12 to September 10. You'll thank me for it.

My other advice for today...drink a Gubna from Oskar Blues Brewery. Gubna is an imperial IPA (10% ABV) brewed in Longmont, Colorado. The name of their tasting room is The Tasty Weasel. I've been there and it is awesome. Plus they do a great tour...very thorough.


The Gubna poured a deep, hazy orangey brown with a white head. It left lots of lacing inside the glass as I happily made my way to the bottom. The smell was a little off putting...kind of skunk-like. The taste is resinous and woody. It had some floral hop to it and a fantastic brown spiciness. I can't put my finger on the best word to describe the spice. Maybe something that goes into chili to give it a earthiness but not heat? Does that make sense to anyone? Hello?

Having been to Oskar Blues in person and having sampled many of their beers, I was surprised at how much I liked this one over all the others. I'll give the Gubna a very good.

Cheers!

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