In honor of my little barrel of boozy joy I’ve been incorporating aged alcohol into my daily schedule as much as possible.  After deciding on this resolution, I was pleased to discover that the Full Sail taproom in Portland was hosting a tasting of their Top Sail Bourbon Imperial Porter.

Now I enjoy beer releases as much as the next person, but for the most part they usually involve three things: 1) the keg being tapped. 2) your glass getting filled 3) standing around talking about the beer until you’ve had a few pints.

There is nothing wrong with this equation, but I’m happy Full Sail decided to shake things up a bit.

Top Sail is a blend of porter aged in three different bourbon barrels—Maker’s Mark, Stranahan’s and Four Roses.  Not content to only sample the blended, final product, Full Sail stashed some kegs of each individual batch so their thirsty patrons could swirl, sniff and taste the subtle nuances of the different brews.

For me, this meant that I could try and learn about the flavors and variations from different barrels.  Now I know that Maker’s Mark barrels make beer chocolaty and tangy while Stranahan’s are smoky and Four Roses’ are scentless but boozy as a late night whiskey bender.

Considering that I now have my very own 2-liter barrel of joy, this information will soon come in handy (i.e. one year from now).

This picture was taken by my pal Damian.  This stuff really shouldn’t be poured in pints…

On the left, we have two quarts of some soon to be delicious Italian moonshine, limoncello.  Ready for my gullet in one week.

On the right, we have two liters of Wasmund’s single malt.  I received two liters of the white dog whiskey as a gift and I’ll be keeping tabs on its development monthly.  It should be ready to drink in half a year but my tastebuds will have the final say on that.

Although I have to wait a year to drink my whiskey, these two ingredients will join forces to create some delicious limoncello in about a week.

Classy.

Really? A Whopper Bar?  Reaaaalllly?

The lounge music and advertising campaign of the Whopper Bar site tells me it’s more than just a ploy for the King and his employers at BK to bring in more business.  However, if they want to start selling beer at American fast-food chains, it’s a step in the right direction.

Hopefully that means you’ll be able to purchase a six-pack in Pennsylvania grocery stores soon.

A box from my sister arrived at my apartment this morning.  I wasn’t expecting anything, but once I saw that it was from Connecticut I realized my sis finally got around to shipping my xmas present.

At first, the FRAGILE sticker on the front made me think it was a bottle of booze or wine, but once I reached the box’s innards it became apparent how it was much, much more…

I get to age my own whiskey!

The box contained two bottles of unaged single malt spirits and a small 2-liter oak barrel.  In about six-months (I know it’s a short amount of time but they recommend less aging with the first batch) I’ll be pouring my hooch straight from the barrel.