Treasure Hunt

For some reason, ‘Save Draft’ deleted about 30min of writing.  G.F.Y. WordPress.  I give up (hits publish)

I met my friend Nick at a wine shop in McLean in the late 1990’s.  Knowledgeable about wine as well as beer, he started a program accumulating specialty beers called ‘beer club.’  I would come into the shop and pick his brain about what he selected.  I would also maneuver purchasing beer that was ONLY FOR BEER CLUB, even though I was not a member.  I could have joined, but then I wouldn’t be able to cherry pick, and I’m an ass that way.  He taught me a lot about beer and really opened my eyes to craft brewing.
[There are no pictures of Nick because he, like all beer wizards, is no fun to look at]
I don’t know how most people learn about beer; Nick was my shirpa.

As I’d try to weasel beer club beers, a no man’s land, Ark of the Covenant, off limits area would get mentioned.  Nick had this secret stash of beer that he had squirreled away; yearly releases of Sierra Nevada Celebration and Anchor Christmas as well as special beers from beer club.   They were in the basement in an extra fridge way in a back corner.   These not-for-sale special beers were his collection.  Nick enjoyed some of them and shared on special occasions (I received a bottle of JW Lees on New Years Eve 2006 and wrote about it here) but the most of the collection remained untouched.  Then Nick got moved to another location.  Then he became an importer/sales rep.  Then the ownership of that original local wine shop changed hands.  Time passes.  Beers were drunken.  Good beers, bad beers (cue montage of clock hands spinning wildly and pages of the calendar flipping while beers are lifted, clinked and tilted back).

Here we are at the present.    I duck into that wine shop.  Like Solid Snake, I maneuver into the basement, undetected.  Oh, hi Javier.

2013-02-10 14.17.57
Word Javier. Thank for you spelunking with me!

  There it is.  The promised land.  But blocking the fridge, are boxes of holiday packaging.    You might call them future presents… Har-har.  But we are in the present, when I am writing this.  I have dropped by the store and started taking pics of the holiday boxes and bags, kept in the basement until the next Yuletide.   2013-02-10 14.18.05There, behind all the boxes, is TREASURE.  I’m excited.  My hands are shaking.  2013-02-10 14.18.22Those boxes looks light.  I pick one up fueled by an insanity known as Liquid Courage, and toss it across the room!  I AM GODZILLA!  These boxes are TOKYO!!!  Nothing Shall REMAIN!!!

That day I was energized.  I had to seek the Holy Grail.  I had to rescue his collection.  I moved the holiday boxes and bags, tossing aside ribbons and bows.  Finally I could see more of the fridge.  I grabbed the handle and pulled.  Choirs of angels sang as I was basked in a golden light.  I shielded my eyes as my face began to melt….oh no wait…that’s the ending of Indiana Jones.

I found six packs and bottles

  We inspected the bottles back at my apartment.  There were a number of bottles from ’93 and ’94.  We opened them and found that the beer had begun to break down.  I asked Nick why there were a lot of bottles from specific years.  His answer was surprising….and you’ll have to wait until our next thrilling installment of Beer Treasure Hunters to find out things like:

What will happen to these beers?  Will Kevork share them with prison inmates at a tasting party?
Are they worth anything?  What other bottles were in the fridge?  What was growing in the freezer…did I mention that the fridge had been unplugged for 2 years?

{If you or a family member would like to come on Beer Treasure Hunters or have an idea for a good home/high school science experiment/summer camp sleepover/beer training class for these beers, let me know or leave a comment.}

I left a message for the current owner of Chain Bridge Cellars, who made this all possible (by not firing poison darts at me as I entered the basement).  2013-02-10 14.50.09

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