If there is beer in heaven, I think I've found it.
But let me back up a bit. Jason owns and runs perhaps the greatest craft beer store in the Midwest. The Four Firkins, located just outside of Minneapolis proper, is a beer buyers wet dream. Tall shelves line the walls with not only some of greatest local microbrew selections, but also some of the best imported from Belgium, Germany, Britain, France and so on. The wall of belgian beers alone is enough to make a man cry.
When Jason got wind of buy-me-a-beer.com, took him less than fifteen minutes to have a beer on it's way to me. And a beautiful beer it was. Deus Brut Flanders. To fully appreciate this beer, it helps to know a little bit about how it's made
Des is brewed in Belgium where it is initially fermented, then it is shipped off to the Champaign region of France, where it placed in caves for approximately a year and given royal treatment while it matures. The bottle is placed neck down in special racks, and every day it is turned and tilted little by little so that the yeast detaches itself from the sides and works it's way towards the neck of the bottle, a process often used for some of the regions finest champaigns. When the bottle is finally fully vertical, the neck is frozen and the yeast 'cork' is removed. The result is a beautifully effervenscent beer that is not unlike champagne. Crisp and bubbly and oh so warming.
I thought the beer tasted a lot like a Belgian Golden, but much more carbonated and bubbly like a champagne. I figured the finest time to drink it would be during a time when I would normally drink champagne...Breakfast! So I played hooky from work and cooked up some of the most delectable Eggs Florentine with a mixed greens salad.I was right, the beer paired great with the eggs, and was empty in no time.
So if you live near Minneapolis, do yourself a favor and visit Jason at Four Firkins. Come in and tell him what you've got on the stove for dinner and he'll give you a pairing, or ask him what the newest local brewery has been working on and he'll probably be the first to carry it. Or, the best idea of all, pick up a beer to give to your good friend Paul from buy-me-a-beer.com. (I'm sure he'd be happy to hold it there until I could pick it up!)
Thanks for the beer orgasm Jason, I'll be seeing you soon.
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