I-P-A RIVER: SPRINGing out of the Corona-virus...hopefully

The warmer days of late spring will hopefully bring an end to all this corona-virus nonsense...but 'til then (and then after)....let's drink!

4/22 - Ashlee and I celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day today by cracking open the second of my Southern Grist birthday crowlers. This one was the Nashville Mule, a sour with lots of ginger to give it a Moscow Mule kind of flavor, one of Ashlee's favorite cocktails. I did like the ginger infusion to cut the sourness, but I definitely got this one for her and not me. Possibly, the one good thing from all this corona-virus slowdown is that it gives Mother Earth a bit of respite with less cars on the road, less industry belching toxins in the air, and less carbon footprints by the human race at least for a little while. Enjoy your rest, Big Blue. I love you very much.

4/23 - Someone out there deemed this German Beer Day, so why not? I grabbed a bottle of the decent Kostritzer Schwarzbier (Bitburger Brewing subsidiary, Thurgen Germany) at Lebanon Wine and Spirits the other day for the occasion. Too bad UNTAPPD didn't give out a badge for today.

Tonight is also the start of the surreal virtual NFL Draft 2020 (quarantine-style). Man, what a contrast from last year's draft here in Nashville with 600K people in attendance over the three-day event! I watched the interesting version from the couch with my last Southern Grist birthday crowler in hand. Their CHOPPER Series: Painkiller is an incredibly good milk stout made in a collaborative effort with the East Nashville tiki bar, Chopper, with tropical blends of pineapple, coconut, nutmeg and tangerine. I actually really enjoyed this historic Day 1 of the NFL 2020 Draft. The show went without a hitch, and there were a lot of great stories around the players being drafted and cameras set up at each of their homes when they heard their names called, giving it a real family feel. I am looking forward to watching a lot of the following rounds also. I also liked the Titans' only late first-round pick, Isiah Wilson, a huge tackle from UGA that will be quite the road-grader for Derrick Henry hopefully. TITAN UP!!

I had quite my own little NFL Draft war-room going tonight with the Titans Virtual Draft Party streaming live on my phone; a pre-draft special on TV with the all-knowing one, Mel Kiper; and in the money on a large tournament on Global Poker on the IPad.

As I mentioned above, I did cash in a pretty large tournament on Global Poker tonight, but since I only a little more than doubled my buy-in, it's nothing to crow about. However, late tonight at the Day 1 of the NFL Draft wrapped up, I did take down my second-ever "Buckament" tournament. The money's not the cause for note here since it only cost a dollar to enter. The bigger achievement is outlasting 82 other players and getting a 17x-plus return on my investment. Hey, a win is a win!!

4/24 - Rounds 2 and 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft played out tonight and I was watching again from the couch with a craft beer in my hand...this seems familiar! I cracked open my last brew from my first-ever Beer Drop order, a pint can of Bio-T Experimental Hop IPA from New Image Brewing (CO) that was outstanding. With April winding down, my next monthly order will be coming none to soon! The Titans had two picks tonight and picked up a shutdown corner from LSU, Krisitian Fulton and a speedy scat-back from Appy State, Darrynton Evans. I was very happy with both picks.

4/25 - We picked up three more players in the fifth and seventh rounds including a QB out of Hawaii (sounds familiar) and also traded one pick for a higher pick next year. TITAN UP!!

Here's a continuing running list of some other movies I have rented, or watched on streaming services, during this strange time stuck at home:

The Old Man and the Gun - I missed Robert Redford's last film before retiring from acting when it was in theaters back in 2018, and I had to buy it on I-Tunes to watch it now. It was a little slow, but well made and based on an amazing true story.

Deadwood: The Movie - I caught the show on Amazon well after its initial run on HBO and really grew to like it. I cancelled HBO before this finale film was released last year, so this seemed like a good time to give it a look. I couldn't find it to rent, so I actually bought it off Amazon. Set 10 years later [and filmed 13 years] after the show's conclusion with some of the actors showing their age, and some not, it was a wonderful step back into the Old West's most colorful characters (and language) that made the show a modern masterpiece.

The Rest of Us - a well-done drama with the still-stunning Heather Graham (can't believe she's 50!) that I rented off Amazon.

Robert the Bruce - a new film that follows up where Braveheart ended and was supposed to be in theaters, but got released VOD instead due to the virus issue. I rented it on I-Tunes. It was OK at best.

Extraction - A terrific new Netflix action film with Chris Hemsworth of Avengers' Thor fame. Man, I miss seeing great action movies at the theaters and seeing cool movie posters. Thanks, Netflix, for giving me a little bit of both at home.
(Editor's note: To date, this is one of the most-watched movies streamed at home ever...thanks to the Covid-19 issue and it just being damn good!)

"Upload" - A funny and clever new sci-fi series on Amazon Prime from the makers of "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation."

Driveways - a sweet, quiet independent film that I really enjoyed. RIP Brian Dennehy.

The Lovebirds - this one was supposed to hit theaters, but got put on streaming instead due to the pandemic. I watched it on Netflix and thought it was silly but entertaining.

Guns Akimbo - a crazy, mindlessly violent video-game in real-life action film starring Harry Potter...i.e. Daniel Radcliffe.

The Vast of Night - an excellent low-budget indie sci-fi flick set in the 1950's. Would have loved to have seen this one in the theaters as it was supposed to be released. Thanks, Amazon, for the availability.

Capone aka Fonzo - my favorite actor for a while now, Tom Hardy, takes on the role of the notorious Al Capone who's nick-name was "Fonzo." It was only $5 more to buy it instead of rent it of I-Tunes. Kind of a slow, weird film. Hardy is great as the decaying Capone who is a shell of the man he was now racked with age and disease in the last year of his life, but not something worth visiting over and over. Probably should have saved the five bucks and rented it...oh well.

Arkansas - a quirky white-trash drug/crime film with a solid cast that I rented off I-Tunes, but I got bored with it and didn't finish it.

Where'd You Go, Bernadette - a quirky. complicated dramedy starring one of my faves, the talented Cate Blanchett. I missed this one in the theaters, so it was great to rent it off of Amazon.

Columbus - a 2017 film that was on a lot of critics' Top 10 lists that year. I rented it off Amazon and thought it was well done, beautifully shot and quite poignant. And it definitely makes me wanna road trip up north to check out this unique little town of Columbus, Indiana.

"Space Force" - a silly, but entertaining, new series on Netflix poking fun at our actual newest "branch" of the armed forces and our "dumbass leader" who came up with it. This shit writes itself!

One other cool gift I got for my birthday from Ashlee (and actually the only thing I asked for specifically) was this deck of Craft Beer Playing Cards from Bicycle.

Each of the cards in the deck and the jokers honor a different craft brewery in the U.S. with their logo and their location. Some I have been to or sampled their wares, many I have not. I hope to visit and/or partake in all 52+ with special emphasis on my favorite hand of quad treys made up of these four that I have not had a chance to visit or try their beer anywhere yet. Mission: accepted!

4/26 -Ashlee and I stopped by the Mt. Juliet Beer Company (long time, no see, old friend) today because they were about the only folks pouring beer on this Sunday afternoon during the pandemic. I got two half-growlers filled. The first was actually a repeat, but a delicious repeat: the Classic Stout from Calfkiller Brewing (in a Calfkiller Growler, no less. Pay no attention to the cool Williet Distillery leather band on the handle that may or may or may not have been stolen from their on-site restaurant). It was a perfect cold, rainy day for this beauty to be cracked open back at home.

4/27 - My second half-growler filled at the Mt. Juliet Beer Company was the Slangria fruit beer from Rhinegist Brewing (Cincinnati). I got partly because I thought Ashlee would like it, and partly because it was one of the few that they had on tap that I had not had before. It's a tart and clean mix of pomegranate, blueberry and lime. So I thought it was pretty good and, man, look at that color! #koolaidbeer Nice to put one of the old "Rob's Tavern" glasses back to work also too so I could see that amazing color. A good choice for this sunny late April afternoon!

5/2 - I got two half-growler fill-ups at Various Artists Brewing on this side of Nashville to get me through the weekend. Ashlee and I split their Kibbutz Kollective Farmhouse saison that was fantastic. With temps pushing 80+, we did some floating in our pool while enjoying libations. We also had a few bottles of a dandy little Shore View Lemon Shandy from Marten's Brewing (Belgium) that I impulse-bought at Aldi's and thought would be good for the pool...and they were perfect for it! We also split a tall-boy can of Tiki Tonik from Diskin Cider here in Nashville that was pretty good since the pineapple overwhelmed the apple taste that I don't overwhelmingly care for in ciders.

QUAD TREY ALERT! My favorite signature hand popped up again today on PokerStars as a played a couple of sit-n-goes, and probably played some of my best online poker in a while as I only got second in both games to double my investment, but had to fight and scratch to get those from being totally card-dead and low-stacked against this insanely-aggressive players on here. I got paid a little on these quads, but not near enough to take down that chip leader who had the deck just hitting him in the face the whole game except when I had the nuts.

May 3 - Remember that time I had two million chips and was the final-table chip-leader in a huge tournament on Global Poker?? Well, it was today in a 6-hour marathon during storms and a power outage nonetheless! I got off a long, long losing skid on Global Poker tonight to finish 7th (don't ask...should have gotten at least 5th if others below me hadn't gotten miracle suck-outs and the then blinds were insanely large) and turned my $24 investment into well over $550! The field was huge at 964 players. It's just a damn shame that you play this long and well, and then it turns into a shove-fest when the real money is up for grabs.
I also enjoyed my second half-growler from Various Artists Brewing (Nashville) throughout the day and night. It was a solid, dank and hoppy-as-hell IPA called Wet Paint. Salute!!

5/4 - I wasn't fortunate enough to have any Happy Trails Brewing beer on Star Wars Day today, but I did love their Facebook pic enough to steal it for my blog. I did "go to the dark side" today and cracked open an outstanding pint can of Bardstown Bourbon Stout from Honky Tonk Brewing here in Nashville that I picked up in a variety four-pack over at Lebanon Wine and Liquor. May the Fourth Be With You...and also with you...cheers!!

I got another nice Facebook reply back from Canadian recording artist, Justin Rutledge, today on my comment about the 10-year-anniversary of his spectacular album, "The Early Widows." I have now had more replies from Justin (two) on social media than from many of my so-called "friends and acquaintances." Thanks, pal, and keep up the good work!

5/5 - Happy Cinco De Mayo! (the home edition). I cracked open a can of a favorite of mine and Ashlee's, the light lager known hilariously as, Adios, Pantalones from Rahr and Sons (TX) to earn this badge off of UNTAPPD.

In a recent Lebanon Wine and Spirits variety four-pack that I bought, I included a can of Stone Buenaveza Salt and Lime Lager (2020) from Stone Brewing (CA) who are still my favorite brewery of them all. This one was light and tasty and went perfect with our dinner of Mexican-spiced salmon!

5/7 - It had been a long day, the sun was out and it was ALMOST Friday, so why not pop a cold one? I got out another of my recent variety pack from Lebanon Wine and Spirits this afternoon. This was a pint can of Hotline, a fantastic NEIPA from the folks at Bearded Iris Brewing here in Nashville. Cheers!

5/8 - HAIR I am! After over two months without a haircut thanks to this annoying pandemic other than a little side-trimming and thinning from Ashlee, I finally got my hair cut today back at my usual place, Barrett's Barbershop in Watertown. The lovely and nice, Kim, took care of my head full of cowlicks...with a mask on of course. And, yes, I shaved too!

5/8 to 5/9 - I had some decent success tonight on Global Poker. I made the final table (photo above) of the Night Brawl vs. 397 other players with unlimited rebuys and add-ons. I wound up finishing 7th, turning my $11 investment into $140+ of profit. I also cashed (20th place) in the interesting Ante-Up Tournament of the GPC Rattlesnake Series vs 470 other players at the same time to more than triple my $11 investment. I finished both of these tournaments at well past 1 AM, hence the two-day duration of this blog entry.

5/9 - I did a bunch of dreary work around the house today since it's basically still a Quarantine Saturday, so I rewarded myself afterwards with a cold can of Calla IPA from Nashville's own Yazoo Brewing. It was pretty good albeit a bit piney for a New England style IPA. The coolest thing about this particular beer its check in on UNTAPPD is that I bought a six-pack of it at the Three Forks Market in tiny Watertown east of here. It's great to see a small town grocery store have a pretty impressive craft beer section, so I like to reward that with a purchase whenever I "can."

I cleared the final mustard-yellow table tonight on Poker Stars to win a locally-run turbo tournament against 16 other players. The most notable thing, beside the $145 in profit made, was the fact that I was on the bubble in 5th place on life-support with about 3 big blinds left when I mean my roaring comeback!!

Well, I asked for it...sort of...and I got it...sort of. I sent an email recently to Global Poker to ask if their site could participate in some kind of give-back program and today on their Facebook page I saw where they are part of the Keep the Lights On Initiative through PledgeIt.com along with PokerGO and Run Good Gear to help pay utility bills of freelance poker media during the Covid-19 Pandemic. With no live poker to report on, these folks are out of a job currently. Global's been very good to me, and while this isn't exactly what I was thinking with my email to them, I am glad they are doing something. So with the $70 which equals 10% of my recent online earnings on Global and PokerStars, I ponied up a donation to what I hope is a good cause.

5/10 - Ashlee and I celebrated Mother's Day with a quick trip east to visit the graves of our wonderful mothers who have left this earth. We miss them both greatly. It was such a beautiful day that we actually had a picnic around the grave of Evelyn, Ashlee's mom, and I brought my last Lebanon Wine and Spirit Variety Pack variety four-pack beer, a smooth and tasty can of Fantastic Haze DNEIPA from Sierra Nevade Brewing (CA) to toast my mom, Eleonore, and all the moms out there that are with us even if only in our hearts. I love you and miss you, Mom. Thank you for everything you did for me.

5/11 - With my biweekly day off today I had beautiful weather and not much else do but wonder around in nature a bit, so I headed west to the other side of Nashville to take in some of the northern end of the historic Natchez Trace Parkway, getting on near Franklin at the giant Natchez Trace Bridge.

I traveled southwest on The Trace almost 40 miles until I came to lovely Jackson Falls which I haven't been to in years. It was so long ago that I last visited that I even forgot that it takes such a beautiful hard left turn between the first and second cascade. There were a good amount of people around with the lovely weather and no school, but not enough to be concerned with in regards to proximity with the virus. I needed the steep walk in and out of the gorge for exercise.

Just ten miles further southwest on The Trace is Fall Hollow Falls which I don't think I have been too before. Smaller in scale than Jackson Falls, but a great visit since you actually walk behind the falls themselves. There were fewer people here and I got to enjoy the walk behind the falls by myself.

A fun little detour was driving a couple miles of the original Old Trace road. I didn't see another car while I was on this track which really helped you travel back in time somewhat.

Man, what a postcard of a day! The view from Baker Bluff Overlook was amazing. Even caught a buzzard swooping by as his rode the warm air currents in this shot.

With a couple more hours to kill I headed off The Trace into the pretty little town of Columbia aka Mule Town, the Maury County seat. I have only been here once and it was pouring down rain that day, so it was nice to explore a little with sunny skies. I poked around the ancestral home of James K. Polk, our 11th President, their small art district where I found this mule mural and took a nice stroll along the banks of the Duck River in Riverwalk Park that the town has built where it passes through.

A fun little app called VERV keeps up with my walking and the goals I achieve.

OK, the real reason for sticking around Columbia a couple hours was CRAFT BEER! I had to wait until 5 PM to pick up my online curbside-delivery order of beer from the newest brewery here, Bad Idea Brewing. I sipped one of my three pint cans on the way home (shhh, no harm, no foul). It was their Double Rice at Benihana NEIPA and it was solidly good. Well worth the wait!! Thanks Natchez Trace, Columbia and BIBC for a great day off despite the craziness going on currently!

5/12 - OH HAPPY DAY!! The only beverage nearer and dearer to me than craft beer is SUN DROP SODA and now they have it on tap at my local Sonic! Sorry, waistline...

5/14 - As American Craft Beer Week continues I cracked open my second pint can from Bad Idea Brewing from over in Columbia tonight to celebrate. It was their cream ale called Only So Many Wu-Tang References which I really liked.

The Blue Angels flyover of Nashville that had been postponed a couple times finally happened today in perfect weather, and I was able to witness the start of the 17-minute salute to Covid 19 front-line responders out on Hwy 231 in the Walter Hill community just south of Lebanon.

I capped off a pretty good day with a online poker tournament win vs. ten others on our Poker Stars regional home game for $120 in profit.

5/16 - I capped the completion of some pool-boy chores like vacuuming the pool which isn't much fun if it isn't warm enough to get in the water, with my final pint can from Bad Idea Brewing. And I saved the best for last, their Going Bananas in Seclusion w/ Oak stout aged in single-barrel Jack Daniels oak chips was fantastic! Hopefully, if the weather continues to warm up, the next vacuuming (and the next beer) will be IN the pool!

I cleared another PokerStars table tonight online with a chop for first place with another guy for over $100 in profit. I also got a second place finish the night before (5/15) for $80 in profit.

5/18 - I had $30 in poker winnings donation money accumulated and decided to give it to Gladiator Brewing up in Clarksville to help them move and reopen. Even though I have never had any of their beer, I hope to be able to someday in their new location. Cheers to small business in America!!

5/19 - My second Beer Drop order arrived today! Just in time for our 19th Wedding Anniversary!! I quickly chilled a can of the Chai Milk Stout (far left in photo above) from Spice Trade Brewing (CO) and popped it open celebrate our big day. Great chai aroma with a smooth and satisfying taste. This one won a silver medal in the GABF back in 2013.

With tonight's new stout I hit quite a milestone on UNTAPPD with 400 different porters and stouts checked in. No wonder I'm fat!! Well worth it!!

5/20 - I got off a long losing slide on Global Poker tonight with a final table appearance in the late-evening Event 21 Tournament of the Rattlesnake Open Series vs. 473 other players. I wound up finishing third which turned my $11 investment into over $470 of profit!! I took some bad beats when it got down to just three of us, or I think I could have taken this one down which is my ultimate goal, of course. I have never won one of the featured championship series tournaments despite many, many tries. But I feel that it's just a matter of time hopefully.

I finally got to check out the new TV-adaptation of Snowpiercer tonight on demand since our TV's been out of commission during some den remodeling. I thought the movie was great (see, I don't hate everything from Bong Joon-Ho...but, yes, I think Parasite still sucks), plus this version stars the strikingly beautiful, Jennifer Connelly, who I have always had a thing for. I enjoyed the first episode and thought it was well-made. While watching I enjoyed another can of tasty craft beer from my latest Beer Drop delivery. I had a can of Sad Panda Coffee Stout from Horse and Dragon Brewing (CO) which was very good.

That's one of the coolest logos I've seen in a while! Gotta see if they have merch for sale!

5/23 - We had a great day in the pool today despite an iffy weather forecast and I had my first brew of the Memorial Day Weekend from my latest Beer Drop delivery. a perfect-for-the-pool Bangkok(Lemongrass Ginger Kolsch) from Next Stop Brewing (CO).

For dinner we headed down to Mayday Brewing in Murfreesboro who were having an old-fashioned shrimp boil. With my massive plate of shrimp (pinch those heads!) and all the fixings, I had their light and tasty Parachute Brut IPA. I also had a few sips of Ashlee's choice: their Lemonade Radler shandy that was a bit sweet for my taste, but not bad.

5/24 - Back in the pool today I had my next Memorial Day Weekend brew from my latest Beer Drop delivery. I cracked open one of two crowlers I received this month earning me the badge above. It was the excellent Gravity is Magic milkshake IPA from Launch Pad Brewing (CO).

5/25 - On Memorial Day itself I open my second crowler from my latest Beer Drop delivery and saluted those who fought for our freedom throughout history. Cheers! It was the fantastically smooth and sweet 20th St. Treat bananas foster dunkelweizen from Jagged Mountain Brewing (Denver, CO) in collaboration with First Draft Taproom and Kitchen (a nationwide chain with a location in Denver).

I had some somewhat notable success in online poker tonight. While the payout was nothing to get excited about, the fact that I got to a final table in a freeroll tournament with well over 2000 other players and turned my $1 investment (I added on chips after the first break) into over $20 is pretty amazing. Of course, earlier in the day with some real money at stake, I got my aces cracked twice...oh, Global Poker, you fickle beast!
At basically the same time, I also got fourth in a local online tournament on Pokerstars netting $45 in profit vs. 21 other players.

There has been some new music released during the pandemic at least. I have really been enjoying the new rock opera album from Butch Walker called "American Love Story." Can't wait to hopefully see it on a Broadway stage some day! Leave up to the talented and crafty Mr. Walker to write, produce and perform his own album at his own studio while stuck at home during the quarantine. "Pretty Crazy" huh? That's why he's the best!!!

5/27 - I took my regular bi-weekly day off today and had to head a good distance east to find any sunshine..and mountains...and waterfalls...oh, and craft beer! A couple hours drive got me to my first destination, Frozen Head State Park near Wartburg to visit a couple of waterfalls I haven't been to in many, many years.

Small, but pretty, Debord Falls is a 6/10 of a mile hike in from the parking area in Frozen Head State Park. I couldn't get to the bottom for a view because the stairs were being rebuilt, but I figure I will be back sometime soon to this beautiful area.

Another mile beyond at a steady ascent is beautiful Emory Gap Falls. With it's fascinating rock formations and cascading stream cutting through giant boulders, it makes up for its relatively small drop. By the time I got back to the car I had clocked in 3.2 miles of hiking. That's the most I have done in quite a while and it felt good. I finally used one of the two sweet walking sticks that Ashlee got me a good while back and it really helped with the climb up.

After my hike, I continued east a few miles and got a glimpse of historic (1896) Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary which is now open for tours. It wasn't open today for a closer look, but I will definitely be back to take a tour of this cool-looking facility ASAP.

I continued northeast a good distance (more than I cared for since it was fairly uninteresting) thru incredibly rural areas like Fork Mountain and Moore's Camp to I-75 and the town of Rocky Top, Tennessee. Don't you think their cop cars would at least be painted orange and white??

I headed south on I-75 toward home, but not without a stop in Knoxville at Albright Grove Brewing. This new-to-me brewery was open with beer on tap for sale that you had to drink outside for social distancing, so I had a pint of their delicious (and name appropriate since I was hiking earlier) Park Boundary Pale Ale. This is the first beer in a VERY LONG time that I consumed at a brewery. PROGRESS!! I also picked up a couple of pint can four-packs to take back with me...more on one of those very soon....

I had a bonus waterfall visit and a bonus craft beer on the way home when I stopped at one of my old faves, Ozone Falls, near Crab Orchard, and enjoyed one of my canned beers from Albright Grove Brewing back in Knoxville atop the pretty drop. Their New Found Gap DDH IPA is fantastic and went down smooth and easy.
Another great day off with cooperating weather and fun places to visit. Can't wait for the next one!

OK, there was one more stop in Cookeville for my "Hix Fix." I did stop at Hix Farm Brewing and get two half-growlers filled. More on those later as they are consumed.

I concluded the enjoyable day with an equally enjoyable second-place NLHE poker tournament chop for $90 in profit vs. 18 other players on PokerStars home games.
That pushed my recent earnings up to around $700, so, in turn, I gave 10% of that to charity. I sent Room in the Inn $70 to help them continue helping homeless women and children. Thanks to Asgard Brewing over in Columbia for the suggestion.

5/28 - It was like the World Cup at home tonight as I paired the Belgium-style farmhouse ale from Hix Farm Brewing in Cookeville called Almanac Ale with a Mexican-style taco salad for dinner. They actually didn't clash too much, and I enjoyed both immensely. But, man, I sure do miss live sports!
This was the first of two half-growlers I got at HFBC yesterday.

5/29 - It was a Friday, so it was time to hang out by the pool with one of my best pals, Zippy, and sip on a little Devil's Breath Mint stout from Hix Farm Brewing up in Cookeville. This was the second of two half-growlers I got at HFBC a few days ago. It was as fantastic as the company!

5/30 - After a pretty full day of work around the house today, I took an after noon float in the pool and had my other Albright Grove Brewing 16 oz.can. It's called Ridgeline, a classic German-style maibock lagered in chardonnay barrels for two months. It was very good. I have got to visit this Knoxville brewery again. Their beer is top-notch!

5/31 - I closed out a fairly busy month (despite this Covid-19 b.s.) out with a fun afternoon beer swap with my pals, Nate and Charly at our pool. Nate was nice enough to pick up my preordered bottle of Total Kumori Nigori sake IPA from Proper Sake yesterday (since he was picking up his own also). It's a collaboration with Southern Grist collaboration and it was smooth, hoppy and had an interesting very interesting color. It is so new I had to create a check-in for it on UNTAPPD. I was happy to share it and a couple of my pint cans from Albright Grove Brewing with my buds.
The guys brought a ton of unique things to try. We started with a can of the Savage Hive Hugger barleywine from BrewDog (Scotland). It was pretty good. Thanks, Nate.
Next up was a bomber bottle of Asheville's own, Wicked Weed Brettanomyces Farmhouse Ale Fermented w/ Strawberries. A little too sour for me, but, it was worth trying. Thanks, Charly.

Next up was one of the most unique beers of the day: the Just Peachy American wild ale from Barrique Brewing and Blending, a new-to-me nanobrewery based out of Nashville. It was tart, but memorable, as is the beautiful bottle. Thanks to Nate for sharing this hard-to-get rare brew.
Charly offered up another bomber bottle. This time it was the Cordially Yours old ale, a fairly tasty collaboration cocktail-inspired brew from Southern Grist Brewing here in Nashville, and Rhinegeist Brewing up in Cincinnati.
We closed out the afternoon with a bomber bottle that Nate brought. Yet another special and unique brew. It was Nashville's own, Various Artists Brewing's very first bottled beer, a bomber of their TN Whiskey BBL Russian imperial stout and it was fantastic.
Thanks so much to my friends, Nate and Charly, for hanging with me and for their overwhelming generosity in regards to craft beer. Take that, Covid!!

Here's an odd one to close out an odd month or so...I made a final table tonight on Global Poker vs. 100 other people...I finished 6th and won....wait for it....$5...huh? Yup, it was a "Pure Bounty" tournament meaning all money paid in went out as bounties when you knocked someone out. I knocked out a grand total of two people to get my five bucks back and make another five. Whoop-dee-do....there were people knocked out well before me that made a ton more money than I did...what a weird game....that's just how my poker luck has been going lately....