Dominic and I drove into town on the morning of Friday February 12. More than a dozen of us Cross Street Irregulars folks had our annual breakfast at Jimmy's. This year I ordered 4 meals instead of 3. Either the portions are getting smaller or I'm getting bigger.

We got in line at about 9:45 and endured temperatures in the 20s for over an hour. Dominic was lucky because he got into a private Burley Oak tasting at 10:00 so he got to stay warm and drink while watching us suffer. I made a mental note to throttle him later. Heaters were available but only toward the front of the line. As usual I bundled up like an arctic explorer, not just to stay warm, but also so people wouldn't have to see my face.

As usual we took a good portion of the "middle" room. Over the course of 3 hours I sampled:

1. Burley Oak XII
2. St. Louis Gueuze Kriek - my favorite beer of the day
3. Oud Beersel Bersalis Tripel
4. Alvinne Omega - nice
5. Ellezeloise Quintine Blonde
6. Hofbrouwerijk Anarkriek
7. De Dolle Still Nacht 2013
8. BOM Triporteur Full Moon 12
9. Brewers Art Tartuffe Monoter
10. Alvinne Wild West
11. Burley Oak Sex Panther - nice
12. Oud Beersel Still Lambic
13. RAR/Max's 3870 Bourbon Barrel
14. Tilquin Gueueze - quite good
15. Burley Oak Farmhand
16. Perennial Imperial Stout
17. Malheur 10 (bottle)
18. Brewers Art Tartuffe Monotarou
19. Burley Oak XI
20. Brewers Art Tartuffe Grenade
21. Brewers Art Tartuffe Houblon
22. Straffe Hendrik Heritage 2013
23. Straffe Hendrik Heritage 2014
24. Achilles Serafijn Christmas Angel
25. Burley Oak Wild Wild East
26. BOM XXX
27. Chimay Grande Reserve (bottle and keg)
28. Burley Oak Bullet Proof Tiger (a nice canned imperial IPA)
29. Slaapmutske Flemish Old Style Kriek
30. Rodenbach Vintage 2011
31. Brewers Art Zeke's Buffalo Trace
32. Struise Roste Jeane
33. Blaugies La Moneuse Winter
34. Kerkom Bink Blonde
35. Chimay White
36. Het Nest Schuppenhoer
37. Van Eecke Kapittel Abt
38. Bavik Petrus 50/50
39. De Glazen Toren Saison De Erpe Mere Zymatore
40. Drie Fonteinen Zwet.Be
41. Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Brewmaster Reserve
42. Troubadour Imperial Stout
43. De Ranke XXX Bitter
44. Rodenbach Foederbier
45. Van Honsebrouck Kasteel Barista
46. Van Steenberge Leute Bok
47. Straffe Hendrik Bok
48. BOM Triporteur Kinky
49. Cantillon Lou Pepe 2011 bottle
50. Burley Oak Blue Suede

Around mid-afternoon several of us went to Peabody Heights Brewery for a special release of Full Tilt Hops the Cat unfiltered IPA. I also vaguely remember being given something called Mocha Obscura, or something like that, which was brewed with the recipe from Cross Street Irregular Dave Humes's winning beer at last fall's homebrew showcase at Little Havana.