This year I missed the annual Cross Street Irregulars breakfast at Jimmy's. Instead I had breakfast with my friends Chris and Nancy at their house, then we Ubered to Max's where we met our friends in line. It was fairly warm for February. Upon entering, everyone got a sample of RaR Barrel-Aged 3870. Then we commandeered a long table in the middle room and sampled the day away.

1. Abbaye des Rocs Grand Cru
2. Alvinne Sour'ire de Montagne
3. Fantôme Pissenlit
4. RaR Warp Whistle
5. Verhaeghe Barbe Ruby (nice)
6. Boon Lambic
7. Alvinne Wild West Primitivo Grapes (nice)
8. BOM Wild and Funky
9. Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
10. La Rulles Grande 10
11. Cantillon Rose Gambrinus (nice)
12. Alvinne Kweeper
13. De Brabandere Petrus Sour Mango
14. Hanssens Experimental Cassis
15. Alvinne Gentleman's Sour
16. Cantillon St. Lamvinus
17. De Proef / New Glarus Abtsolution
18. Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Calvados
19. Van Honsebrouck Kasteel RaspBarista
20. Slaapmutske Flemish Old Style
21. Bastogne Ardennes Stout
22. De Ranke Hop Harvest
23. RaR Waffles, Frites, Beer, Chocolate
24. Prearis Barrel-Aged Grand Cru
25. De Brabandere Petrus Quad Nitro
26. Straffe Hendrik 2013 Cognac
27. Fantôme Saison
28. Blaugies / Hill Farmstead La Vermontoise
29. Alvinne Wild West Plum Edition
30. Tilquin Quetsche
31. Tilquin Rullquin
32. Rodenbach Alexander
33. Silly Barrel-Aged Scotch de Silly
34. Cantillon Vigneronne
35. Alvinne Kriek Van Mortagne
36. Cantillon Kriek
37. Verzet Oud Bruin Vineyard
38. De la Senne Jambe de Bois
39. Het Nest Schuppenboer Grand Cru
40. La Rulles Triple
41. St. Bernardus Triple
42. Van Honsebrouck Kasteel Triple
43. Slaapmutske Triple Night Cap
44. St. Bernardus Baksteen Winkel
45. Den Hopperd Kameleon Saison (nice)
46. De Glazen Toren Saison Erpe-Mere
47. Bastogne Ardennes Saison
48. St. Feuillen Saison
49. RaR Dry-Hopped Sour
50. Blackberry Farm Classic Saison
51. Verzet Golden Tricky
52. Van Honsebrouck Kasteel Rouge (nice)
53. Crooked Stave St. Bretta
54. Drie Fonteinen / Oud Beersel Lager
55. Kerkom Bink Bloesem
56. Verzet Moose Blues

At some point I did my trademark George Washington impersonation (he slept everywhere). The rest of the day was a fog but thankfully Chris and Nancy managed to pour me into an Uber and get me back to their house safely, where I spent the night.

On Saturday morning I Lyfted with Mike, Girl Chris, and Les to Brian Strumke's 8^th annual Stillwater tasting event. Like the previous year, there were also a number of beers from Oxbow. We tasted:

1. Oxbow Cavern (nice)
2. Stillwater Oude Bae
3. Stillwater Gnam Gnam (nice)
4. Stillwater / Hudson Valley Hopvine Bling
5. Stillwater Tangerine Haze
6. Oxbow Space-Aged Barrel Boy
7. Oxbow Synthesis
8. Oxbow Phosphorescence
9. Oxbow Metal Face
10. Oxbow Punch Brook (bottle)
11. Stillwater / Casita On Fleek (nice)
12. Oxbow Luppulo
13. Oxbow Infinite Darkness
14. Oxbow First Fruits
15. Oxbow Saison de Kuaska 2015 (bottle)

We then went downstairs to spend the day sampling.

1. Alvinne Kriek
2. Affligem Blonde
3. Saison Dupont
4. Het Anker Lucifer Black
5. De Brabandere Petrus Sour Mango
6. Cantillon Gueuze
7. De la Senne Zinnebir
8. De Proef / New Glarus Abtsolution
9. Van Steenberge Monk's Cafe Grand Cru
10. Stillwater / Freigeist Bierkultur Amis (bottle)
11. Fantôme Saison
12. Alvinne Gentleman's Sour
13. Oxbow Freestyle
14. Verzet Super Noah
15. RaR Warp Whistle
16. Tilquin Quetsche
17. BOM Wild and Funky
18. Blaugies / Hill Farmstead La Vermontoise
19. De Ranke Pilsner
20. Huyghe Guillotine
21. Crooked Stave St. Bretta
22. Fantôme la Dalmatienne
23. Van Steenberge Gulden Draak
24. Slaapmutske Flemish Old Style
25. Oxbow Saisontino
26. Blackberry Farm Steps to Nowhere
27. Crooked Stave Surette
28. Stillwater Cellar Door
29. St. Bernardus Abt 12
30. Chimay Grande Réserve
31. Alvinne Wild West Blackthorn Edition (bottle)
32. Chimay Spéciale Cent Cinquante (bottle)
33. De la Senne Bruxellensis Reserva (bottle)
34. Tilquin Oude Pinot Noir
35. De Dochter Embrasse Peated Oak Aged
36. RaR Man Feelings
37. Fantôme de Noel
38. De Brabandere Petrus Wild Tripel Ale
39. Hanssens Experimental Cassis
40. Lindemans GingerGueuze
41. Liefmans Goudenband
42. Slaspmutske Triple Night Cap
43. Van Honsebrouck Kasteel Triple
44. De Troch 2014 Oude Gueuze
45. Oxbow Funkhaus
46. De Kazematten Saison Tremist
47. Rodenbach Vintage 2015
48. Mikkeller Oude Geuze

Somehow I managed to stay awake all day. Les found a ride with someone else and I Lyfted with Mike and Chris back to their house. Believe it or not, we continued to drink. I don't remember exactly what we drank, but I think it was beer.

Sunday was my day of rest. Well, for a while, anyway. A friend of mine came over with a Geuze Discovery Box. We drank all four bottles, and then more stuff from my taps. It was a great day despite the epithets that my liver hurled at me.

The following day Mike, Chris, and I went back to Max's. Unfortunately for our Lyft driver, he hit a ginormous pothole on Pratt Street, and shortly thereafter his car started to smoke. We got out about 10 blocks from Max's and walked. It was my first year making it to Sour Monday. I'd heard that it's the most lightly attended day of Belgian Beer Fest, but when we got there around 3 PM the place was packed. We met some friends who told us that there weren't many people there when it opened at 11 AM. Anyway, we spent the rest of the afternoon sampling the biggest assortment of sours that I'd ever seen.

1. Fegley's Gueuze (nice)
2. Captain Lawrence Viola
3. 3 Stars Funk Yo Couch
4. Captain Lawrence Muddy Kriek (nice)
5. Ordinem Ecentrici Coctores Clavis Purpura
6. New Belgium Single Foeder Oscar Batch 1
7. New Belgium Oscar Worthy Coffee
8. Bullfrog Jong Bruin Kriek
9. Lost Rhino Exesus Sanctum Peach Sour (nice)
10. The Bruery Terreaux Filmishmish
11. Council Broken Wand Boysenberry
12. Monument City Sour for Days
13. Key My Name is Brett
14. Anchorage The Ghosts in Their Eyes
15. Epic Oak and Orchard Pinot
16. Highway Manor Mr. Strawberry
17. Highway Manor Mr. Blueberry
18. Firestone Walker Krieky Bones (nice)
19. Bullfrog Le Roar Grrz Framboise
20. Council Woofle Dust with Apricots
21. Jolly Pumpkin Apocolocynposis (bottle)
22. Alvinne Cuvee Freddy (bottle)
23. Burley Oak Sour Trip
24. Burley Oak Grape Quish Cabernet

The winter Olympics were broadcast on the television screens. We especially enjoyed the curling, which was almost as exciting as golf. It made the fans go wild. Both of them.

Afterward we walked to Johnny Rad's Pizzeria Tavern, where we stuffed ourselves with great pizza. It was a good way to finish a long beer weekend.