A-very good beer, added posthumously

Today, while doing heaps and heaps of homework, I was searching through my computer for something I wrote for a class I took in college, hoping for inspiration. Instead, I eventually ended up in a folder called "random desktop files"... until just over a year ago, yes, I had a desktop. Anyway, amidst things like the itinerary for my trip to the U.K. (created fall of 2006), my work schedules from October 2004-May 2008 from the auditorium at Mary Washington, and a lot of pictures of trees used in an independent study in Biogeography my senior year of college, I found an excel file called "beer". Apparently I had tried to keep track of this once before but totally forgot about it, because there were only four beers on the list-- Guinness, Anchor Porter, Victory Storm King... and one that never made it to my master list that is now up to 198: Avery's Czar Imperial Russian Stout.

Now, I don't just add things to my list all willy-nilly any time I remember something; for example Stella Artois, which I know is what I drank at Newark Airport with my big brother when he dropped me off for the aforementioned United Kingdom adventure (it didn't make the list until very recently when I tried it and actually made a note of what I thought of it). However, this beer was sitting in that spreadsheet with a good description, and I recall the whole story very clearly. I think this counts.

It was during Dead Week at Mary Washington, the week between the end of final exams and graduation when the administration hurries to make sure everyone is actually graduating (they're super serious about this... the girl in front of me at graduation actually got pulled from the line, in full regalia, as she walked up to the stage). A few friends and I traveled to Richmond for Capital Ale House's Steal the Glass night, when a microbrewery sponsors the bar with their own glassware and patrons are encouraged to drink said microbrew and keep said glass. When we got there, they had already run out of the glasses that were meant for stealing, but we might have overlooked that little rule...


Anyway, I was there with Noah and Jon, with Sarah as our DD (the photo above has me, Sarah and Noah in it). Noah, while a person of fine taste when it comes to alcohol, has very low tolerance for it, so while he went to the bathroom after the first two rounds, Jon and I scanned the menu for a beer with a higher alcohol content. We chose Avery Russian Imperial Stout, about 11% ABV. Noah came back just as our kind server brought us three pints of the stuff. He held it up to the light and exclaimed, "What, did you guys order black paint?!"*

He made a good point. You couldn't see through it AT ALL. This was a really good stout. Very strong, both in alcohol content and flavor, very thick, pretty malty. Definitely not for the faint of heart. And despite trying it a few years ago, I think I remember the occasion clearly enough to include it here, putting me two shy of 200 beers. I should probably choose something pretty awesome for the big 2-0-0, shouldn't I? Suggestions? I've had my eye on Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout, but have been putting it off because it's pricey. I may have to splurge though.

*I'd just like to say, I generally don't go out of my way to intoxicate friends. Noah definitely was a bit silly that night, but we never would have intentionally put him in harms way, no matter how delicious the beer.