The Beer Run

Growing up, I recognized that my mom's side of the family had a peculiar routine for going on a beer run. It invariably involved one of my uncles leaving for about thirty to forty-five minutes and returning with a large case of Straub.

In my house, things go a little differently. It involves everyone piling into Stef's car and heading to someplace like Malt & Vine with a checklist of beer that we've been on the lookout for for a while.

Rodenbach? Check.
Hacker-Pschorr Weisse? Check.
Kindle Berliner-Weisse? Out of stock.
How about a different Berliner-Weisse from Bavaria? OK.
Maudite? Check.
Woodchuck? Check.
La Fin du Monde? Check.
Grimbergen Blonde? Check.

Our trips orchestrate more like an alcoholic Interpol agent's scavenger hunt than a simple task of "go get a case of something we like". Fortunately, the folks at Malt & Vine are both very helpful and very knowledgeable. They know beer, and most importantly they love beer, so checking in four different places to get a bottle of an obscure German brew is not out of the question at almost eight o'clock at night.

I hope they like us over there. We sure like them.

We usually walk out of there with a case of mix-n-match bottles from around the globe. "Is this for a holiday party?" the man behind the counter asked. No, Doug. We just drink a lot. "See you next week."