"Occasional Rarities"

Today I was at my local Whole Foods stocking up on craft brews for the weekend. First I noticed their sale on Pilsner Urquell. Not exactly a craft brew but at $4 off a 12 it was hard to pass up. Then I noticed they had Dogfish Head's Aprihop in. Its one of their seasonal beers and its probably been out for a few weeks. In the cart goes a 4 pack.

As I ventured deeper down the beer aisle to the more select brews I noticed they had a few of the rare Dogfish Head beers in 750 ml bottles. Dogfish Head calls these "occasional rarities". They are brewed just a few times, or once, a year in limited quantities. I picked up the Chateau Jiahu. Its one of their 2 or 3 beers made from traces discovered in archaeological sites and scientifically recreated. This one happens to be from a site in northern China that is 9000 years old. You know beer must be the select beverage of the universe because it existed 1000s of years before God made the first human. Another ancient recipe they have is the Midas Touch Golden Elixir. That beverage was found in a tomb thought to be King Midas and is the actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world. I've sipped the Midas Touch before but my excellent memory can't seem to recall where.

The other bottle I picked up is their Red & White. I'm excited about this one. Let me save you the trouble of clicking on the link:

A big, belgian-style Wit brewed with coriander and orange peel and fermented with Pinot Noir juice. After fermentation a fraction of the batch is aged in Oregon Pinot Noir barrels, and another fraction is aged on oak staves. The beer is blended together before packaging.

Mmmm yum. They had their Black & Blue as well which is a belgian-style strong ale fermented with blackberries and blueberries. I was scared away by the blueberries at the time but its probably damn good. I won't miss the opportunity next time.

After enjoying such fine beverages I'll be a true beer dork and display the bottles next to the Golden Shower 750 ml I have (which must be worth lots cuz its no longer made).