Derby Days

Saturday was the 136th Run for the Roses, better known of course as the Kentucky Derby. In our neighborhood, we generally have some sort of get together (i.e. party) several times a year. During the warmer months, we have a little something called a 'flamingo'. These parties started sometime in the past when J. Wilder put two plastic flamingos in his yard and invited everyone over for some food and fun and of course, drinks. After the first one, he would then simply plant the flamingos in someone's yard and they would in turn host the event. Before you knew it, the whole neighborhood had adopted the idea and we seemed to have flamingos every weekend. Nowadays, we simply say, hey all, we're having a flamingo and we go get the birds from whomever currently has them and plant them out front and wait for the neighbors to show. We generally have 25 or 30 flamingos a year depending on the weather. So to kick off the 2010 CHC Flamingo season, J. Wilder suggested a Kentucky Derby party. Mind you, only Fred probably watched the actual race, but all the ladies dressed up with fancy hats and dresses and one guy (Fred) showed up with a sweet new hat in an outfit that had the rest of the BC4M members saying (who's the goombah?). This wasn't to be an official tasting night, but while the ladies of the hood gathered on the deck to tarry with the grape, we decided to sneak in a BC4M session. Da fellas (in true Jersey goombah-eaze style) gathered around Wilder's new firepit next to the lagoon pool and each got a full serving of draft Michelob Shock Top (5.2%) from a keg that 10pm brought over. We were off and running. Say what you will about mass marketed swill from the likes of Michelob, but on draft (DRAFT mind you), this was actually damn good. One member said, "damn that tastes a whole lot better than it does in a bottle". Another comment was, "shit, I didnt think Budweiser had it in them to make something this decent." Next up was a new beer from our friends that hail from Ole Tommy Jefferson's woods, Starr Hill Brewing's Lucy (4.4%). "Strange and exotic, said Fred, almost like a lime flavored lifesaver candy". Most of the group rated this a so-so, but the J. man and Fred liked it. Not for everyone, this is a unique brew that should be reserved solely for warm evenings when your with a group of fancy pants yuppies from D.C that don't know shit about what constitutes a good beer. The third beer of the evening was Sierra Nevada's Summerfest (5.0%) , a new seasonal that really went down smooth with a classic easy drinking hop finish. This is a great beer to enjoy while your out crabbing, or sitting on your porch watching all those young ladies whizz by on their rollerblades (yea if it was still like 1999). The final beer of the evening was Atwater Block Brewery's Vanilla Java Porter (5.5%). This bottle held a lot of promise, as it proclaimed to be one of the most admired beers this brewery makes. The first, second, third and fourth sips left very few of us thinking we had actually tasted java or vanilla but it did sorta taste like a porter. It got a so-so since it left us hanging. The party started to wind down by this time as a lot of folks had to get up early for various reasons the next day. We decided to call it a night and prepare for the upcoming neighborhood Cinco De Mayo celebration that was sure to violate multiple treaties and international laws in the process. Until our next episode dear friends, keep drinking like a horse.