Capitalizing on Mistakes

Two weekends ago, I went to the Durham World Beer Festival. I had the opportunity to taste lots of different brews from all over this great country. Some of my favorites were Founders Breakfast Stout (already mentioned here before....can you tell it's a favorite?), Moon River Honey Bock, Foothills Sexual Chocolate (yes, that's what it's really called), Kuhnhenn Braggot Mead, and Bud Light Lime (not really...just seeing if you're paying attention, although I've read this is Cindy McCain's favorite beer right now).

I am still a novice beer taster (expert beer-drinker) so I can barely say much more about a beer other than "yum, tastes like coffee" or "yuck, tastes like cat urine." I do like learning about the ingredients that a brewery has used to create a particular brew, as well as any special inspiration for the beer or its namesake.

One beer I tried recently has an interesting background which seems relevant to my current life theme of failing at something, yet somehow finding the silver lining or otherwise making lemonade (lots of failure related sayings out there). Lagunitas Brewing Company's Brown Shugga turned a potentially failed batch of beer into a pretty tasty brew. From the label:

"An aborted batch of their Old Gnarleywine ended up tasting nearly as good as that they were hoping for, so they bottled it. God bless capitalism."

What they had planned didn't turn out as planned. But, instead of crying over spilled milk (or failed barleywine), they figured it wasn't so bad after all and bottled it up (and are making more $$ off of it than they would have if they had ditched the batch of bad beer).

What I had planned on didn't quite turn out the way I had expected. I'm trying to make lemonade (preferably with cane sugar and a fresh mint leaf). But, if I get thirsty enough and there's no more lemonade left, I'll gladly take a Brown Shugga beer and feel proud that I am supporting Lagunitas' attempt to make lemonade out of a less than perfect batch of beer.

Ahhh....the weekend

Considering I spent most of last weekend crying or waiting on the mail, I very much needed a weekend of relaxation. In my blog subtitle, I mention that I am going to talk about good food and drink but have yet to do so. So here goes:

Friday night included a misty, earlier- than- scheduled Chuck Berry performance. We only saw him play for a few umbrella-obscured minutes. After that, we decided to check out the sparkling new Raleigh Convention Center which was hosting the International Festival along with the Raleigh Wide Open celebration. A visit through an International Festival would not be complete without having something to eat, so we enjoyed a baklava sundae (ice cream topped with crumbled baklava and honey syrup). The "fried doe" at one of the stands was tempting, but I decided not to test whether they really meant "fried doe" or if they intended to say "fried dough" instead.

So, no Friday night in downtown Raleigh is complete without stopping by Raleigh Times or the Flying Saucer for a drink. One of the things I enjoy about the fall and winter is the return of my favorite seasonal beers: stouts, porters, and Octoberfest-y brews. At the Saucer, I could not pass up the opportunity to have a Founders Breakfast Stout. This beer combines 3 of my favorite tastes: coffee, chocolate, and beer. I really could have this for breakfast every morning (except that it would make getting to work a bit more challenging). If I recall correctly, I actually had 2 of them on Friday night, but who's counting?

Saturday's adventures included a stop at Tyler's new bottle shop, where a metal sign dropped out of nowhere and fell onto me. Thanks to law school, all I could think of was torts---was that a known hazard? I suffered no damages though, or at least none that I can think of now.

Obviously frightened (ah-ha, I was harmed!) by the falling sign, I needed another drink so we headed to Southern Rail in Carrboro where I had a yummy rum and ginger soda cocktail to pair with the delightfully mole-tasting Oaxacan torte that was one of the special desserts for the evening. I had not been to Southern Rail yet and I am glad to see something successful in that location after many years of changed concepts. It had a cozy environment with different "settings"---an ample patio area in the front and in the back, a few nice bar areas, romantic-looking tables on the inside. It would be an ideal place for a big get-together....especially in the fall when it's not so hot and muggy out.

Sunday, I got my butt kicked at tennis and had almost forgotten that just a week ago I was on the verge of tears on an hourly basis. I'll get better at tennis and I'll get better at writing Bar exam essays. It's just all a matter of time, practice, dedication, and most importantly, patience.