Update: Be sure to check out our contribution to The Session #37 and our Round-up post of all the participants.

My journey to a full-fledged beer enthusiast has gone from having a preference for full flavored beers -- to homebrewer -- to craft beer drinker -- to beer traveler -- to beer collector -- to beer blogger. Over the past few years, I have purchased or been gifted numerous bottles of beers that I subsequently cellared and designated as “to be opened on a special occasion.” My dilemma, however, is matching an occasion with opening a particular bottle in my collection.

Not unlike collectors of other sorts, my behavior has transitioned from exploring diverse offerings to being more acquisitive in manner. Easy fix, right? Pull something out and drink it. But for example, after I enjoyed the complexities of a 750mL bottle of Victory Golden Monkey aged four years, I somehow find it harder to justify opening unique bottles in my collection that I have personally aged. Would it have been even better after five years? What about some of my other friends that did not get to share in the experience?

Finding a drinking occasion that lives up to the reputation of the bottle and the story of its acquisition is not a dreadful struggle to have, but it is a struggle nonetheless. When my good friends are over and we have had a few other beverages, will we still be able to enjoy my cave aged Hennepin that I bought after my tour of the brewery and have cellared for ten years? Will I miss it like I miss that four year old Golden Monkey?

In March, The Ferm has the honor of hosting The Session, a monthly assemblage of beer bloggers to opine on a shared topic. The March 2010 topic is “The Display Shelf: When to Drink the Good Stuff.” The topic is open ended and the rules of The Session are close to nil. You can use your post to be persuasive or therapeutic. You may choose to tell a story of a great bottle you once opened or boast of your own beer collection. Regardless of your approach to the topic, to participate simply publish your post by Friday, March 5, 2010. Afterward, leave a link to your blog in the comment section of this post or email us your link. The following weekend, I will post a round-up with comments and links to all entries. If you do not have a blog, feel free to post your thoughts on the topic in the comment section anyway.

Hopefully this topic will inspire some people, including myself, to break free and open up something special, whether with a friend, family, or even all on their lonesome. Cheers!

DISCLAIMER: This post reflects the personal views of the author, in his individual capacity. It does not necessarily represent the views of TheFerm.org or its other resident bloggers, and is not sponsored or endorsed by them.

If Saint Arnold's Divine Reserve #8 hits the shelves and I'm not there purchase any, does it make a difference?

I am admittedly a little less dedicated to the cause than the rest of the Saint Arnold Army. And when I say less dedicated, I mean I spent my lunch hour four years ago visiting several local Specs Stores (and a few grocery stores) to get my hands on the first release of Divine Reserve, a heavily hopped barleywine. After over an hour of enthusiastic search, I drove back to work frustrated and empty handed. It seems there were loads of local beer drinkers more passionate than myself.

Breweries are known to instill a sense of community among the local population. However, the Saint Arnold Army phenomenon is staggering, awe-inspiring, and enviable. Besides having a welcoming attitude at the brewery itself, Saint Arnold actively supports local businesses and participates in countless community efforts. Hosting Saint Arnold at an event means getting two to four times the amount of attendees than you would have without them. Saint Arnold has that kind of following. Having almost no local and very little regional competition probably helps, but as Texas' Oldest Craft Brewery, they play more of the role of a pioneer than pirate.

This is why their introduction of small batch, special edition beers ordained for craft beer enthusiasts like me sounded so exciting. Saint Arnold may have been late to the small batch party, but this is *our* local brewery. Unable to get my hands on any Divine Reserve #1 in Houston, TheFerm.org's own K-Dub brought me some… from Dallas.

And my first impression? Eh…

Inevitably the beer could not live up to such heavenly expectations. However, paired against its peers, it honestly comes off as mediocre. K-Dub's own hoppy barleywine, which he brewed for me to celebrate the birth of my daughter, blows the earthly Saint Arnold product away. *Gasp* I can almost hear the Internet comments rolling in now ("You Suck!!" –anonymous). The next six releases also failed to live up to expectations, although I will admit, the brewery started to hit their stride around DR#5.

"But SirRon," you say (because you probably only know me by my online pseudonym), "you should support local businesses." To this I say "Sure!" But does the support local movement apply to all businesses, regardless of size or quality? Coffee shops, independent farmers, the old hardware store guy, chef owned restaurants... I understand the correlation and importance here. Is a brewery with statewide distribution on par with these local businesses?

I support countless craft breweries (nightly), all of which are small businesses situated in somebody's local community. I've visited Victory Brewing Company, located in the small community of Downingtown, PA a handful of times. I believe their output exceeds Saint Arnold, but they make outstanding beers. In the end, the experience is what means the most to me. Otter Creek Brewing Company is located in the Middlebury, a Vermont town of just over 8,000 residents. Now that they have distribution in Texas, I wish they were still brewing their Middleberry Ale, a tasty beer brewed with locally grown elderberries and blueberries. Proceeds from the sales benefited their town, if memory serves me right. Ever tried Austin Amber? Guess where this small five year old, distributor-less brewery is located?

On 9/10/09, the Saint Arnold Army will probably be out in force, clearing the shelves of their local groceries and liquor stores of Divine Reserve #8, a Scotch Ale inspired by a homebrewer's winning entry in the 2009 Big Batch Brew Bash. Myself, I'll probably be supporting someone else's community that night. I'm not saying I will never pick one of these up at over at my closest Specs liquor emporium if available, I just have lost that excitement I had in the days leading up to the DR#1 release. I support our local troops and their defense of Saint Arnold Nation, but I think I'll just hang one of those ribbons in my garage instead.

That gets me thinking... If a cynical blogger from an obscure drinking blog is uninterested in the Divine Reserve series, does it even cause any waves?

Tonight TwoPints and I watched the final two episodes of Celebrity Apprentice off the TiVo. Two episodes... Five hours! I guess Trump fired the editor during this season too. It was five hours of "celebrity" snobbery and some fairly compelling drama... well except I already know who wins. I knew the morning after the episode aired. E! Online and People.com spilled the proverbial beans on their website mere hours after the winner was decided.

This is not a gripe against media printing spoilers in the DVR age. I've heard those complaints, and I don't think they hold much water. My gripe is a practical one. Why do "news" organizations write titles with enough information in them where you don't have to read the actual article? Instead of "Trump picks Joan Rivers as the next Celebrity Apprentice" (sorry, now you know too), how about "Trump picks the next Celebrity Apprentice." What is the difference? In the RSS age it is the difference between me visiting your site or not. I can't remember the last time I visited E! Online... I just read their RSS feed titles on my iGoogle page and I'm good. I'm pretty sure that isn't what their advertisers want to hear.

Notice how I didn't put "Victory Golden Monkey: Awesome... go out and buy a 750mL bottle right now!" as my post title. Just saying.

(Note to TwoPints: if you read the intro instead of skipping it, you'll notice the tie-in to the Day 5 selection right there at the end :))

Day 5
May 15, 2009
Victory Golden Monkey
Bottled May 12, 2006

Website/Bottle Information:

ABOUT
Strong and sensual, this golden, Belgian-style ale glows with goodness. The richness of German malts and Belgian yeast are tempered by a sparkling approach and overall light body. Considerable depth of character with abundant herbal, fruity notes make this one to savor.

FROM THE BREWMASTERS
A magical, mystical Monkey whose golden soul glows with the wisdom of ages. This radiant, flavored ale is rich in the spirited tradition of Belgian-inspired brewing. Our Golden Monkey is both playfully delightful and profoundly satisfying. Exotic spices from the East round out this global journey to joy. Get on board. This Monkey's bound for glory!

COMPOSITION
Malts: 2 row German malt
Hops: European whole flowers
Yeast: imported, of Belgian origin
Alcohol by volume: 9.5%
Bottle: 750mL

He Said:
I have visited Victory Brewing Company in Downington, PA many times while I was working on a project for West Chester University. It's a full scale brewery, restaurant, and bar (and you can purchase take home beer... sweet!). It is not really a comfortable friendly bar where everyone knows your name, but they make fantastic beers, so the get a free pass on the snobbery... It could be a Texan bias.

Let me start by saying Golden Monkey is on my short list of favorite beers. The 750mL version is bottle conditioned, making it suitable for cellaring. This one, picked up from the brewery, lasted three years in my kegerator, which is probably a personal record for a Monkey. The beer pours with a thin white foamy head that disseappers within a minute. Typical of many Belgian style beers, the carbonation is lively. The nose was very nice... "Belgian-y" for those who just like beer... coriander, herb, and slightly fruity for beer snobs.

For a 9.5% ABV, this beer is amazingly drinkable, particularly when cold. An hour elapsed between first sip and last (a function of enjoying the beer and having to put the kids to bed). As expected, the beer is much better (more complex) warm. I typically enjoy craft beers a little colder than the suggested temperature, but in this case preferred the flavors after 45 minutes to the earlier ones. Age seems to have mellowed some of the powerful Belgian Tripel flavors, however, age probably has added to the overall complexity of the beer. I would also like to add this version seemed very different from the 12oz bottle version. I wish I had one in the fridge tonight, but if memory serves me right, it is sweeter and has less depth... both most likely attributed to the difference in aging.

Being that this three year old Monkey was on my virtual display shelf in the kegerator, my expectations were high. Maybe too high. I loved the beer, but I remember the four year old Monkey I opened several years ago being one of the best cellared beers I've ever opened. This one didn't live up to that memory.

She Said:
Ooh ooh aah aah! It's Monkey time! Golden is the perfect adjective for the color of this beer. After three years it still has wonderful carbonation. The taste is crisp. To me this screams "Belgium!" and also "Drink Me!" (okay so I've been watching Alice in Wonderland with my little Half Pint... but I digress). Golden Monkey is probably THE one American Belgian style beer that has turned me into the happy Belgio-American beer drinking person I am.

After letting the beer rest and warm up a bit, all the complicated flavors that make up a Belgian style beer begin to come out. While taking several sips, what strikes me is that your palate is left with very little after taste. In other words if you don't grab the tastes while the brew is in your mouth you might miss them. It is not just the spices that grab you with this beer, it's more of the very tasty yeast and malty flavors. The Belgian Tripel sweetness comes out as the beer warms up. Very delicious and worth the extra $$. Two pints up to Victory for its superb Golden Monkey.