This Is My Blood: Drop Bear

Life is still insane with two kids under two, but I'm thankful to find a moment of clarity at five o'clock every day, with a beer and a cheese.

We saved the best for last, as far as cheeses go, as today featured a stanky bleu cheese from origins unknown. Pam prepared a little platter with crackers, honey, apples, and jam to go along with the cheese. I also pulled out the heaviest beer I had in the fridge, a double IPA from Solemn Oath Brewery.

I know I've been beating the horse this week regarding the IPA heel turn on my taste buds, but I had a nice time with Drop Bear DIPA today. There was stone fruit (still have no fucking clue what that is), but only hints of it. Drop Bear was otherwise full of bitterness and not much else. I liked it.

That's possibly because it went so damn well with the bleu cheese. But that's the whole point of pairing, right? To combine two items that are designed to bring out the best in each other? I'm getting sick of IPAs, true, but paired with bleu cheese, I briefly fell in love again.

Tasting Beer provides a chart for beer/cheese pairings, and so since we have now officially exhausted our cache of cheese from the Joy Box, I will fill out the chart now with the past four days' worth of pairings.

NOTES

BEER: Drop Bear

GENRE: American Imperial IPA

ABV: 7.3%

BREWED BY: Solemn Oath Brewery

LOCATION: Naperville, Illinois

PURCHASED AT: Probably IGA

PAIRED WITH: bleu cheese, plus some Malt House Wit or Witowskis

GRADE: 3.5 puke out of 5

BEER COUNT: 141