This Is My Blood: Warsteiner Oktoberfest

 

I had one of my "bright ideas" today, but thankfully, I was able to be reasonable about it before getting too ahead of myself.

Okay, so Pam and I and the kids were walking through Tacony Creek Park the other day—I almost want to call it "hidden" based on the fact that I we have lived ten minutes away from this wooded path for seven years and have never thought to go there—and part of the trail goes past this old abandoned golf driving range. I could tell just from walking past it that it would be a cinch to get around the old metal gating and gain access to the cement platform where people used to empty their buckets of golf balls by hitting them really hard (um, golf was never really my thing).

So of course my mind starts to wander... well, okay, what if I got a few friends and we snuck onto this abandoned property with a case of beer, that'd be cool, right? I think so. And then my mind started going even further, thinking, okay, what if I had a small group of people that met every so often—once a month, once a quarter—the sole purpose of this meeting of friends was to drink somewhere new and unique. I started picturing these like-minded souls (of which I counted myself among) sharing a twelve-pack on the driving range at dusk, and then a month later finishing a case in some hidden cave, and then a month after that on the roof of an uncle's house, and then a month after that on a median in a moderately busy intersection, and so on and so on, stretched out to old age, friends just needing the excuse to get together to drink some beers, a Drinking Club if you will, finding the excuse for alcohol and camaraderie in the act of exploring the world around us, finding something new, and so on, and so on...

I'm not ignorant enough to think that this would actually be feasible at this point in my life; these were just the daydreams of a man walking through the woods on a Tuesday afternoon. 

First, I'm self-aware enough to know that establishing a "club" for this and that could easily get out of hand. When it's something like Record Club (weekly, very little need for commitment) or Book Club (quarterly, somewhat more of a commitment), at least there's something substantial that we can point to and say, this, this is why we are hanging out, a book, an album, this makes sense. With a hypothetical Drinking Club, it would be what exactly? Just drinking? Don't I do enough of that already? And we'd be... trespassing in order to do it? How would that work? Too many questions, or at least enough that adding another "club" to my life seems like a bridge too far.

Consequentially, because the idea itself is pretty flimsy, I struggle to think about how I would even inquire about potential interest from friends. "Hey, would you want to meet me at an abandoned driving range about 30 minutes from your house this Tuesday, and then subsequently meet up every month after to drink some more somewhere different?" It just sounds weird. It also sounds like I'd be forcing it. Friends who gather in a sincere desire to share merriment and booze shouldn't have to make an elaborate excuse to do so. It should come naturally. More so than any other regular event I've ever organized, this would feel the most like I was "forcing" people to do stupid shit that isn't necessary.

Finally, I barely have the time in my life right now to return a friend's text, let alone gather multiple people together, in person, somewhere inconvenient, on a regular basis. I just don't have the fucking time. What, am I going to ask Pam to put the kids to bed tonight because I'm going to meet up with Larry and Moe at a fucking abandoned driving range to drink? And she would be okay with this? Even though we have like two thousand empty cardboard boxes waiting to be filled for an upcoming move? She'd be okay with me skirting those responsibilities to go drink in the fucking woods like a sixteen-year-old? I'm not complaining about this, and I'm not saying my situation is unique. All my friends are busy as shit with various goings on and life tasks. No one is going to be able to get together on a regular basis even if they wanted to.

I mean, it's the kernel of a good idea, but it's just not the time for that shit. If there comes a time in my life when I and the people I am currently surrounded by find the time and the desire to explore, then I will pull this idea out of the proverbial manila folder in the file cabinet of my mind. Until then, I will drink my half-beer on a Saturday night at home and I will shut up about another goddamn club, thank you very much.

NOTES

BEER: Warsteiner Oktoberfest (this was good, definitely maltier than the Oktoberfest by Hofbrau, which I appreciated)

STYLE: Oktoberfest

ABV: 5.9%

BREWED BY: Warsteiner Brauerei

LOCATION: Warstein, Germany

PURCHASED AT: Bottle Bar East

PAIRED WITH: Fish tacos

GRADE: 3.5 pukes out of 5

 
BEER COUNT: 366