Man, this February's been a productive month for the blog! I'm super happy (and shocked) to be here writing about this beer today, because it's a snow day for me. My employer almost never closes its offices due to inclimate weather. Yet, here we are. 

While the roads aren't super bad currently, the end of this storm should see Cincinnati with somewhere between six to nine inches of accumulation. Then, on Thursday, we'll have another dumping of the stuff. Since this is a special occasion, I'm resurrecting my Tales from the Cellar series. The beer I'll be breaking into today is Goose Island's 2019 Bourbon County Brand Stout (BCBS henceforth).

This is a bottle I've been sitting on for two years, waiting for the perfect time to break into it. Tomorrow's the last day of my vacation and I don't have any more PTO in sight (we might have a snow day this week if the weather reports are right, but I've learned to not hold my breath). As such, and especially now that we're just beyond the two year anniversary of the beer, I'm deeming the time perfect enough. Let's say goodbye to my vacation in style.

The beer is Paradise's Off Kilter. I had three bottles of it initially. I took one down to Texas with me a week after it released and split it with a buddy. After today, I'll have one left. Who knows how long that'll last in my cellar before the time is perfect enough to break into it again?

I can't believe the day is finally here: The day I get to drink my remaining bottle of Braxton's 2018 release of Rum Barrel Aged Snow Shovel. Sure, I absolutely could've broken into it at any time, but I wanted to wait for an exceptionally snowy day. Tuesday would've been perfect if I'd been able to get to it (we got something like 5-6'' of snow Monday night). Last night, though, we got an inch or two more.

Right now I should be outside, using my actual snow shovel to clear off my driveway. But, since I'm a procrastinator to the very core of my being, I'm putting that off. Instead, I'm choosing to drink this beer. Before going further, I encourage you to click here and read up on my now nearly-three years old post about the ale, so that way you'll know what I'm comparing this aged bottle to.

Did you read it? Good. I don't want to waste more time. Here we go: a 2018 bottle of Braxton's RBA Snow Shovel.

It's cold and rainy here. Like, freezing rain rainy. It snowed last night and we're due for some more tonight. When I think of January in southern Ohio, this is the kind of weather I envision--drab and dour.

So I'm fighting back against the seasonal depression that's particularly severe on days like this. No, not with hygge, but with a burst of summer. I've got Piper's Summer Breeze pumping through my speakers. The heat's on in the house. I have a Lemon Bomb in the fridge, ready to be broken into. Take that, winter.