Today it's a balmy 79° here in my east-of-Cincinnati middle-of-nowhere. Michelle and I just got back from taking the puppy for a walk around the lake and I changed into a Hawaiian shirt--my go-to summer outfit--immediately afterward and am now sitting on my porch while working on this post. Sure, it's technically early-spring, but it's big summer vibes here. Who cares if the temperature's supposed to plummet next week?


Oh, yeah. That COVID-19 thing's still going around. This is still my tales from the cellar series. Yesterday, when I decided that I'd do a post today, Michelle was too busy working to throw a bottle into the fridge for me, so I did it myself. I reached into the cabinet--without looking--and grabbed a bottle. It wasn't until I opened the fridge today that I let myself see what it was: Madtree's 2017 vintage Levanto Oscuro, part of their Funk Series.

When's the last time you washed your hands? Been an hour? Go take care of that then come back. It's okay. This post can wait.

Go on.

Okay, now that that's done, we're good. Today's the second in my COVID-19 Pandemic Tales from the Cellar series. For each of these, Michelle's selecting a beer from my cellar for me to review. Today, I discovered she's a big fan of how Warped Wing's bottles looks, because she picked one of their beers again. This is something that I'm 100% not complaining about; I love me some Warped Wing. So, here we go: A 2017 bottle of Warped Wing's Coyoacán.

Well, friends. We've been COVID-19'd here in Ohio. Just over an hour ago (at the time of this writing), our governor issued a Stay at Home order. This means that, while you can still actually leave the house to get food, shop, and exercise, heavy restrictions are in place. Effectively, businesses across the state will be closed as of midnight tomorrow.


Fortunately for you, I have a cellar stocked with beer. For all my corona-time posts, I'll be breaking into that cellar and presenting my thoughts on those beers to you. Well, okay, I won't be breaking into the cellar--Michelle'll be doing that. For each of these posts, she'll grab a random beer from my collection for me. Today's beer is from my favorite Dayton, OH brewery: Warped Wing's Grape Creek Must.

This is weird. I know that different parts of the world are in different places right now. Hell, different parts of the US are in different places right now. Ohio, as you may have heard, is in rapid shutdown mode: Bars and restaurants now close at 9 each night and are only open for carryout/delivery; bowling alleys, gyms, and theaters won't be allowed to open after today; places of employment that are still open in some capacity and haven't been ordered to close by the governor are racing to figure out how to deal with what's coming next. The rest of the world (at least those parts still in the beginning stages of the COVID-19 pandemic) will most likely be mirroring my state's actions in the coming weeks. I literally have no idea what tomorrow'll bring. We're in uncharted waters. Wash your hands.


Okay, I guess that was a bit of a lie. See, I do know something that tomorrow'll bring: peepers, the harbingers of springtime. I know that peepers are pretty divisive critters, much like summer's cicadas. But, much like with cicadas, I really enjoy the peepers' music--it's a nice, nightly reminder that winter's on its way out and warmer, brighter days are ahead.

When I saw that Maine Beer Company had a beer called Peeper, I knew it'd be my post to shepard in spring. Today, while Michelle and I were out provision hunting (to little avail--what a time to actually need toilet paper), we swung into the bottleshop where, less than a week ago, they had plenty of Peeper bottles. To my dismay (and luck) there was just one left today. I bought and, well, here we are.