It has been about 2 months since I last stepped into Fort Street Brewery. It wasn’t a problem I had there. In fact, my family and I are treated like royalty… actually, more like ‘regulars’. We were just tight on cash, plus we were sick, plus work turned me into a zombie, so we had stopped going there. It was tough… We missed our consecutive streak on attending the Fantasy Camps (10 in a row), plus we missed the 100th beer released.

Last night, we stopped in for dinner and to try Doug Beedy’s latest creation, a fine beverage called Tannenbaum Lager’. It’s made with pine honey (nope, never heard of it either… That’s what makes Doug ‘the Mad Scientist of Brewing’) and it was delicious. Slightly sweet, but smooth with no hoppy undertones. I also tried ‘Black Ice’, which is a schwarzbier, or black lager. (This has become one of my favorites after just one glass.) In between those two beers, I tried ‘hIgh-BU-ti-full’ (pronounced Hi Beautiful), which is an Imperial India Pale Ale that satisified my ‘hop’ cravings.

There were two things that made the night special. First, it was the way we were ‘welcomed back’… It seemed like everyone welcomed us back. It felt good, and we promised ourselves to regain our ‘regular’ status. Second, I had a surprise waiting for me behind the bar. Gregg Eldred was travelling to Dearborn, Michigan (and has since almost become a semi-regular up here), and he pinged me one day to ask for recommendations about places to eat near Dearborn. Without hesitation, I gushed about FSB (Fort Street Brewery). Now, it seems that every time he’s near FSB, he (and his pride) stop in for a bite to eat and a beverage. This last time, I tried to arrange to meet up with him, but my signals got crossed (phone signals actually), and I missed him, but that didn’t stop him from providing me a gift certificate to cover my beverages for the evening. Gregg, I WILL get you back! Thanks!

Overall, it was a nice evening. It’s good to be ‘home’…