Bochfest 2007!

I'm back from another successful Bochfest! (That's me over there and over here we've got Matt & Mom in their weird headgear. Mom's still nursing her broken appendage, so that's what's with the overly large coat. She's really quite slender and plans to burn the coat in efigy as soon as possible.) While most of the world was celebrating some guy who had a snake phobia and guzzling green beer, I headed North. What doesn't say "fun" about an afternoon in the glorious out of doors in sunny Duluth on a March day? We were blessed with gorgeous weather reaching all the way up to the 30's! I know I was sweatin'!

Every year I make it up to drink some of the Brewhouse's amazing Bock beer and watch a bunch of idiots jump into the lake. You should really join us next year! Fitger's Brewery is a fun place to be no matter what the time of year, though.

I have no idea what prompted this tradition, but I keep going back. There are the delectible bratwursts *(MUST be ordered with kraut, no matter how odd you think that it. You will cry in your beer if you do not and regret it for a lifetime! Really. Ask Matt.) You also must get poked. And who doesn't want to get a little somethin' somethin' on St. Paddy's day? But, lieterally, what you do, is take the beer, and sip out a good inch then bring it to the nice guy by the campfire. He'll take this long metal poker and gently slide it into you cup. Now, here's where things get steamy. A foamy head rises to the top of your glass. Slurp the smokey stuff away and you'll find your beer has been altered. And it's not that it's boiling hot. Surprisingly, it's still cold, but the surgars from the beer have carmelized into a heady, rich flavor. It's not overly sweet, either, it just tastes like a really good brown beer with depth. Amazing.