Mmmmmmm ... Beer (A little long)

…Or, A Man and his Ale: A Love Story.

About four years ago, I found a wonderful beer while I was at, of all places, Disney World. The beer is Trois Pistoles. It’s a strong dark ale, rich but not bitter. It was love at first taste but, like many love stories, tragedy followed soon after. I returned to my home and found that it was not available in Arizona (It’s brewed in Quebec). Despite the crushing blow of my disappointment, I managed to carry on. I found the beer a couple more times (my search for it in Montreal is a story in itself) but whenever I asked for it locally there was no joy in beerville.

Then about a year ago, my father told me that he’d gotten a set of interesting beers as a gift and wanted to know if I was interested in sharing. When he told me the beers, I nearly fell out of my chair. Trois Pistoles was one of them! (It was sort of funny. He asked if I’d ever heard of them). I also found that they’d been bought at AJ’s (a local fine foods store). Oh joy! Oh Rapture! Oh bugger - there’s a hitch. It turns out that although they carry the beers, they only carry them in a 750 ML size. And this beer is potent - about 9% alcohol. So 750 ML just won’t work for everyday use.

So my search for a source of 12 oz bottles continued. I found that it could be ordered by the case, but the cost would be fatal (as my wife would kill me for spending that much on a case of beer). But I continued to inquire.

And then I talked to one of the liquor managers at Cost Plus. He told me that they normally only get it in 750s (they started carrying it a couple of months ago) but that he could special order a case. Just out of idle curiosity, I asked the price and was astonished when he quoted me a little less than half of what others had.

I didn’t quite squeak when I told him to go ahead and order it.

My beer arrived, but when I spoke to the manager he told me that he had misquoted the price. It was, in fact, about twice as much… but then he informed me that they were willing to honor the quoted price!

I’m sitting here now, happily sipping. My only question is what I’m going to do when this case is gone. But for now, I’m in my happy beer place. Mmmmmmmmm.

Sounds like it is a good place, tomorrow shall take care of itself so enjoy it today.

Now, if I could only find a way to get Yuengling out here in Ohio.

MeanJoe

You are a lucky man.

May all those who never lose faith and persevere in the face of all adversity in the great name of Beer take your tale to heart.

Amen.

Interesting…that beer is on tap almost anywhere you go here in Northern Virginia. We’re just lucky, I guess. :smiley:

Yuengling is made in PA, and you can’t get it in OH? How odd! I live NC and it’s available in the grocery store here.

Happy happy beer place
Chairs there have a nice wide base
After work to you I race
And plaster grins across my face.

If the ocean was beer
And I was a duck
I’d swim to the bottom
And never come up.

Yuengling Distributors

It drives me frickin’ crazy. It seems they went East of PA and then South. Nothing West of PA, which includes their very thirsty neighbor here in Ohio.

I go into PA 2-3 times a year and come back with a case or two each time. It is great for as long as it lasts, which is not long as I’ve converted many friends to this Most Blessed of Beers.

Ah man, now I’m really craving one. Perhaps a 4 hour round trip for a case or two this weekend would not be too bad. :smiley:

MeanJoe

Oh, and yes you both suck and I’m jealous as hell. :wink:

Ah, yes, the products of Unibroue .

If you liked Trois Pistoles, by all means check out a couple of their other products - I’m not a big fan of Belgian-style beers, but try Le Fin du Monde and La Maudite. Excellent beers.

Mmmmmmmmm, beer…

That is my next quest. As good as the beer is in the bottle, I can only imagine how good it would be on tap.

Well, see if this helps any:

I love Great Lakes Brewery beer (their 10th Anniversary Ale, a Belgian trippel, was truly divine) and you can’t that anywhere except OH.

The Yuengling is a consolation prize, I guess (and an amazingly good value - great beer for only $4.49 a six!).

I too am at the mercy of production people…I’m Canadian…and very proud to be. Have some friends in Pennsylvania (McKean to be exact) and we go three-four times per year…I’m always treated to a case of Rolling Rock when I go…it’s terrific - just like water only tastes better!

Can’t get it here though…am wondering if my big American friend and his wife have figured out why I’m just so damn glad to see him! (well, partially, they’re great people too!).

Same as Modelo in Mexico -alas although we can buy Corona but no Modelo…fortunately am going to Mexico in February although $3000 seems to be a lot for a beer.

:smiley:

TheInterruptingCow, those were the two other beers that were included in my father’s gift pack. La Maudite was good but didn’t do anything special for me. La Fin du Monde, OTOH, was one of those beers that when I first tasted it I said “eh” but found that it got better and better as I got further down the glass. I think it’s due to the fact that while the initial taste is good, the finish is really good.

Damn. I wish I liked beer. Everyone sounds so darned happy when talking about, or drinking beer. I’ve tried…believe me, I’ve tried…to develop a taste for it. You people who look so lovingly at it are so lucky. I wanna be a beer lover!

Linus, Linus, Linus
Sigh.
Don’t you realize that what you really have to do is train yourself so that you can consume a 750 mL bottle in an evening? Really, it’s not that difficult. Make sure you train up using your well-gotten small bottles and by the time they run out you should be ready for the big leagues.

Ghanima, I can and have consumed a 750 mL bottle in an evening. We can talk about my college days if you want to talk about impressive alcohol consumption. However, as I noted above, this beer is strong - 9% alcohol (which is about twice the alcohol that is in most beers). Which means, because it is like drinking 4-5 normal beers, it simply isn’t suitable for many occasions in its larger size.

Big leagues. <snort>