This post is a continuation of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I drank at least one new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. This year I may deviate from the diary format in some posts, hoping to concentrate more on the locations and the breweries I am enjoying. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.
Day 367: January 2, 2016
Diary entry:
Today was one of those travel days that makes me not want to travel.
It all started off OK, with a decent breakfast in the Hilton Vienna Executive Lounge (oh, I’m going to miss these Diamond perks) and an on-time departure for the drive home. On the road at 9:30 in the morning. The GPS says we should be home around 7PM. Sweet!
Yeah, right…
We had nothing but smooth sailing throughout Austria, but as soon as we hit the German border, everything started to go downhill.
First we had a slowdown just after the border as Germany has instituted some security checkpoints to scan and selectively search some incoming vehicles. That was an almost 30-minute slow-down right there.
But that was nothing!
We hit major slow-downs around Regensburg, at least 45 minutes, and that was still just a drop in the bucket!
The worst part of this drive was known to be the stretch of highway 3 between Nuremberg and Frankfurt, and it didn’t disappoint! Long stretches of almost continuous traffic, couples with a wintry mix of rain, sleet, and snow, temperatures hovering around the freezing point, the sun disappearing over the horizon, and higher volumes of traffic from holiday-goers returning home — it was a perfect storm of traffic jam in the making!
What should have been a 9.5 hour journey home took over 13 hours, and it wasn’t until after 11PM that we pulled into the parking garage at home and were able to start relaxing.
We only had energy for a single beer, so we decided to make it a good one!
The Beer:
Name: Lambiek Special (2015)
Style: Lambic
Producer: Geuzestekerij De Cam
Alcohol content: 5.5%
Bottle size: 0.75 l
Purchased from: Bierhandel Willems & Zoon in Grobbendonk, Belgium
Lambiek Special (2015) by Geuzestekerij De Cam. Sharing this with my brother to help introduce him to Belgian Lambic style beers. This was delicious! Not much pop of the cork, but enough slight fizz in the pour. Beautiful red color, even though not a Kriek. A funky and slightly fruity aroma. The sour base is delightful, with the absorbed berries giving a great fruit flavor. Gooseberries, Blackberries, and sour cherries.
