A million zillion years ago, or it might have been Friday night, I went to Rich O's.

It was the first night of their Saturnalia festival. A couple dozen yummy rare, seasonal, and festive beers from around the world. The highlight of my beer year.

I arrived at about 8:00. The place was pretty crowded, but not quite as crowded as I'd feared. I managed to grab a seat at the kiddie table, and I ordered my first beer.

Ridgeway Seriously Bad Elf (20)

(draft) Arrived within a storm of convtroversy, so a bit of a tough reputation to live up to. I don't think it quite managed. A nice dark amber beer, with good head and lacing. The flavor was a little sour - something that I wasn't expecting at all. I won't be bothering to have this beer again.

During my time at the kiddie table, I spent most of my time talking with TallLady and GlassesGirl. I also focused most of my attention on the throne, where some shithead was sitting, because it looked like said shithead would be leaving soon and I wanted to grab that seat. To sit in the throne on the first night of Saturnalia would be a rare privilege indeed.

But that's exactly what happened. About 1.2 seconds after the shithead stood up, I planted my butt onto the throne. I ordered one of these:

De Dolle Special Extra Export Stout (10)

(draft) Fizzy and a little metallic, which was quite a strange sensation coming from a stout. More coffee than chocolate flavored, so not my favorite even once the fizz had faded.

Oh yeah, UplandWheatDude was there. He's one of LaptopGirl's ex-boyfriends. Not that asshole - the cool one. We did quite a bit of bullshitting throughout the night until he dropped a bit of a bomb on me and I sort of shut up. More about that later, maybe.

After a while, HatGirl and LuckyFucker came in and joined us in the living room area. There was also some patronizing fuckhead that I didn't like at all. He basically badmouthed everybody's beer selection all night long. What an asshole.

My third beer was another new one for me.

Oaken Barrel Epiphany (10)

(draft) A fairly standard tripel with a hint of apricots. Quite good. I wish I could say more about this beer, but there was really nothing special about it.

I'd like to be able to say more about Friday. It was a fun night. It was good to see UplandWheatDude, and seeing HatGirl is always a treat. In fact, once PatronizingAsshole left, it was one of the most enjoyable nights I've had in a long time.

But most of the conversations will either remain private or they'll get their own journal entry. So for now, you readers will just have to yawn your way through the beer descriptions.

My last beer of the night was, again, a new one for me.

Anchor Our Special Ale 2005 (20)

(draft) Pretty damn good. Higly malty, with a touch of coffee. No chocolate or licorice at all, but still a good beer.

Anyway, like I said, it was a good night. I got to talk with GlassesGirl, and HatGirl, and TallLady, and UplandWheatDude, and LuckyFucker. I talked to RealTrainGirl on the phone for a bit. I had fun. It was expecially fun considering how crowded it was. Without the good company I'd have been a basket case.