Bitter and I actually attended a concert of the Philadelphia Orchestra this weekend, rather than getting hitched in Las Vegas. The performance was of Schumann’s Piano Concerto, a piece I’m pretty familiar with, and Schmidt’s Symphony No. 4, which I’ve never heard in my life. Before that we went out for some German at Ludwig’s Garden, one of my favored center-city venues. Ludwigs regularly serves game, and Bitter got some quite tasty venison.
A fact about me: I used to be an amateur classical pianist. I say used to, because it’s not like riding a bike. I haven’t played for 12 years. From age four to twenty one, I took lessons. Some things I played were Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 11 in A-major, Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 14 in C# Major “Moonlight” (did all three movements), Several Chopin pieces, including Polonaise No. 1 Op. 40 in A-major “Military”. I can only play bits now, and not very well. Memory and fingerings fade. At twenty one, for some reason, I just lost interest in it.
I also decided I needed to spend some time to top off my beer reserves before we head to St. Louis, where in addition to attending the NRA convention, we have a VIP tour of the Anheiser-Busch brewery. I adjusted my British India Pale Ale recipe to an American IPA, and went through the whole process with Bitter. This IPA will even be called the “Bitter Bitch IPA”, or maybe just “Bitchy IPA”. I ran through the whole process with Bitter, ending with pitching the yeast a few minutes before she had to go home. With an original gravity of 1.067, this is sure to be a decent IPA. That will translate into about 6.7% ABV. Definitely something that will kick your ass if you drink too much of it. But I like my beer strong.
Hope you all had a good weekend too, and thanks for the many congratulations on our non-wedding. If we ever do have a real one, we’ll have to invite some of you to make up for it ;)
Denise and I are heading to St. Louis as well. Is the Anheiser-Bush tour part of the NRA tour package? The VIP tour sounds pretty cool.
We live fairly close to the New England Budweiser plant and that tour is pretty good. I’m looking forward to touring the main plant.
The VIP tour is a private event. However, the brewery does offer tours to visitors reguarly. I don’t have the link in front of me, but I believe it’s open every day. If I recall correctly, the hours are pretty open. I don’t know if there are any kind of reservations required for the tour, but if you want to do it, you should probably call ahead. With so many people in town who tend to have both an interest in alcohol and guns, it’s possible that if they do accept reservations, they will fill up fast.
I’m not going to St. Louis – was planning on it, but have to head to Des Moines.
When you come to DC this weekend though, you MUST stop in at Old Europe
Mmm Mmm Mmm
I definitely plan on taking him there!