Sake it to me!

Tonight was a fun occasion -- my friend Russell had a birthday party at Osaka, which is a vey nice sushi restaurant off Studemont & Westheimer here in Houston, Texas. I had been there once before -- with Russell -- to celebrate the end of the previous semester. We had great sushi and drank much sake, then retired to his place to watch anime and vent about work.

Tonight was similar, in that we had great sushi and drank much sake, but instead of venting, we were reminiscing with friends and former colleagues that I hadn’t seen in years. Plus, we got to meet a lot of new, great people (many from Japan and other locations Far East). It was a wonderful night, and I heartily recommend Osaka for their fantastic sushi and amazing service. I have only been there twice, but each time was something special.

In a small way, Russell was one of my inspirations in starting this beer blog. He is currently doing a lot of sake reviews and his diligence in destroying his liver has definitely prodded me to join him… at least in intent, if not in actual brew. For, although I do enjoy sake (and I still owe you a tale about how I was at a taiko drum festival and discovered just how influential temperature can be when it comes to partaking of a beverage), it’s not my first drink of choice. I definitely prefer beer (hardly a shock, is it?).

But enough of this tangent: back to the party.

Between bites of my spicy tuna roll, I talked beer with an old workmate of mine by the name of Michael. Like me, he appreciates a good beer (although, based on some of his recommendations, I suspect he likes the light as much as I like the dark). He reminded me of a few great beer gardens in town, and I agreed that some night in the future we would venture forth and sample some of what the city has to offer on tap.

But our conversation raised a point that some of you might be wondering about: “Why would it take you so long to drink 52 new beers?”

That’s a fair question that Michael asked me, and I gave him a fair answer: “Although I could drink that much in a weekend or two, I like to savor them and then it takes me time to write them up.”

Right now, for example, I’ve got my notes on two beers typed in. I just need to review them, edit the photos, and schedule them for publication. After that, I’ve got a third one that needs to be re-tasted.

Yup, I’ve got to have a do-over on Moylan’s Kilt Lifter. You see, I drank it one night and generally recall liking it, but I didn’t write down my notes right afterwards, thinking, “Oh, I’ll remember it tomorrow.” Well, tomorrow became a week later, and no, I could not remember it. At least not in enough detail to write about it. So that beer will be getting another shot at my taste buds. I don’t think of that as cheating, just as making good on a mistake.

And you know, after thinking about all of the mistakes I’ve made after drinking beer in the past, this one ain’t all that bad.