I find it hard to slow down. I don’t even want to sit down for a minute. I don’t know if it’s chemical or just a fear of not getting back up. It’s been a long weekend. Work pays the bills, but there’s not extra, and the car is dying, and things are changing at work when any little change is enough to cause stress.

Tonight I made myself lie in the hammock and it was so nice. I had a Rogue Farms Fresh Roast. Kim and I have been to Rogue. It’s on the coast of Oregon, about halfway down the state. We went for the day. It is a large brewery, with long lines for the beer tours and a good selection of different styles on the blackboard. The food is good, but they are on the coast of Oregon, so things like clam chowder and fish and chips are subject to stiff competition from places that just focus on those things.

The Fresh Roast is a fine beer, a nice dry red, like the Jackie Brown that of course I can’t get anymore. There’s exactly the right amount of hops that I don’t taste it in front of the malt but I know that it’s there. I should go get more bottles. I noticed they had many, as though a shipment had just come in. Hopefully it’s something that will be readily available, like the Ninkasi Believer.

San Diego had the corner on the market there for a while, with Ballast Point and Green Flash, among others, but combined with the way I like their 7 Hop for IPAs and this beer I might have to say that Rogue has the edge now. Most brewers are trying crazy things right now to capture dollars, and Rogue is no exception, with their Voodoo Donut beer and a multitude of others that remind me of the list of jellybean/ice cream flavors. For what I like and the availablity of bottled brews in this market, when it comes to growing their own hops and malt and then making great beers that justify the price, I don’t think there’s anyone doing it better.

Eventually the dogs got up into the hammock with me. They wanted the beer.