01/05/2020 – Freetail 7th Anniversary Old Bat Rastard

Quarantine Diaries XXXIV

Friday May 1^st 2020

While trying to pull myself out of Thursday’s black hole of misery, I may have inadvertently meandered down a new trajectory of worry. My wanderlust started early, growing up in a horribly inward-looking small town, I dreamed of getting out and exploring beyond its limited horizons. My voracious reading and film-watching filled me with a desire for adventure, and I couldn’t wait to escape and begin really living, soaking up all the experiences the world has to offer. I still pretty much live to travel, and my adventures over 52 countries and 39 US states have been as fun and fulfilling as I had hoped they would be. How can a foreseeable future stuck in front of the TV not fill me with dread? And the dread isn’t just for myself, it’s for every restaurant, bar and hotel I’ve visited, every museum, gallery and concert venue I’ve attended, the monuments and stately homes, boat trips, guided hikes and every single person who made my life a little bit better whose livelihood has been decimated by all this. For me, travel is more than a hobby, more than an industry, it’s a way of life, and one that we might lose forever. Discovering the rich fabric of human experience through exploring diverse places and cultures has been, for me, one of the highlights of being alive. A world with closed borders terrifies me. I really, really hope it doesn’t come to that.

Freetail 7^th Anniversary Old Bat Rastard

We’ve missed hanging out in the Freetail taproom a lot, so we were super-excited to stumble upon this vintage batch of one of my favourite brews of theirs. From back in 2015, this Old Bat Rastard 7^th anniversary edition has been in Texas longer than we have, but it wasn’t going to get any older as we couldn’t resist the desire to crack straight into it. From the first sweet, burnt-toffee sip, we were transported back to their fab San Antonio patio where we’ve spent so many fun, boozy nights sampling their excellent beer selection and hanging out with the lovely Mug Club. This warm, sticky-spiced beer has more than a little Christmas pudding about it, and seems to have sweetened slightly with age but retains its full, firm texture and long finish. Definitely more of a sipper than its younger cousins, which have been known to disappear down the hatch with remarkable swiftness! Our days of cruising up down the I35 for Sunday drinks with the gang feel like a distant memory right now, but hopefully when all this is over we’ll be back for their delicious pizza, exciting beers and great company!