Saturday April 4th 2020
A Saturday with nothing to do. Not great for a social creature like me. As someone with embarrassingly poor time management at the best of times, I’m finding myself frittering time away horribly in isolation – the lack of the structure that comes from social engagement makes it easy to dawdle over newspaper articles or endlessly scroll Twitter, something I need to find a way to rein in if I ever want to be a productive human being again. On the plus side, I can have lunch at 4pm with absolutely no pressure or judgement, which feels like winning, for now at least. The two rituals I have put in place for the duration, writing this blog and donning a new outfit and make-up look each day, definitely help to keep me more balanced and focused, and cooking is always an excellent and rewarding distraction, but with over three weeks still to go I am going to have to get more creative to pass the time without going mad.
Lone Pint Undead Head Ed Chile Porter
Saturday, huddled under my rug with the rain pelting down, was not the day to commence any bold new directives. I could never have imagined spending my last Saturday in my 30s sitting on the sofa watching television, an act completely anathema to both my personality as a whole and my sense of occasion, but as we are constantly being told, adapt-or-die is the name of the game here, which made it somewhat fitting to be watching the final few episodes of Ozark Season 3. One of my favourite shows of recent years, I would highly recommend watching intrigues and machinations of the Byrde family learning to adapt or die if you have not done so yet already. Needless to say, cold weather means dark beer, and dark beer is certainly well-suited to dark TV, so I was very glad to have something particularly warming saved up in my Big Stout Collection for this moment. There is something quintessentially Texan about Lone Pint Brewing. A small-town brewery hailing from Magnolia TX, a way north of Houston, Lone Pint punch high above their weight. Something about Lone Pint allows them to transcend local beer-rivalries, as everybody loves them, and their classic Yellow Rose IPA is undoubtedly one of the best our fair state has to offer. I’ve enjoyed all their beers I’ve tried to date, and visit to their taproom is a high post-Covid priority. This was my first time drinking the Undead Head Ed Chile Porter, but a ghost pepper beer felt absolutely spot-on on this chilly night. While the heat wasn’t in-your-face, there was a tasty, consistent warmth that built nicely with each sip, and the relatively light ABV (6.9%) made the full pint bottle the exact right serving size. A tasty source of warmth and comfort to cosy up by the fire with.
Craft Beer Amethyst 