The Brethren of Real Evangelical Witnesses

In case you havent looked close enough, this stands for BREW, which is entirely what this "club" is dedicated towards...haha. Our Pastor always talks about how brewing beer is a very important part of our Lutheran history, and we (all the people you'll see pictured here) are happy to honor this history....and then some. Disclaimer: This is not a "get wasted" kind of meeting. Not at all. Rather, we all really love craft beers--microbrew, local, exotic, homebrew, etc. Occasionally we get together for a tasting, some great food, and some FANTASTIC conversation. You cannot have a bad time at one of these things! And the resulting "dead soldiers" can be seen below.....(some of them, anyway....)

A really fantastic group of guys--the two sitting by the windows were friends of our friend Mark (and the guy in the denim shirt is one of those guy's dad....a retired mill worker from Millinocket, down for the weekend to stay with his son and see his grandkids....a HOOT of a guy...a man who, in his own words, thinks Narragansett is the most exotic beer he's ever had....classic!) The two friends of Mark are SEVERE home brewers, ready to possibly take it to the next level and perhaps offer growler filling opportunities, etc. I believe their company is called BREWSTRONG, and, if, unlike me, you have facebook, you can find them. Their stuff was just simply marvelous, and my favorite had to be an "all grain" lager that tasted like a light hefenweisen (an unfiltered wheat beer) that would be perfect with a wedge of lemon and a sunny day! They also did some marvelous cream stouts, which are stouts brewed with actual lactose sugar (lactose is the sugar in milk, if you didnt know). A wonderfully creamy flavor. I need a beer right now. I am really lucky to have such great friends from simply so many walks of life....all interested in different stuff....Pastor, pictured in the tan sweatshirt on the right, brews some of my favorite stuff, and, sticking to his "roots," it is usually of the German or Belgian nature. He more specifically shared a Belgian "Dubel," which is wonderfully rich and provocative (Tim will make fun) tasting beer. I wont even try to pretend I am wordy and creative enough to assign adjectival monikers like "earthy undertones" or "essence of the number six" or "left rear palate cleansing" or anything of the like. It was just GOOD and you should taste it for yo'self!

Good friend Fred, pictured above, is a very talented and creative chef at a great restaurant in town (Waterville) called The Last Unicorn. In fact, I took Amanda there Saturday night for a date (beer night was Friday). Fred put together a spread of appetizers that we were almost too afraid to eat, since it was so beautiful....haha.

This would have made my father in law drool, since George is always putting together cheese trays like this. You've got some fresh mozzarella mixed with tomato and basil...you have some gouda, swiss, and some type of "costello" blue cheese (I hope I have that right!). He's also got a couple of really gorgeous (can you call a sausage gorgeous??!!) sausages--some chorizo and andouille, etc. And even though you cant see it, some homemade ciabatta bread which was delightful.

I love food.

I love beer.

I love seeing friends.

PS: Sorry for all the words I probably butchered as far as spelling goes!