The Beer: A 4% Bock from Port Stanley, ON
The Location: Jay’s place

Friday was the night before my birthday and I was invited to Jay’s house to join he and my old college friend, Kurt, for a night of beer, corned beef, and a whole bunch of guitar. Kurt is an incredibly gifted home brewer, a natural, and had heretofore been unable to make a real, honest mistake. That was, we were told, until the Jalapeño Peppercorn Bock. So bad, Kurt had claimed, that he’d dumped half of it from the carboy down the sink, saving a few bottles for fun.

So Kurt cracked it open and poured a sample around, pouring a fairly dark amber with a small amount of white head. The aroma was definitely jalapeño, some black pepper. All of it a little muted. We grinned and took our first sip, and we were shocked to find a delicate, light beer with subtle, fresh peppers and some spicy hops. It was actually good. We kept sipping only to find our initial thoughts were right, that some time in the bottle had treated this North Shore offering well.

I guess we’ll still be waiting on that first big Kurt failure, because this one wasn’t it!