On Friday the 13th of February, I rode into town with Brad and Sandra. We joined about another dozen folks at Jimmy's for the annual Cross Street Irregulars pre-festival event. Food was plentiful, tasty and cheap. As usual I ate 3 breakfasts. They really should serve a buffet.

At around 9:30ish we got in line. It was a balmy 12 degrees and we stood bundled up for over an hour. Several of us almost lost toes to frostbite. I had brought some old handwarmers but they didn't work. I didn't know those things had expiration dates. Max's had put some heater lamps out there, but they were about as useful as the United Nations. Rumor has it that the first guy in line got there at 4:45 a.m., but the authorities wouldn't release his name pending notification of his next of kin.

The first hundred folks were given samples of Brasserie Dubuisson Cuvee des Trolls from these canisters:

We commandeered most of the "middle" room and proceeded to order about 65,338 beer samples. Some other folks joined us, including a couple of BURPers. Over the course of the next 8 hours I managed to try:

1. Cantillon Gueuze - a nice sour ale
2. Dupont Posca Rustica - nice and estery
3. Kerkom Grand Cru - nice and plummy
4. Tilquin Gueuze - a good sour ale
5. Cantillon Lou Pepe 2010 (bottle) - a nice sour ale
6. Alvinne Melchior Oak Calva
7. Struise Tsjeeses Reserve 12
8. Alvinne Bourbon Podge
9. Alvinne Cuvee Freddy Zymatore Batch 2 - nice and fruity
10. Kerkom Kriek - a nice non-sour cherry beer
11. Achouffe Houblon - nice and hoppy
12. Struise Hopverdomme
13. Van Steenberge Piraat Triple Hop
14. De Dolle Dulle Teve
15. De Dolle Stille Nacht
16. Lambrucha (blend of lambic and kombucha)
17. Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Gueuze Fond Tradition
18. Van Honsebrouck St. Louis Kriek Fond Tradition - nice
19. Dilewyns Philly Triple
20. Burley Oak / Max's / Dawson's 11 - a nice barrel quad
21. Kerkom Bink Bloesem
22. Struise/Mikkeller Elliott's Brew
23. St. Feuillen / Green Flash Belgian Coast - nice, hoppy and fruity
24. Abbey des Rocs Triple Imperiale
25. Alvinne Cuvee Freddy Zymatore 2015 Blend - fruity and peppery
26. Oud Beersel Lambiek
27. Timmermans Strawberry
28. Struise Pannepot
29. Troch Hopdraeck
30. Troubador Magma
31. Burley Oak Fat Kid (bottle)
32. Struise Sour Blond
33. Drie Fonteinen Zwet Be (porter)
34. Lefebvre Blanch des Bruxelles
35. Struise Witte
36. Van Steenberge De Garre Triple
37. De Proef Flemish Primitive Surley Bird #3
38. De Dolle Arabier
39. Alvinne Sigma (bottle) - nice and tart
40. A Vapeur Saison de Pipaix
41. RAR Brewing 3870
42. Van Eecke Kapittel Winter (bottle)
43. Van Steenberge Gulden Draak Brewmaster Reserve (bottle)
44. Kazematten Wiper Times (bottle)
45. Brewers Art Geeen Peppercorn Tripel
46. Geants Goliath
47. Glazen Toren Cuvee Angelique Zymatore
48. Strubbe Grand Cru
49. Alvinne Oak Melchior Monbazillac
50. Slaapmutske Flemish Old
51. Jandrain V Cense
52. St. Bernardus Extra 4
53. Het Nest Deadman - nice wine barrel flavor
54. Rochefort 10 2010
55. Rochefort 10 2014
56. Burley Oak Sour Trip (bottle)
57. Van Steenberge Vampire Pale Ale (bottle)
58. Hanssens Oude Kriek (bottle)
59. Oud Beersel Oude Kriek Vieille (bottle)
60. Timmermans White Lambic
61. La Rulles Grande 10
62. Malheur 10
63. Smisje Kerst
64. Cantillon Mamouche (bottle) - nice
65. Lupus Wolf 9 (bottle) (brewed by Brouwerij Wolf, formerly Lupus)
66. Alvinne Oak Collection Wild West
67. Lindemans Framboise
68. Hofbrouwerijk Flower Sour
69. St. Bernardus Pater 6

It seems that the extreme cold kept some people away, as I did not see anyone waiting to get in the entire day.

At around 8:30 p.m., Les and I walked over to the Admiral Fell Inn where he had reserved a small room. How small? When he put the key in the door he broke the window. Anyway, he got the bed while I crashed on the floor. The room was very cold due to some gaps between the windows and the sills.

After a night consisting of 4 hours sleeping and 6 hours trying to sleep, I went downstairs with Les for a breakfast buffet. Sandra eventually joined us, but Brad was still in his room because he was in no condition for food. The dining room was quite nice, and we were serenaded by a live keyboardist.

Les and I then walked back to Max's for Brian Strumke's 5^th annual Stillwater Artisanal Ales tasting event in the Mobtown Lounge. We were treated to samples from a 12-liter bottle of Decade Remastered, which was his Decade aged in a red wine barrel with Brettanomyces. See the video of how it was served. Many of his other beers were available as well, and I tried several of them:

1. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Night Vision
2. Stillwater Artisanal Ales / Hof Ten Dormaal Bronze Age
3. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Why Can't IBU
4. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Farmhouse Stout
5. Stillwater Artisanal Ales / Against the Grain Little Did We Know
6. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Of Love and Regret
7. Stillwater Artisanal Ales Mono (bottle)

Additionally my friend Jason served three of his homebrews:

1. Belgian IPA
2. Belgian brune
3. Shiraz lambic (the best beer I had all weekend)

Then I went downstairs and tried a bunch of beers with several beer aficionado friends:

1. Cantillon Vigneronne (bottle)
2. Oud Beersel Lambiek
3. Rodenbach Grand Cru
4. Chimay Doree
5. Verhaeghe Duchesse de Bourgogne
6. Smisje Wostvntje Torhouts Mustard Ale (bottle)
7. De Halve maan Straffe Hendrik Bruges Triple 2014 (bottle)
8. Verhaeghe Vichtenaar (bottle)
9. Struise Ypres
10. De Ranke Hop Artist
11. Jandrain V Cense
12. Strubbe Ichtegems Grand Cru
13. Troch Hopdraeck
14. Van Honsebrouck Bacchus
15. Tilquin Gueuze (bottle) - nice sour
16. Struise/Mikkeller Elliott's Brew
17. Achel Bruin (bottle)
18. Fantome Dark White (bottle)
19. Kerkom Reuss (bottle)
20. Tilquin Quetsche (bottle) - nice sour
21. Brasserie de la Senne Brussels Calling (bottle)
22. Val-Dieu Brown (bottle)
23. Bosteels Tripel Karmeliet (bottle)
24. Drie Fonteinen Kriek (bottle)

Les and I left in the late afternoon. It had been another great time with great people and beers. This festival is always my favorite activity in the bleak month of February.