Of course nearest and dearest to my heart is the first business that I ever owned, Abbey. I opened Abbey in 2006 and sold it on January 1, 2011. This bar has been the source of some of my life's greatest joys and greatest sorrows. Abbey made me who I am today, for better or worse. It will always be one of my greatest accomplishments and my greatest failures. Anniversary day is always one of my favorite of the year and although I don;t own Abbey anymore, the excitement is still the same. This year, as a Renegade Rep, I get to affect the bar in a totally different way and this adds even more excitement to the event.
This year I get to represent some of my favorite breweries in the world, many of which I was serving the day we opened our doors. Newest in this mix is the legendary Trappiste beer, Chimay. We began working with Chimay just two days ago, so adding it to our repertoire right before Anniversary day sends chills down my spine. On this day, I get to serve Chimay to some of my favorite people not as their bartender, but as a representative of the very company that moved many of them into beerlover-hood.
From the Renegade standpoint, our beers have a great showing this year. On draft, we have Boulder Hazed & Infused and Kinda Blue, Chimay Cinq Cents, and Lazy Magnolia Jefferson Stout. Very nice!
Among all of the other great things about this day, this is also always a day that allows me to see some people I don;t get to see very often. It always brings out the old friends and it reminds me of how much I miss all of them. In particular, I was over-joyed at hearing that my good buddy Harris English was gonna visit for a bit. Harris was a salesman for our local Bud guys, Quality Brands, back in the day. Those guys were awesome and I made great friends with most of them. The irony that a place that is diametrically opposed to Anheuser Busch becomes best of friends with the very guys who sell it is testimony to how much our local guys rocked and what fans of craft beer they are. 
What Harris didn't bother to tell me was that he was going to be bringing a world of vintage beer deliciousness with him that was going to get my day started with a bang and inevitably finish with an ouch. Among the good stuff he brought was: 2 year old Old Horizontal Barleywine, a 2008 and 2011 120 Minute IPA, 2 year old Golden Monkey and V-12, 4 year old Midas Touch, Barrel Aged Brrrrrbon, and a 2008 Double Black Stout. Additionally, I had been hanging onto some bottles of Cascade brewing Cherry and a batch 1 Ommegeddon. Not a bad way to start a night of drinking. 
Needless to say, once we were finished working on these bottles and passing around some samples, the buzz was working just right. Just as we had finished the last sample Harris brought and were about to open the Cascade Cherry, Bobby and Ryan from Daytona Beverages walk in and we continued to work on the bottles we had opened. In addition to the aforementioned brews, on draft were St. Bernardus ABT 12, Merry Monks, and Golden Monkey which would allow you to put together a flight of Belgian and Belgian-Inspired beers. As anyone who knows me well enough already knows, it is the Belgian Brews that really get my motor humming and to see a Belgian-Inspired beer flight brings tears to the old eyes.
Before I knew it, I had lost track of time and had to arrange the giveaways we had prepared from Chimay, Hobgoblin, and Monty Python Holy Ail. We had supplied glassware to give for those who bought draft of Chimay and had some raffle prizes of Monty Python, Hobgoblin, and Xingu T-shirts. T-Shirts for small breweries always go over well and the Monty Python line is great because they have girly tees as well as the standard men's t-shirts. Not many breweries offer tees for girls and they always light up when they see that some are made for them.
All in all, it was a great night, we sold a lot of beer, and I got to visit with people that I don't get to see as much as I would like. I wish you all the same good fortune that I have had with some great folks. Cheers!
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