On The Rails: Baileys

It takes a little time find a place to sit at Bailey’s tonight and there’s no room on the rail. This saddens me, because I’ve been enjoying the opportunity to rub shoulders with strangers. Instead, I sit at the loneliest table in the place, which if you’ve been here, you know it. The tiny spot up against the fire escape, where the bar and the outer wall narrow into a bottleneck, barely spacious enough for one person. Two? You’d better be friendly. Yeah, that spot.

On the upside, I have the space to write. Still, I can’t help but feel a little off since I have a theme and it’s not being satisfied, damnit!

Feh. Theme be damned, the important thing is being adaptable to your circumstances.

The bourbon nose on the Heathen bourbon barrel crivvens wee light (holy moly that’s a mouthful) isn’t too strong but it cannot be missed. What also cannot be overlooked is the banana undercurrent that feels like a foundation for this entire beer, layering some chocolate and bourbon on it, in a real culinary fashion because they wanted the banana to stand out, right?

Wrong. So wrong. Maybe it’s me? Maybe the beer is just too cold right now. I’m going to let it warm up a little longer to see if something shifts in the wee light and improves it. A little water to cleanse my palate may even help.

There’s a tiny gathering of men nearby, taking up far more space than they should be because they clearly feel entitled to stand in your way, even if you have to get a beer (from where I sit) or go to the bathroom (if you are anywhere else in the bar).

What a bunch of dicks. Sit down or stand out of the way. Yeesh.

I’ve given the beer a good ten minutes to warm up and I have to confess, the banana elements are highly diminished. More roasted, chocolate flavors are shining through. It’s even finishing dry…too dry.

There is an arid moment on the roof of my mouth. Plus, the ‘light’ part of this wee is dead on. This isn’t a weighty beer and doesn’t have the same kind of slick viscosity of the wee heavy I had earlier this year. The dryness really overwhelms other sensations now and I’m uncertain.

I don’t think I can recommend this beer. The arid finish is really what is putting me off; I don’t think this quality is contributing to the overall beer and while the shift in flavors has been a positive, the shift in mouthfeel has leapt in to snatch defeat from the jaws of…well, not exactly victory but maybe success?

Where I Want To Go: Hawthorne Theater/Bailey’s

It was the kind of day where I needed a hug, and I wasn’t going to get one. People tried; long distance friends, some of whom have never heard my voice, sent their support and… Well, it was just the kind of moment where people’s kindness made me feel worse, instead of better. They are not to blame; they did what people who care do. Sometimes, a broken machine cannot be repaired with sheer will, you have to place your hands upon it.

But it passed, day moved on and I geared myself up to see Cloudkicker at the Hawthhorne theater-where, as you may remember, I don’t drink.

It didn’t matter. They were wonderful. I got to hear songs I expected, songs I ever expected and songs I only hoped for and I was hardwired, for just a few moments, to be happy. They played You and Yours, for fuck’s sake! The Christmas song! Sometimes, life dishes up a little scoop of amazing.

When Cloudkicker was done, I was done and now I’ve come to Bailey’s to have a wee heavy from Heathen, called the Fashious. It’s delicious, with lots of dried fruit-especially raisin flavors, but it finishes so light! Even with the oiliness at the end, it doesn’t linger unpleasantly, it doesn’t feel heavy. So good.

Now? Now I am content. The difference between the states might be the difference between the jolt that music gives me and the slow warmth of alcohol.

I like beer; I don’t think that comes as any surprise. However, I don’t know that drinking this beer makes me happy. It’s tasty and that’s good, and I like it but I feel at rest. Like there is a chance for the buildup of energy in my shoulders and the sadness in my side to drain out. All the energy; the good and the bad from the day. Music is a T1 line into something really smashing for me where a whole lot of other shit just sliiides away.

The Heavy has shifted a bit as I write, more caramel flavors coming out. It’s still very good and I am already thinking of people that I should recommend this beer to. I don’t know if I’ve had anything Heathen has done before but clearly I should try more of their wares.

Both the beer and the music and my experience with both have one thing in common: they are transitory. None of them last. So it is with the gap in my life where I am not able to get hugged. I have good will, I have work and that can sustain in these overcast spring days, until things change and I am rebuilt.

Who is to say how the new structure will be? Let’s have a beer and talk about it.