This sounds like something written for a TV sitcom. Interstate 95 in Florida was the scene of a bizarre accident.MELBOURNE, Fla. – A crash involving two tractor-trailers hauling beer and chips overturned on Interstate 95 in Brevard County, spilling the…

All the essentials…Checking the those status updates made me smile.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

Another craft beer win for Virginia. Deschutes put out this press release today.

Bend, OR/Roanoke, VA – March 22, 2016 – Deschutes Brewery announced its much anticipated decision on an east coast location today at an event in downtown Roanoke, Virginia. The growing brewery, which was founded in Oregon in 1988 by Gary Fish, has explored hundreds of potential locations in the region over the last two years. The company selected Roanoke based on several criteria including a culture and community that fit well with Deschutes’ decades-deep roots.

“We started Deschutes Brewery when craft beer wasn’t burgeoning and led with a beer style that wasn’t popular at the time – Black Butte Porter,” said Gary Fish, CEO and founder of the brewery. “This pioneering approach was a key driver behind our decision to go with Roanoke, as that same spirit exists in this community and its fast-growing beer culture.”

The future Roanoke facility has been lovingly dubbed “Brew 4” as it takes its place in line after the original Bend, Oregon public house (Brew 1), the brewery’s production facility in Bend (Brew 2) and the Portland, Oregon public house (Brew 3). Brew 4 will be located at the eastern edge of Roanoke with construction on the site beginning in 2019. Eventually, a little over 100 new jobs will be created for the region, and the new brewery will produce approximately 150,000 barrels to start, with a design to increase capacity as needed. Deschutes expects to start shipping beer from the Roanoke location in about five years.

 “Roanoke is honored to be chosen as Deschutes Brewery’s East Coast location after a very thorough review of several communities in the Southeast,” said Roanoke City Manager Chris Morrill.  “It is a company with a strong culture of community engagement, recognized for its craftsmanship and will be a perfect fit for Roanoke’s vibrant outdoor lifestyle.  We are thrilled to welcome Deschutes as we continue to build a diverse, resilient economy.”

Deschutes Brewery chose to add an east coast location after the company’s distribution footprint (which currently includes 28 states and the District of Columbia) reached the east coast. By having a production facility on the eastern seaboard, the brewery will be able to deliver beers – such as its flagship Black Butte Porter – to states east of the Mississippi quickly and more sustainably.

Michael LaLonde, president of Deschutes Brewery, who was an integral part of the east coast location selection team, said, “Although it was a tough decision – we loved so many of the communities that we visited over the past two years – we are very excited to be heading to Roanoke. We love the region and everyone we’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with during this process has been incredible. We have absolutely been blown away with how the community rallied around bringing us here and has given us such a warm welcome. #Deschutes2Rke we’re on our way and proud to be able to now call Roanoke our second home.”

For more information on Deschutes Brewery in Roanoke, please visit: www.deschutesbrewery.com/roanoke 

While doing some online shopping for Easter gifts, Colleen came across Saison D’erpe Mere Lentebier from Brouwerij de Glazen Toren in Belgium. On a whim, she ordered a couple of bottles for us to try out. We opened one of them before dinner on Sunday. …

When art imitates life.Flying Dog Brewery actually does brew a beer with four-leaf clovers. From Rhymes With Orange.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

On Friday evening we headed over to Park Lane Tavern to enjoy some Fish ‘n Chips for dinner. Park Lane does a pretty decent version of the classic platter, and there’s good beer. I had missed the Heavy Seas Brewing “Steal the Glass Night” earlier in th…

May all your choices this weekend be well-selected.
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

The Feast Day of our Patron Saint turned out to be an absolutely beautiful (nearly) Spring day, so we headed over the the range to enjoy the 70° weather. One of our plans for the day was to do the Dot Torture Drill, as a tribute to Todd Louis Green who passed away earlier this week. Todd didn’t create this drill, but it has long been associated with him. I never met Todd, but have made frequent use of his insightful posts and shooting drill library at Pistol-Training.com. I truly wish I could have taken a class from him. Massad Ayoob has posted a nice tribute to Todd on his blog.

My best score to date on this exercise is 49/50. We decided to use the SA/DA version of the drill for this run. Unfortunately I didn’t come close to my record on this outing, scoring just 42/50. I reminded myself that even a miss on this drill is well within a center zone hit on a practical pistol target. After lamenting my score, and promising myself I’d try again real soon, we spent another fun hour shooting.

Despite the sun shining bright, we did have to deal with strong wind gusts which frequently blew over our target stands. A few rocks gathered from the berm edges were only mildly effective in stabilizing the targets. The ground here is too hard to make easy use of stakes, so I think I’ll need to look into fixing up some sand bags before the winds of Spring start coming into play. It was fun afternoon spent with Colleen and “Checkered Flag.” Even if Dot Torture is appropriately named, any day at the range…

The Spring Equinox is Sunday, March 20, 2016 at 12:30 AM EDT local time.So what’s all this talk about a Nor’easter?
[ This content originated at Musings Over a Pint ]

St. Patrick is our parish’s patron Saint, so w’ll take a bit of a reprieve from our Lenten penances. We’ll be enjoying some “traditional” Irish-American food and drink with other Catholic friends this evening. There will be no green beer (that would be a sin, not a penance), but we’ll surely see this delicious Bread and Butter Pudding with Hot Whiskey Sauce among other treats.

Bishop Patrick in our parish window

However you mark the day, be safe, be joyful, be Irish.

Croagh Patrick, County Mayo, Ireland