If you are reading this, then you are one of the fortunate few to be invited to enjoy what promises to be an incredible night of beer drinking, food eating, and all around merry making. The card that you hold in your hand (Thanks Erica!) entitles you to a seat at the table along with 12 others who will be enjoying the Vertical Epic.
As you know, the Vertical Epic is a series of beers released from 2002 until 2012 meant to be aged then drunk as a flight together. You will be one of the lucky few to enjoy the full flight (although due to the rarity and expense, only investors will get to enjoy the 2002, of which only 400 cases were ever created).
So, what are the details? Well, that is still being worked out, but the first order of business is to pick a date. You will see on the right hand side of the blog are 2 choices for dates, the 15th of December and the 29th of December. Please pick a date that will work best for you; however, this is a democracy, so the date chosen by most will be the date of the Event.
Please also note that once you are in, you are in. It will be very difficult to replace you (for reasons that will become clearer as the year passes) and impossible to change the date, which is why you are getting notice a year in advance. Choose carefully, and then, when it is selected, mark the date off on your calendar. Don't schedule any bar mitzvahs or holiday parties or trips to Cancun.
So what will happen on this momentous date? Around 6 PM, everyone will arrive at our house in San Diego, at which time, the festivities will begin. The invitation is for you and a guest. There will be a 6 course dinner, with each course served after every two tastings working our way up through the 2012 vintage. We will start around 6 PM (with the first tasting at 7 PM) and, I expect, go very late into the evening.
Wait, did you say guests? Of course. Your invitation is for you, and you only, to enjoy the Vertical Epic Experience which will consist of a 4 oz tasting of each beer from 2003 through 2012 (unless you choose to share with your guest, which is entirely up to you). However, for your guests, there will be a full bar including many other rare and aged beers. Why doesn't everyone get to drink? Well, put quite simply, in deference to you Kent (bonus sample if you know that movie . . . ), the beer was hard to find and expensive to acquire. As such, it is a very limited supply, which is why YOU should feel special. You made the cut as someone who has a deep abiding passion for great beer, great food, and the meeting between the two. There are many friends and family members who are not invited for a seat at the table, not because they are j-holes (although that may be true), but more likely because they simply don't have the same appreciation for fine brewed beverages that you have shown. So please, if you are a guest on the site, don't feel bad. It isn't that you aren't loved. Its just that you don't love beer enough. There is still time to change for the 2024 vertical series . . .
So what should you do right now? Well, not much. If you can't come or don't want to come, let me know right away as there is a waiting list of people who will need to vote on the date that works for them. If you are coming, vote for the date that suits you the best and save it to your calendar. Make sure you sign up to get notification of when the blog updates so you are current as to times, plans, changes, and surprises that will be coming as the time approaches (It will be assumed that you are getting updates and are current on information, so don't follow at your own peril). Read up on the tasting notes. Give to charity. And get excited. It will be Epic . . .
