A couple weeks ago beer from the kegerator was pouring extra foamy and a bit warm & flat. So I checked the thermostat and the CO2 and the heft of the keg and then drank it anyway. ---denial--- The next day I poured one for my old lady and it was the same tepid foamy flat froth. She was a bit more skeptical. I wanted to drink it anyway, but it sucked.
I checked on the kegerator again and it was humming a weak sound but nowhere near cold, barely hanging on. Not a beer issue but a refrigeration issue. Georgetown prints it at the top of their cans “please refrigerate. warm beer sucks” and returning a keg that's half-full of warm beer, really sucks.
It was like a beloved family pet, a trusty companion, always there to greet me at the door. After 12 years, it’s hard to let go. They say the first stage in the grieving process is denial. I'd agree with that as I’m moving through the stages and processing it all.
The first couple years were all Elysian. Pony kegs schlepped on a bike trailer just up a hill to the CD. Full kegs from friend’s cars. Then Junior was born. Then the cargo bike arrived to schlepp more pony kegs. Then my old lady got canned at the Elysian and we started buying Georgetown kegs. Then Junior Junior was born. Then we moved to a new house. Then I woke up and 12 years had gone by.
The first sticker stuck was a DrunkCyclist “there will be beer”. Scratch back through the sticker stratigraphy and you might see one you gave me.
Perhaps I jinxed it on my most recent birthday talking about how great it’s been pouring beers from a tap instead of a can or bottle and how it’s paid for itself several times over, over the years.
A simple estimate says more than 144 kegs poured through that tap. If you’re reading this, there’s a very good chance you pulled a pint or two out of old faithful.
My personal price index will remind you that retail pints (even in Idaho) are now pouring at $7, tall cans are $5 and a cup of lousy fucking drip coffee is $3. So a $120 keg holding 120 pints of good beer is a great investment in a quality of life issue.
It’s taken me a couple weeks to process but now I’m ready to purchase old faithful 2.0 and continue the journey with a new companion to start sticking some new stickers.
Would you like a beer?
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