Nobody wants to know that they only have limited time left on earth. If you did somehow find out that your time here was drawing to a close, though, I’d bet you would have some strong opinions on how you wanted to spend your final days. Maybe you’d want to take a cross-country road trip, go skydiving, or perhaps take up rocky mountain climbing. Of course, if I got the chance to live like I was dying, I’d do it at a brewery. Three breweries, to be exact. Find out which ones are my picks below or leave your own ideas in the comments.
Mikkeller San Diego
Mikkeller 19 is the most perfect beer I’ve ever had in my life. True story: after I first tried it, I went to the Crown Liquors downtown and shelled out a decent chunk of change for enough bottles to last me the next decade or so, if I only drank two a year. I carefully hid the box of beer in the closet of the house I shared with some roommates, one of whom I was dating at the time. You see where this is going. We broke up, I went back a while later for my stuff, and lo and behold, the Mikkeller was missing. What?! Turns out my ex had quaffed it all in the name of closure. I can’t be mad, though – he’s a good dude who gave me some of his home brew to make up for it. I just really wish I could taste that beer one more time.
Jolly Pumpkin
Jolly Pumpkin is the nice sedate brewery where I would go with those nearest and dearest to me to pass my final days in a drunken stupor. Everyone I love the most in this world is obsessed with beers of the sour/wild persuasion. My husband adores them, my good friend Heather is the first person I ever knew who would touch them, and one of my favorite bartenders in Indianapolis is also a big fan. Nobody does sour beers better than Jolly Pumpkin, and if I’m going out I want the ones I love to be happy with the libations.
For someone who wasn’t too thrilled with the saison/farmhouse style when she started drinking beer, I have really come around to Jolly Pumpkin’s Bam Biere, to the point where I would probably be content living out my days on a rocking chair with a glass of this brew in my hand. Their Traverse City location, which is located right on the water, would be a perfect place to eat, drink, and be merry before I meet my maker.
Rogue Ales
To be fair, part of the appeal of visiting Rogue in Portland is the fact that it’s in Portland. Rogue’s Public House is in the middle of the Portland Brewing district, which means that if you can’t decide which of the 38 taps to choose from you can always amble down the road and try again. However, with classics like New Crustacean, a hoppy barleywine-ish brew, and their completely off the wall Voodoo Doughnut Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Banana Ale, why in the world would you ever need to leave?
These guys also boast a pretty comprehensive menu, so it would be easy enough to eat, drink, rinse and repeat until the EMTs had to wheel you out on a stretcher. Just make sure they put another drink in that IV bag for the road.
