A Great Reward for a Job Well Done

Big Top Brewing – Trapeze Monk Belgian Style Wit Ale.

It took two Saturdays, a redesign and three trips to Lowes to buy more concrete blocks, to complete construction of our fire-pit in the Oasis – our patch of garden the other side of the pond that houses the tool shed and is the future site of our gazebo. 

Big Top Brewing Trapeze Monk Ale on Fire-Pit phase 1

On Saturday a week ago, I dug out a hole in an embankment in the Oasis and carefully laid 10 concrete blocks bought from Lowes and an 11th block I’d found behind the shed. Then we lit a fire to burn some of the big pile of tree limbs and branches that could not be composted.  The pile had accumulated from our first 8 months of work around El Paraiso, and included lots of trimmed shrubbery and branches less than an inch in diameter.  The biggest branches were the dead fronds that occasionally fall from the palm trees in the front yard as the trees continue to grow and produce new leaves, so I chopped these into more manageable pieces.

The pit was a great success and we burnt perhaps a tenth of the wood pile before we sat on a couple of logs overlooking the pond and congratulated ourselves on a job well done.  To celebrate we tried a new, to us, Florida beer from Big Top Brewing in Sarasota, FL.  The Belgian Style Wit Ale, called Trapeze Monk, was just what the doctor ordered, tasty and thirst quenching.

We drank a little more and then got to thinking “what if?” when we looked at the pile of tree limbs and wood debris that hardly seemed touched.  My wife, an engineer who is much smarter (and prettier) than I then said “What if we add another layer of concrete blocks?” We now had a new plan.  We would be back next Saturday to build the walls of the pit higher.

Big Top Brewing Trapeze Monk Ale
on Fire-Pit phase 2

Big Top Brewing Trapeze Monk Ale can.

So yesterday, working together, we finished the project.

The front is now three blocks high and the sides and back are the equivalent of 5 blocks high.  The bottom row of blocks are placed on their sides so air can pass through them to provide oxygen to the fire.

The neighbors with whom we share the pond were having a birthday party for one of their children so we decided not to test the fire-pit, which is why there are no flames in yesterday’s pictures.  Big Top Brewing Trapeze Monk had helped us celebrate the first phase of construction so we used the same beer to celebrate the end of the second phase.  The beer is a delight to drink when you are tired, hot and sweaty.

The can says “Just like a trapeze artist uses precision timing and balance so does Big Top Brewing Company with our Belgian Style Wit Ale. Our Trapeze Monk skillfully blends the flavors of wheat, coriander and local citrus, resulting in a crisp and refreshing Withier.  Let every sip defy what you thought possible in beer.  Alc. 5.3%”

Trapeze Monk was the only Big Top beer I could find in our local Winn Dixie liquor store in Seffner. 

A look at their web site, www.bigtopbrewing.com, lists several other beers I’d like to try, so watch out for further reviews and stories about El Paraiso as I find the beers at bigger package stores.