An Unfortunate Event with a Beer has a Happy Ending

Darwin Brewing Co, Summadayze FL West Coast IPA

I should know better.  My excuse is that I was in a hurry and I didn’t give the beer a second thought as I put it in the trunk of the Flying Carpet, my metallic blue Mazda MX-5.  It was a lovely day for driving with the top down, hardly a cloud in the sky, temperatures in the mid 70’s with a breeze blowing from the north keeping the humidity down.

I was out running errands and had just visited Lowe’s to buy squirrel repellent, an electrical outlet and a bag of thistle seed bird food when I recalled ABC Fine Wine and Spirits was served by the same parking lot.  I knew ABC had a great selection of Florida beers, so I drove across the parking lot to their store and bought a six pack of Darwin Brewing Co. Summadayze IPA and placed it in the trunk.  A new Florida beer for me to try.

So far so good.  I continued my errands and spent 30 minutes or so at the Latino Market buying Colombian groceries for the lunch Patricia’s aunt was preparing, then a short stop at the Bank of America drive through ATM to get some cash before heading for home.  Driving out of the bank parking lot I heard a loud pop behind me, sounded like a back-fire from someone’s car.  I knew it wasn’t me and there were no other vehicles around so I promptly forgot about it, turned onto SH92, accelerated to the traffic lights and turned north on Parsons.  The air smelt clean and fresh, the sun shone brightly overhead and the wind blew across the windscreen keeping me cool.  Life is good.

Twenty minutes later I pulled into the driveway, opened the garage door, backed the car into the garage, closed the garage door and opened the trunk to take out the groceries. I then discovered where the popping sound had come from.  The heat had caused the beer in the cans to expand and one of the cans had popped its top.  Fortunately it was only one.  But that can had opened with enough force to unlock the can from the six-pack carrier, one of those new designs of carrier that is made of hard plastic so it won’t harm dolphins if disposed of improperly.

Darwin Brewing Summadayze IPA can
opened by heat expanding the beer

The picture shows the opened can on the edge of the trunk.  The can stayed upright during the journey and only a small amount of beer was spilled, so I was able to drink the beer, and even though it was warm I enjoyed it a lot.  Be assured though, that my review of the beer is not based on just this one warm beer, I had another somewhat colder can later in the day.

The beer is brewed by Darwin Brewing Co who - the web site says – “brews chef-inspired, culinary-centric, well-balanced ales and lagers evolved from the flavors of Florida and Latin America. Our beers are designed to complement cuisine and have the depth to stand on their own.”  And “brews artisan ales and lagers influenced by the flavors and spices of South America’s Andean and Amazonian Regions.” (http://www.darwinbrewingco.com/)

The can says of Summadayze IPA “Citrus, pineapple and grapefruit shine through Summadayze, a West Coast IPA long on flavor and surprisingly short on bitterness.  Crisp and refreshing, yet complementary to warm weather flavors, enjoy Summadayze on the beach or with a meal in the shade.  Pair with spicy foods, ceviches, salty or fried foods, curries, burger and steaks.” (or pretty much anything except fish as a main course.) The web site recommends pairing it with Lomo Saltado (Peruvian tenderloin stir fry) which I think is an excellent recommendation. The can also says the beer is 6% ABV, a fairly strong brew for a day at the beach.

I enjoyed this beer a lot.  It had the nice flavor of a well-balanced beer where the three hops and the malt from three grains worked well with each other to produce a easy to drink beer with a hint of bitterness to remind you it’s an IPA. 

This beer is definitely on my buy-again list.