Some of you might remember my post from December last year on my dad's "Rootbeer Beer."
Well, June 2nd was my dad's 50th birthday and he threw a huge party that night for a ton of friends, business colleagues, neighbors, and family. I decided to make an appearance and see some of the old friends and family members I haven't seen in a while and of course to wish my dad a happy birthday and all.
At the party, my dad offered to let me take home a bottle of his home-made rootbeer. He and my brother Jared had brewed it up fresh... just 10 days before. Of course... we are talking about the yeast-carbonated mixture that happens to have a wee bit of rootbeer extract in it. And I guess my dad has been brewing more than just beer (I mean rootbeer) because when I was a teenager, I found this book that has all sorts of different brewing recipes in it. Gingerale is probably the most tame and widely known beverage recipe contained in that book. I vaguely remember getting this book for my dad one summer. I want to say I found it at a festival or something... you know those 4th of July and 24th of July things they do in the park or in front of the court house or something... I think I found it at one of those little stands and picked it up. My dad went on and on at his birthday party how that book was the BEST PRESENT he's EVER received, etc. etc.
So when the evening was over, I took home my little 12 oz. bottle of rootbeer that had been bottled up in an 80's style glass Sprite bottle. I thought my husband would of course want to taste the beverage of choice from my childhood, seeing as how my dad's homemade rootbeer has such sentimental value to me, being involved in a lot of my fond childhood memories. Casey REFUSED to even TASTE it! "I've never drank alcohol and I don't intend to start now!" I tried to reason with him. Come on... my dad wouldn't knowingly feed his elementary school kids ALCOHOL! It's just a joke we make about my dad making his own brews, etc. etc. Casey could not be reasoned with. M'kay then. 'Guess I'll have to enjoy this all by myself. *Pop Hiss* and immediately Casey said, "WHOA! That IS alcohol!"
*Blank look staring up at Casey* "Are you serious?" *taking another swig of "rootbeer"* "Jen, I don't know how you can't smell the alcohol in that..."
"Well... I guess if that's what alcohol smells like, yeah, I can smell it, but if you recall... we got married when I was 20 years old and you don't drink alcohol so it's not like I've had many opportunities since I've been old enough to legally drink to actually hang out at a bar and actually figure out what alcohol smells like..."
Casey couldn't believe that I finished drinking it. He says he could smell the alcohol on my breath for hours after I drank my dad's brew. Casey wouldn't let me drive any more that night either. Not like I just drank a 2-liter of it or something. Though... you'd have to wonder just how alcoholic my dad's rootbeer actually is. Casey can't wait to give my dad a hard time about giving his daughter alcohol, though that little conversation is probably a long time in coming since Casey and I spend as much time away from my family as possible.
Oh well. I knowingly consumed my dad's alcoholic rootbeer. It was good though!!! I could seriously pick up a bad drinking problem if I wasn't careful here. Raised on alcoholic rootbeer, accustomed to the taste, lovin' every minute of it. Ahhhhh... *lounging on the couch with pants unbuttoned* That rootbeer beer sure is good though.
