This week was actually so good, you guys. I can’t remember the last time I was able to say that. I’m still on a really weird emotional high after seeing Seventeen – in a good way, mostly, but I have also been sporadically crying so fat, hot tears because of Drew and it’s OK though. I know that now, that this is part of the process, I’m healing and sometimes scabs are pulled off too early and we have a little set back, right? SHOULD I BE A THERAPIST. SHOULD I WRITE AN ADVICE COLUMN. SHOULD I START NEEDLEPOINTING MY DUMB SAYINGS ON PILLOWS.

Anyway, here are five things that I want to remember from this week / life lately.

1. Henry’s Haunted Basement

When we were just getting into Chicago on Tuesday, we saw a big billboard for a haunted attraction called the Haunted Basement.

“I wonder where that is,” Henry murmured.

“UP YOUR BUTT,” I blurted, the violence of the words shooting out of my mouth somehow not knocking out any teeth.

Henry frowned deeply while I was fisting the air in victory. I love it when my answer-to-everything lands!

I posted this on Instagram AND ***SURPRISINGLY*** NO ONE SIGNED UP FOR MY MASTER CLASS IN COMEBACKS.

2. SEVENTEEN SWAG

I got so much stuff this time because we got there extra early to get in the early mech line (all for naught because everything was sold out before we even got to the front). The weird thing though is that everyone always passes me up and I have to follow them and ask pathetically, “Can I have one too?” IT IS NOT MY AGE OK because trust me – there are tons of broads at these shows that are grandmas. I don’t know what it is about me?? Is my RBF that bad?! Is it because Henry is standing next to me, glowering?!

Anyway, I was happy because I got some Seungkwan stuff :)

Also, I had to swap out my Dreamie pocas for SVT ones beforehand and I put Minghao in the window in honor of Bambi :/

And my SVT credit card was on the other side lol. I’m 16. It was especially peak when I paid for my Bambi SVT tattoo with it lol.

3. My Jerk Son

Just gonna leave this here.

I mean where’s the lie though honestly.

4. Late to the Game, or Early to the New Wave???

My Belgian beer obsession is going strong. Why am I like this? I can’t ever just moderately like things like normal people, I have to be so fanatical and obnoxious. OH WELL THAT’S WHY YOU LOVE ME.

I was lamenting the other night that this one restaurant we used to go to occasionally isn’t around anymore. It was called Sharp Edge and specialized in Belgian beers. There were a few locations but we always went to the CREEK HOUSE (Kristen if you’re reading this, it’s where we went when you and Matt were in town when Chooch was a baby!). I 100% wasn’t drinking beer when we went there, but I went for the ambiance, the vibes, the LAMBIC which I now know actually is beer and I never knew that.

Inspired to find out why they closed all locations, I googled and wound up on a Reddit page about it where 9 out of 10 comments said it was because no one cares about Belgian beer anymore LOLOLOL this is the story of my life! Always late to the game!

THAT’S FINE. Maybe there will be a revival and I can say that it was because of me.

Today at work Megan was telling me about a pumpkin beer she recently had and OK MEGAN BUT I DON’T DRINK PUMPKIN BEER ANYMORE THAT’S FOR BABIES! It’s Belgian or GTFO, OK?! #NOTLIKEOTHERGIRLS

Here is a picture of Baby’s Fourth Delirium! Still #1 in my heart. I like designer beer, don’t forget it. (A hostess gift to consider for future parties I may be hosting.)

We went to a bottle shop tonight and they did not HAVE ANYTHING BELGIAN and I walked out of there like a fucking snob, I’m not even kidding you, and then I shouted in the parking lot, “IT’S NOT MY FAULT THAT I DON’T LIKE ANYTHING AMERICAN THIS COUNTRY IS DUMB!”

Hello, welcome to the Beer Snob Erin era.

(I will tell you that I have also enjoyed every beer of Henry’s that I sipped while in Korea but it is harder to obtain that shit here in Pgh. Don’t worry, we acquired some in Chicago but I’m saving it for Chingumas the Sequel!)

5. Collegiate Chooch Being Involved

Chooch sent me this story from the Drexel Honors College Instagram and said, “YOU’RE WELCOME” because he knew I never would have seen it otherwise.

I just love seeing him thrive and participating in college things! I miss him lots but seeing stuff like this makes it all worth it.

He’s not even going to know who I am when he comes home for Thanksgiving and I’m walking around with a chalice of Trappist beer.

I was really thinking about my beer journey over the weekend and I truly think that the reason it took me so long to develop a taste for it is because I didn’t go to college (well, in the conventional sense) so when my friends were at frat parties, pinching their noses and choking back Solo cups of Bud Lite until one day they didn’t have to hold their noses anymore, I was living a cozy lady-of-leisure life in my apartment at age 18, making my mom buy my cases of wine coolers and other fruity sparkly fancy things for my classy house parties.

(LOL classy. Mm.)

I didn’t need to learn to like the taste of cheap beer because I had a mom who was buying me cases of those cute little Spumanti thingies.

And then when I was 21 and going to bars, I was naturally gravitating toward mixed drinks and—Lord help me, my waistline, and my teeth—Smirnoff Ice.

Then as I got even older, it was wine and cider. I didn’t care about beer until dicks worldwide were being Q-tipped over PUMPKIN BEERS. I tried so har but every single one just had that jolting BEER taste that I couldn’t stand.

I don’t know what exactly the pivotal point was for me, maybe it was taking baby steps through the dessert / milky beers, but I am suddenly OK WITH THE BEER TASTE ON MY TONGUE. Yes, there are still some where I’m like, “This was fine but I never want to drink it again.” But after I had that Delirium and the Duchesse Red last weekend, I was like, “IS IT BELGIAN BEER, THEN???” Disclaimer, both of those beers I had were very sweet and fruity, lambic-esque varieties. So Henry was skeptical.

Then I watched a YouTube video of this couple drinking a variety of Belgian beer and they were like DISGUSTED and spitting out a lot of them, including the OG Delirium which I had been excited to try prior to watching this video. Now I was SHOOK. This couple seemed like they were beer people and they were like legit gagging and saying horrible things about the beers from my second homeland (speaking of my first homeland, Korea – I liked every local beer I tried in Korea, just putting that out there).

Anyway, we stopped at Duffy’s on Saturday and I was like a fucking kid in a candy store. (OMG am I an alcoholic now….no. No, this is still hobby-levels. Don’t worry.) I snatched up the OG Delirium, and also a fun pink-canned one called Deliria. I also had Trappist beers on the brain, so I grabbed one of those too.

Yo, I was was scared to try this after watching that video BUT OK! OK HELLO! I SEE YOU, TREMENS! This was AMAZING. Like, I actually clapped my hand over my mouth after it hit the back of my tongue and Henry looked VERY CONCERNED, time stood still, like he was waiting for me to spit it back out like a fountain fish.

But shoooooo — this was so good. Like, I can’t even explain it. It had a crazy bite to it but it was also SO REFRESHING!?

“THIS IS MY STYLE!” I cried, and Henry unclenched and exhaled.

YES. YES YES YES YES. I am at “PUT THEIR NEON SIGN ON MY WALLS” levels of Delirum obsession. I can’t wait to try the other ones and the CHRISTMAS ONE TOO!!!

I NEED THE SPECIAL DELIRIUM GLASS!!!!

And obviously I can’t consider myself a Belgian girlie if I don’t like TRAPPIST BEER so I tried a bit of this one after work and OH HO HO HO HO HO, I”m just your regular monk groupie, over here. This was so good! Not Delirum-good, but I genuinely liked it!! I don’t even know who I am anymore?!

I was watching a video about this beer while I was drinking it and they said it smells like bananas AND IT DOES. I never can taste/smell the “notes” that people claim to be in wine. But it’s easier with beer.

I guess.

I don’t think Henry believes me.

Honorable non-Belgian mentions:

This was OK!

This was OK! (Henry hated it though. I think my palate is clearly just more masculine than his.)

Oh holy shit, what even was this? It did NOT taste like beer, it was liquid dessert. I loved it. 10/10 would recommend but too bad it’s not Belgian.

(I loved the foam! I actually love all beer foam and it makes Henry mad because I “don’t pour the beer right” on purpose because I want the foam to happen. Anyway, this beer had REALLY dense and sweet foam and I was scooping it up with my fingers. Now I want to try their Rainbow Sherbet one!!!)

OK, off to learn Flemish and add Trappist beers to my Untapped wishlist. I’m not like other girls.

L-O-L.

(But no srsly if you ever need a hostess gift for me – Belgian beer, babe. Bring it.)

We had plans to go to Castle Blood with my sister Amy and bro-in-law Dick on Friday and I was so stoked. I love it when people are down for haunted houses! I mean, I’m glad that Henry will go with me, but it is so much more fun when we have a group. Amy suggested hitting up a brewery first and I was game because the ERIN IS LEARNING TO LIKE BEER est. 2011 era is in full swing.

There wasn’t anything aside from dive-looking bars (which are fine!) around Castle Blood, but I did end up finding a place around 25 minutes from there called Scenery Hill Brewing. Their web presence is pretty limited so we couldn’t even really tell what they had to offer, but the building it’s in seemed old and historical, which we like. Approved.

Well, turns out we were there during some Witch and Wizard event thing and the place was decorated AMAZINGLY. I don’t know what this joint typically looks like inside, but check this bitch out:

Amy and Dick were already there roaming about when we arrived and I had to laugh because Dick had the prettiest creamy pink drink in his hand and it looked like…not his style, lol. Apparently, he had ordered some blood orange beer but the bartender thought he ordered the “blood moon” cocktail, which I guess was the signature drink for the event, lol. He said it was good though! It LOOKED good. But I had to psychically slap my face and remind myself that BEER. We are here for BEER.

I ordered a PRINCE LUDWIG, whatever that means, because the very nice and patient bartender let me try it first. I tried it and I liked it! Henry looked doubtful when it was served to me in a big glass, but I took it away with confidence and then found us the best table in the whole place, in a corner and surrounded by all those creeptastic portraits.

PRINCE LUDWIG.

I forgot that in 2011 when I first started what everyone assumed was a futile venture into the world of liking beer, I had started an account on Untapped. I remembered this the other night and have frantically been trying to recall every single beer I have had since 2011, lol. Amy is also on Untapped so now I have a friend!

You guys, I truly liked this beer. I ordered it because LUDWIG sounded Maybe-Belgian, who knows. But this was the SCENERY HILL FESTBIER, whatever that means. I found it to be easy to drink, it made me pull zero faces, and it didn’t have a weird aftertaste.

The only downside, and this was a minimal complaint, is that this is one of those places with no kitchen, just whatever food truck rolls up that day. And on this day, it was some Italian truck with ONLY TWO MEATLESS OPTIONS: Fries and mozzarella sticks. Wow, thanks guys.

I got the mozzarella sticks and they were fine, but not satisfying and I was still very hungry.  I’m pretty sure they were just from a grocery store freezer section and dunked into the fryer. And there were only five of them, the size of a small thumb. I was quietly whining about this to Henry off and on all night.

Quietly.

“Quietly.”

LOL.

Ignoring my whines.

Then I got a flight – just a flight of three because Henry wasn’t going to be able to help me drink much since he was driving and no way could I drink 5 all myself. Anyway, this was a major moment for me because JUICETASTIC is an IPA and Henry is always like YOU WILL NOT LIKE THAT BECAUSE I DO NOT LIKE THAT but guess what, Hater Henry?  I sincerely liked it! I was shocked! Baby’s first IPA!!

I also learned that “MARZEN” is a type of beer. This one was OCTOBERFIESTA. I really liked it. I guess OKTOBERFEST drinks are my style!

And then also the SERENDIPITY which is a pale ale, whatever that means. Also very inoffensive to the palate! Gentle on the taste buds!

I really like hanging out with Amy and Dick! We always have so much to talk about and it’s such easy and comfortable. Which is what I need more of in life!

Bathroom selfie!

This place was so cool. There was a witch scavenger hunt going on too so every so often, people in witch gowns would come near our table and loom over us but it never seemed like anyone found anything on their paper over in our corner.

I loved this place so much. The staff was great, the atmosphere was haunted, and the drinks were pleasing! We plan on going back, especially in summer because we saw a spacious patio area, but hopefully the food truck game is stronger next time because this bitch needs to EAT.

I don’t why I have spent so much of my life caring about my beer-averse palate, but it has been something of a challenge for me over the last, god, 2 decades at least. I guess it really started once pumpkin beers became the big craze. I wanted to like them, I wanted to be able to join in when my friends would give each other recs. Kind of dumb, because I genuinely don’t even care about drinking any type of alcohol in general.

I kind of gave up on this palate-training expedition, until Henry and I went to a bottle shop last year because it was autumn and lo, I was on that pumpkin hunt again. While there, I stumbled upon a PB&J beer from a local brewery called Hitchhiker. I also liked that the can was tall and cool-looking. Henry was like YOU WILL NOT LIKE THIS but I think really he just did not want to get it because it was “expensive.”

Long story short, I loved it and declared it my favorite beer (I mean, short list there) of all time.

“YEAH THAT’S BECAUSE IT HAS MILK AND SUGAR IN IT. IT IS LITERALLY A DESSERT BEER,” Henry sighed because he is always on standby to suck the joy out of life. I mean, we all called him Hoover in the LiveJournal days for a reason, didn’t we guys??

This has started a trend where, every so often, Henry will go to Hitchhiker, or Giant Eagle, and buy a 4-pack of whatever sweet and fruity flavor is on rotation. And then after we split one, the rest will sit in the fridge for weeks upon weeks until I am ready to have another one. LOL. I go through phases.

ANYWAY. I have not really ventured into “other” Hitchhiker varieties (I am terrified of IPAs because they literally taste like asparagus piss to me and this seems to be their bread and butter) but they recently released a pumpkin beer and I made Henry pick it up for me. (I am not the biggest fan of actually going to breweries because I get very fidgety and prefer drinking at home if at all, though I will go with my sister!)

I don’t have a picture of it because I actually did drink all of them over the span of 2 weeks! I really liked it and was surprised because it was way less sweet and more “beer”y than the ones I tend to gravitate to. So this opened up my pumpkin beer challenge again.

I’ve had these ones recently and actually like them all!

1. Cinderlands Star Crumb
2. BG Brewing Pumpkin Slap
3. North Country Brewing Late Night Pumpkin (my fave out of this collection)
4. Ellicottville Pumpkinville Latte

I learned several years ago that I sort of like sour beers.

Thanks, Lisa lol.

We also have this babe leftover in the fridge from a recent Hitchhiker run, and a raspberry with coffee one too that was actually MAYBE my new fave Hitchhiker??

Then! At a haunted house on Friday, a local place called Helltown had a little beery hut set up and I was like, “LET’S JUST SPLIT ONE” because I get stupid real fast. Henry said I wouldn’t like any of the options they had but I was like LET ME BE THE JUDGE, I WILL HAVE A CAN OF YOUR FINEST OKTOBERFEST, MISS and the lady was like “Great.”

(This was after she asked me if I had heard of them and I said yes, which is the truth because last Sunday when we were driving some insane backway home from the haunted house in West Virginia, and before Stephanie Time, we drove past one of their locations in Washington County. Then the lady proceeded to still tell me all about the brewery while also trying to get me to add a KOOZIE to my purchase and look, I am not at KOOZIE-lcvels of beer imbibing yet. Or ever.)

I took one sip and screamed I LIKE THIS, I ACTUALLY LIKE THIS and Henry just smirked at me and was like, “It’s OK.” And then I proceeded to drink most of it and have one of the best times at a haunted house.

Which….now makes me sound like an alcoholic.

Anyway, I was inspired after this and Henry suggested going to Duffy’s to see what their pumpkin selection was like, but you guys, I felt ready to branch out now that my lie about liking Oktoberfest beers was actually fact-checked and proven to be TRUTH.

We did the build your own 6 pack thing and I was excited to try this one last night. It was just OK. I drank my half but never want to drink it again, probably.

Then later that night, Henry and I split this one and I genuinely liked it!

Um, but hold the phone. I have an announcement to make.

MOVE OVER HITCHHIKER, DELIRIUM IS MY NEW #1.

I barely let Henry share this with me. I was screaming, that’s how excited I was over this.

“DO I LIKE BELGIAN ALE NOW??” I yelled, shaking Henry by the shoulders and then putting on YouTube videos about the Delirium brewery. “OMG ARE WE GOING TO BELGIUM??”

I could tell Henry was about to ask if I genuinely thought liking one can of beer warranted a trip to another country but then he remembered who he married.

I was almost to the point last night where I wanted to buy stock in Delirium, or at the very least, put their neon sign in my house.

And then tonight I tried the other “accidental” Belgian beer that I got just because I liked the Bathory-esque portrait on the can.

Yeah, I’m Belgian now. (This was actually a bit too sweet for me though if you can even believe that I’m saying that!)

Anyway, now that I think about this, it does make sense because we used to go to this restaurant occasionally called SHARP EDGE (RIP, babe) and it was basically known for its huge selection of beers. I always went for the vibes and food, but since everyone I went with was inevitably ordering beer with their food, I would always default to the Lambics. I didn’t even realize it was actually beer because it was so sweet and fruity (I usually gravitated toward the framboise variety).

I created a new category on here so that I can post pictures along my beer journey to remember what I’ve tried and what I thought. For instance, last year we bought a 4-pack of some kind of pancake-flavored beer and it was fucking disgusting. We still have cans in the fridge. I need to remember to never fall into that syrupy trap again.

Henry sadly pointed out that so far, all of the beers I have truly liked have been expensive craft beers and/or imports. I can’t help it. I’m fancy.