All were present for the first meeting of the year ’02. Heidi arrived late due to an out-of-town weekend, but we got her caught up quickly, so no ratings were skewed. She also caught us up on her latest "stories" – I’ll go no further, y’all have good enough memories on that. We all wore Mardi Gras beads, as the event is just around the corner.

We had a West coast-East coast sampling of beers. My sister Jean brought me some Lightening Boy Brewery beer, straight from Montana. The sample was the Sidewinder, a pilsner, which got good ratings. Thanks Jean! We also had literature (provided some months ago from Jan) about the LB Brewing Co. The ancestor of the brewery was literally struck by lightening! A great story to go with a great beer.

Then the rest of club was spent sampling a variety from the Smuttynose Brewing Co. out of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The beer was compliments of my sister Joan, who brought it all the way back from NH this Christmas – just for us!! Thanks Joan! We’d love to have you to club next time you’re in town. It was an enjoyable sampling – and we ended up having a wonderfully, "smutty" beer club. We also had literature about the Smuttynose Brewing Co., again thanks to Jan who has been passing along newsletters, this one called World Beer Directions.

There was much discussion about the upcoming Sixth Annual Real Ale Festival at Goose Island Wrigleyville in Chicago. We have some details to iron out, but it seems to be a "go" for all. We decided the train was the best way to travel, Joan will check out schedules, fares, etc. We will try to leave early afternoon on Friday. We will need to stay at a hotel downtown – Lisa will investigate that. Rhonda emailed that we should contact Andrea, who lives in nearby Oak Park. She may want to join us. I will take care of that. When Jan asked what she should do, Joan instructed her to bring the Bloody Marys. Look out Amtrack – here we come! More details to be discussed at the next meeting. This looks to be a great way to celebrate our five-year anniversary.

Next meeting – February 9, 2002, Saturday, at 7pm

Be there "orst" be square!

Beer fact – Goose Island Beer Company, which began as a brewpub in 1988 on Chicago’s near northwest side, swiftly expanded to become a major regional brewer. Today its brewpubs at 1800 North Clybourn and 3535 N. Clark St. offer an unusually wide variety of beer styles that complement a sophisticated menu.