It is truly a gift when you are pleasantly surprised at the end of a long, hard day. Let me tell you a bit about my day yesterday. I woke up in Twin Falls, Idaho. I had traveled there on Tuesday for work, and had another day of meetings and plan development that lasted until 5 pm. I then needed to travel from Twin Falls to Grangeville, with a stop at the office in Boise to pick up materials for yet another meeting in Grangeville. So by the time I arrived here I was tired and it was about midnight by my internal clock, but local time was 11:00pm. All I wanted to do was go out on the balcony and have a cold brew and a good cigar. Problem was I didn’t have a cold brew. The IPA that I had brought along with me had gotten warm with all the traveling and I was pretty sure the mini fridge wasn’t up to the task of cooling the brew fast enough before I could no longer keep my eyes open.
So when I got here and saw this note I was again blown away! My buddy Lark from the Super 8 had placed a Centennial Pale Ale in the fridge, and it was plenty cold and ready for quaffing. Man did I need that, and I set out on the balcony and drank the brew and had a good, although interesting cigar (but that is for another blog) and felt that I truly have a friend in Grangeville. So how was the beer?….
This Centennial Pale Ale is brewed by the Coeur d’Alene brewing company from Coeur d’Alene Idaho. As you can see it poured a golden mahogany with about a one finger white head that dissipated quickly. It did leave a moderate amount of lacing on the glass.
The flavor of this brew was in a word quaffable. It isn’t challenging in any way, but it is simply a well crafted, very well balanced beer that is perfect for a summer barbecue or celebrating the 4th with a brat and some slaw.
It was malty up front with just a perfect amount of hops to balance this brew on the head of a pin! The piney aftertaste and medium body is just the right amount of flavor to make it perfect for food pairing.
Well I hope Lark has a great 4th and I’m sure this brew will help make her day a fun and relaxing one. Good beer is great, good friends are a treasure. Thanks Lark!
-Don
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
Great story! Sometimes the most mediocre of beers taste far better when the circumstances are just right. I know you guys have posted in the past about experiences and the correlation to a particular beer – this story will be another to add to the list for sure.
Like I said Rob, not too challenging, but nice. A good brew that is great in a cooler for summertime get togethers.
Looks like Don is collecting up enough material to write a book about drinking at motels. New York Times bestseller list here we come!