Yah girl got old man. I don’t know how this happened or when it happened but fuck man, I. Got. Old. And to celebrate the dawning of my 28th trip around this celestial monolith we call the Sun, I took a nap! I also drank beer. So, don’t worry about turning 27 changing me to my core. I’m still the same girl. A girl who likes to take naps and also drink beer. And who forgets to eat dinner, which is also what happened to me on this particular night. I did come home, have another beer and eat a block of bleu cheese as a “nightcap” so… Okay, I think this is just who I am at this point.

Anyways, I went to SomePlace Else Brewing in Arvada. A suburb of the city I had never been before. My first note on the entire city of Arvada is that man it was dark. There were no streetlights. I could see stars? It was wild. It was also very hard to find this brewery because it’s in a 1970s looking office park that is not lit. At all. Off a weird rural access road that is also… not lit. It was so very dark. I was on the phone with Nicole the whole time just letting her know how dark it was. So dark. The darkness, it was consuming.

But I found the brewery! I’m persistent, as we all know. I stroll in, there’s like two people playing skeeball and then through a small corridor was the actual bar situation where the bartender (owner?) was sitting and chitchatting at the table with someone about whatever whatever. I don’t think it matters to the story. But when he saw me, he hopped into action and became the nicest man possible to lead me on my journey of beer.

Now, here’s the plot twist of this entire endeavor, but one that I can assure you did not set any kind of new precedent. I took notes? I mean, I took notes! Like the good old days when I thought there might be a chance of me being a Good Blogger™.

So, the first beer I had was the Hazy 2020 NEIPA.

Oh my fucking God y’all. While I was looking at my notes, my hand slipped because I was holding my phone weird because it’s charging and I accidentally deleted the whole note. I cannot make this dumb shit up. Oh. My. God. I’m going to try to just remember what I’ve read before the deletion.

I also had the Spock’s Brain, which I remember really liking. I also think I got told that that is their most popular IPA on tap. Maybe?

I also had an apricot kolsch, maybe? Maybe I liked it? I don’t know because I deleted the whole fckn note.

But, there is something important and special about this brewery and the reason why I schlepped all tf way up to Arvada just to drink beer although it’s on the Northwest side of the city and I live in Southeast Denver and it’s because. They have. Pinball machines! And we all now that yah girl. Loves her. Some pinball!

The downside, though, is that I forgot my five dollars in cash I had set aside for some pinballin’ and only had one singular dollar I could use to play. But I still got some good ‘balls in. The most notable thing about their pinball machines is that they’re all classic cabinets. Old timey games that still make you work for it. Also, and this was the biggest deal to me, they had a machine that I was extremely familiar with because it was the same machine my grandpa used to have in his basement growing up.  I had never seen that machine in the wild, and now, here I was, reliving my youth! On my 27th birthday! Drinking beer! Playing with balls*! Could it get any better?

I mean, probably. I could’ve spent my birthday with friends or family. Someone else could’ve bought me my beer. I could’ve met Tommy of the musical Tommy. Someone could’ve called me the pinball wizard. But alas, none of that happened. But I still had a good birthday and a good time at this brewery.

*Pinballs