I’m going to go ahead a gloat for just a moment, if that’s permissible, because there are certain days in life that just can’t be allowed to seep into the vacuum of the unmemorable, attenuate into the mash of the unexceptional if you will (a Timmy original).

At the end of this day I feel like the epitome of this website’s namesake. Salt Lake saw another gorgeous 24 hours in the Wasatch mountains and I spent myself in the thick of their glory on a new set of cross-country skis. I arrived home to find an e-mail reply letting me know that the CO2 tank I’ve been looking at is ready to be picked up tonight at a fraction of the typical cost (thanks Matt) and a week from Friday we will be having a celebratory bash in honor of my first homebrewed draught beer. I also received news that my girlfriend and I might be visiting Lake Tahoe this weekend and have been provided with free ski passes and a discounted cabin for the entire weekend (thanks Lindsay). Her outward expression of inner joy – so to speak – is also quite mentionable. When the day’s work was done I reached into the fridge and purged it of one brown 12 oz. sporting an image of cartoon drunkery and an extraneous “Q”.

This was my first time trying PranQster, a Belgian style golden ale from North Coast Brewing Co., after noticing it for a few years in several different liquor stores. Admittedly it always seemed like it was going to be just another of the many examples of golden ales which I, for some reason, stereotyped as the “plain” Belgian style. Just goes to show the extent of my ignorance. If anyone has had a solid example of a true Belgian golden you know that I should be dubbed a douchebag for thinking such ridiculousness. The color is standard, cloudy golden delight. Smells like a trough in a Belgian petting zoo filled with half-eaten fruit (I wonder what animals would they have there? Those huge droopy-necked cows, skinny drunken goats… wait, that’d be a sweet name for a pub, “The Drunken Goat.” It is a great cheese). Anyway, then shazam! You’re blasted by flavor… bright, fruity, spicy rainbows of celestial palate-tickling wonder. So good. You can hear the carbonation popping over lips and tongue though it is smooth and creamy despite. Finishes wonderfully balanced, slightly sweet. Immediately I know that, unlike many examples of sugary full-flavored Belgian beers, I could drink a lot of this one even at 7.6%. So psyched right now (probably exacerbated by the day catching up with me… and my buzz).

Highly recommended if it’s around and I think – anywhere but Utah at least – the price is right. I totally have a perma-grin now (thanks North Coast Brewing Co.).

ABV: 7.6%

Grade: A