When we last left our fearless brewers, Gilwapo Brewing's soon-to-be-world-famous Nut Brown Ale was safely tucked away in 45 professionally labeled brown bottles. Time flies when you're having fun, as they say, and before we knew it the two weeks of in-bottle carbonization had come and gone. Friday, March 2 - the unveiling. Would it be a date that lived in infamy? Would it be our Waterloo? Would be celebrate like the seventh son of the seventh son? Or would we merely get kinda drunk on slightly above average home brew? Maybe I'm just a romantic, but I say why can't it be all those things? We gathered on that cold Friday night to find out, with nothing but pulled pork and an unquenchable thirst for knowledge.
 |
| The moment of Truth. |
Steven bravely grabbed the bottle opener and placed it against the bottle cap. There was no going back now.
 |
| Shut it, Rachel. |
Rachel was giddy with excitement, but the rest of us had worked too hard and come too far just to throw it all away now by acting silly. We had a job to do, and God willing we were going to do it the best we could.
 |
| The perfect pour. |
Carefully, oh so very carefully, Steven poured the first glass of beer. Gods be praised, what a beautiful sight! The anticipation was palpable.
 |
| The first sip. |
After taking a second to admire the full glass of Nut Brown Ale, Steven raised the glass, said a prayer to world peace, and took the first sip. He did not grimace in pain. Matt and I agreed this was a good sign.
 |
| Don't ask, just drink. |
Still alive, Steven took a bigger drink. This was a REALLY good sign. Could it be our first attempt was more than just drinkable? Might it actually be
good? Only one way to find out...
 |
| Bust that shit open, dude! |
Now that we had determined our beer wasn't immediately fatal, Matt and I couldn't wait to try it ourselves.
 |
| Rachel remains unconvinced. |
Matt quickly poured a round for me and one for himself. Despite watching Steven enjoy his tasty brew mere seconds before, Rachel remained skeptical. Oh ye of little faith!
 |
| Look at that creamy head. |
You can see in the background of this picture that even little three year old Carson understood the significance of this event. It's not every day a little boy gets to witness his father's finest creation brought into existence.
 |
| If loving this is wrong, then I ain't been right since the day we started. |
It was like Christmas, but for BEER! What did you get in your stocking? Beer! What did Santa bring you? Beer! You can keep your gold, frankincense, and myrrh - I'll take beer, beer, and BEER!
 |
| The Founders. |
I don't know how anyone can look at that picture and not want to start their own brewing company.
 |
| From left to right: good, better, greaterest! |
We also sampled a couple other nut brown ales to see how we stacked up, and I'm pleased to say that our completely objective Gilwapo Brewing panel of judges determined that the Gilwapo Brewing Nut Brown Ale was the best of the bunch! I mean what were the chances!
 |
| Carnage. |
We didn't drink all 45 bottles that night, but we sure made a good start. The result was carnage. Pure, unadulterated, blissful carnage.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the story of how three men joined together and overcame the odds to brew some of the world's best beer. Can't wait to start beer number two!
