FanPost

Beer of the Series: 2017 Spring Training

It's about 60 degrees in Northeast Ohio as I write this, so it seems like a perfect day to dust off the mitt and have a catch while we look forward to the beginning of the baseball season. I know most Tigers fans like myself are looking forward to all the great players we added to take another charge at the AL Central Division title and a World Series berth! Guys like...

Uh...

(Frantically looks up the roster)

(Practices the pronunciation of Mahtook)

Okay, so there aren't a ton of new faces on the field. Or in the dugout. Or in the front office. But there's no reason to think that this team can't continue to compete for a playoff spot. All you need to do anymore is get to the playoffs. Once you're there, anything can happen! It's not like the best team in baseball last year won the World Ser...oh.

Well, I'm still looking forward to the season, and I think it'll be a good one.

On a semi-serious note, I am going to miss Mr. Ilitch. I started to closely follow the team in college, only growing up as a tangential fan through middle and high school. The first season I really actively remember following the team was 2003, and we all know what happened then. Soon after, Mr. I made the types of signings that jump started this franchise to a level where they're a perennial contender for the playoffs and have made two World Series appearances since then, and I feel terrible that he never got that World Series ring he tried so hard for over the last 25 years.

So, this season, I most likely will be making the BOTS post a monthly or quarterly venture. I will have a much heavier work schedule, plus my wife and I have been traveling a lot more lately. I don't feel like it's fair to just try and cobble posts together for the sake of writing posts. However, I will still be watching baseball and drinking beer while I do it.

This offseason, I ended up in Hawai'i. If you get the chance to go in February, I highly recommend it. Not only is it beautiful and wonderful and beautiful, it also has some damn good beer being brewed on the islands. It may be difficult to find some of the good stuff here in the Midwest, though, so your best bet is to hop a flight and take a sleeping pill to get out there. My favorite beer from the trip was the Double Overhead Imperial IPA from Maui Brewing Company.

On the last night we were in Hawai'i, we paid a visit to Maui Brewing Company's new restaurant in Waikiki. While it's on the wrong island, the beer is still flown in on a regular basis, so it's as fresh as can be given the logistics. This imperial IPA has a nice, clean palate with flavors of pine, apricot, and grapefruit coming to the forefront. It's a nice beer to sip while overlooking the hustle and bustle of Waikiki, and at 8.5% ABV and 100 IBUs, it's definitely a beer that'll leave a mark.

Maui Brewing Company is located in Lahaina, Hawai'i.

2016 Postmortem (and links to everything else)

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the <em>Bless You Boys</em> writing staff.