Notes from all over, things to keep you busy edition

Score: -1

All those things you were planning on doing, all that useful and productive stuff… Yeah, forget about it. You're going to be too busy wasting time for the rest of the week. Like on…

#SpoBREW2 planning and May 17th celebrating! Join us tomorrow, at Jones Radiator, 6:45pm, if you are interested in planning #SpoBREW2 and celebrating Norway's constitution day. We currently have too many teams registered, but one spot is open for anyone who shows up, donning an appropriate red, white, and blue outfit! We're also providing some Norwegian food, so, really, what do you have to lose?

#SpokanePicnic! Sunday, noon, at Finch Arboretum. Bring food, enough to share if you're awesome. More details to be found on this flyer.

Farmers' markets! Hey, it's farmers' market time, and we have re-activated the farmers' markets map, provided by Liberty Lake Farmers' Market.

Screw being "productive"! That is all much more fun.

Trip XII Pink Peppercorn IPA

Score: 4

Now here's an interesting collaboration beer between New Belgium and Elysian: a pink peppercorn IPA. And why not? At this point, pretty much every spice out there has been added to beer, so might as well throw some pink peppercorns into the mix.

The Trip XII is a bit odd, then, but also a bit good. Hell, I'd say it's excellent.

It pours vivid amber with a frothy white head lacing the glass. Give it a sniff, and a combination of pepper and malts are prevalent, flanked by subdued hints of hops. Some might say this is kind of atypical of an IPA, and they might be correct. The Trip XII has more twists than an episode of Castle, however, so don't let the nose fool you entirely.

Don't get me wrong, flavor wise this isn't your typical IPA either. The pepper and malts carry over to the front of your mouth, giving the initial impression of something dry and spicy. It is as you swallow you'll find the hops, and there are more of them than you'd expect. A floral taste tickles the back of the throat, and as the pepper subsides, the hops linger. In that sense, the hops are there, they're just hiding until they come jumping out, screaming "surprise!" into your face.

So the Trip XII is an IPA at heart, but it hides it well. I personally like it. The flavor is powerful, yet well-balanced, and at 7.5% ABV you probably don't want to knock down a few bombers of it. Grab a bottle, though, and you will enjoy sipping it.