*Ponder tastes 105 year-old beer*

'The first thing I noticed was the very strong smell of barley straw,
and hops'

July 12, 2004 - A rec. ponder who recovered a 105-year-old bottle of
beer from a the bottom of his pond didn't realize it might be worth
$1,600 before he went ahead and drank it.

The rec. Ponders gazette reported that Jeff Daro, a.k.a. Benign Vanilla,
a.k.a. BV, conceded that the beer, rescued from the wreck of the
Shareholders VF, in an obscure Baltimore suburb, was the most expensive
pint he had drunk.

The stash (of unknown origin), was found partially hidden by several
bunches of Anacharis and some duckweed and was marked by a unknown Lotus
plant. It was probably secreted away by last years Rosy Reds Navy
BV and fellow ponders found eight pint bottles. When they surfaced, the
cork in one bottle popped and Phillips gave it a taste. "The first thing
I noticed was the very strong smell of hops. It certainly didn't put me
off, so I took a swig," he said. "It was flat but it had not been
contaminated by the pond mulm even after all those years next to the
bottom drain. I offered it around to the rest of the team but they
weren't interested so I finished it.

"We later had the find valued at $1,600 a bottle, so that was certainly
the most expensive pint I have had. It had popped its cork anyway so I
couldn't see the point in wasting it. We still have seven bottles to
auction."

Daro said there were no labels on the bottles, so it was impossible to
tell who had brewed it. "It was lovely. I got a bit drunk and fell into
the stream. We took some to a restaurant and carried on drinking, not
realizing that every bottle was probably worth thousands."

"chagoi" wrote in message
...
*Ponder tastes 105 year-old beer*

'The first thing I noticed was the very strong smell of barley straw,
and hops'

July 12, 2004 - A rec. ponder who recovered a 105-year-old bottle of
beer from a the bottom of his pond didn't realize it might be worth
$1,600 before he went ahead and drank it.
snip

I am now contemplating sinking a bottle just for fun.

BV.