What is that? Duty? We don't like duties much these days. But as we get into the first muggier days of summer, I like to haul out the musty cardboard, rearrange and rebox as I check how this bottle or that case is doing. Gotta see and if there are any bottles that need moving up on deck for opening in the near future or if any need to be put to bed for half a decade's sleep.

Sometime you get lucky. Today, under a bag of malt, I found a forgotten box probably bought in Quebec last March Break. Two Orval, three from Rochefort, a couple of Duchesse de Bourgogne as well as two Fuller's Past Masters XX Strong Ales. Excellent. Not only are they most welcome but, as I am off to northern NY this afternoon supposedly for supper and a baseball game but also a small beery shopping spree, it's good to know where the gaps are in the collection. You need to have a reasonable supply of a decent range of drinks to properly be prepared for any contingency. So there are not only all sorts of beer but also ciders and perry, table wines for future holiday dinners, vintage ports for my after my retirement in 2032, moscato d'asti for July, snazzy juices picked up on trips as well as the better sorts of soda pop that keep the kids in line.

The care and feeding of the stash. Not unlike tending the garden.