Our buddy Kevin looks like a frugal dude. We were fooled. When Kevin, a small Pasadena craft beer distributor, was up in Portland he splurged on an unrivaled flute of aged brews from one of his connections, Hair of the Dog Brewing. He purchased one bottle of every single batch of Doggie Claws, their special release barleywine... going back to 2001. Vertical tasting!

That would be where you sit down and let a vintage of alcohol from each recent year of your life slide down your gullet. And you take notes on what it tastes like. Well, in our case we got so psyched about whipping up and eating sweet treats that complimented these aged varietals of Doggie Claws that we kinda forgot to take notes.

2001 was placid and plain, whereas 2002 still rippled with decent, gold-flecked carbonation, '03 and '04 both ruled like honey dripping from a King's scepter onto grapes. 2005 was straight-up mead in a bottle. Then...2006, no...

Oops. We remembered the recipes though! The real sustenance for this night-long tasting was a pot 'o sweet beans. We long braised some gorgeous Scarlet Runner beans Alex scored in a stew of spicy soy, brown sugar, maple sugar. and whiskey. Though we usually eschew sugar, this beer called for something cloying. We used a slow cooker and pretended like this was our Doggie Claws. It took two days to make. We're not gonna age 'em though.

Braised Sweet Beans
(Serves 10-12)

2 lbs. Scarlet Runner beans
3 cups water
2 carrots
2 jalapenos (raw or pickled)
1 white onion
1 stalk celery
1 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1 tsp. red chile
1 tsp. coriander
2 shots bourbon whiskey
1/4 cup tamari
2 Tbs. maple syrup

1. Dump your beans in a large mixing bowl and cover with water. Place a plate on top and let sit overnight.

2. Finely chop the carrot, jalapeno, celery and onion. Toss into a hot saut