Something to distract me during finals

Seriously, this is why I'm writing this. The more I focus on outlining my notes, the stronger my headache grows and the more I suspect my eyes might pop out and go scampering off.

For those of you lucky enough to love things other than the legal profession, you may not know what outlining is. Basically, because law school doesn't give multiple grades, you have one exam. One giant test, covering an entire semester's worth of knowledge, which will determine your grade in this class. Outlining is the process whereby you take the notes you took in class, and turn them into some manner of organized mass about the material for class.

Saintly teachers will allow you to bring these into exams, from whence you can check and receck your definitions of trespass to chattels. Sadly, evil, evil professors will sometimes refuse to let you use these outlines. Or your textbook. In case of that, I recommend lots of studying. Or, if you're me, slacking off with my roommates and having a good beer.

In this case, I would say go for something dark and filling. Your impulse, in these times of lovely weather, may be to reach for something crisp, refreshing, and maybe even a little hoppy. And normally I'd be with you. Currently chilling in my fridge are Flying Dog's Snake Dog IPA, and Sierra Nevada's Glissade. I'm even dreaming a little of Troeg's Sunshine Pils and Sierra's Summerfest.

However! Be swayed not by these tempting brews. You're about to settle in for several hours of mind numbing horror as you re-read, re-interpret, translate, and organize the mass of horror known as your (my) notes. A good beer for this would be Great Divide's Yeti, preferably the espresso aged variety. Lacking that however, I'll go ahead and pimp the beer I'm currently stocked of in my fridge - Breckenridge's Vanilla Porter.

Now, when I first tried this porter, I was sad. It tasted...watery. It was sort of dark and a little roasty, but pretty underwhelming. Especially for a beer performing well in Washington Post's Beer Madness 2011 (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/artsandliving/foodanddining/features/2011/beer-madness/). But, as they tell me, patience is indeed a virtue. Like a wonderful flower in springtime, as this beer warmed it's flavors opened up into a wave of delicious tastes. Vanilla bean fresh off the...vine? (orchid seed pod, thanks Sparrow). Chocolate, and wonderful mild chocolate malts. Mmmmmm. Truly a beer for me to brace myself against the madness of outling and help me last long into the evening, tapping frantically.

For those of you done with exams, cheers to you. For those about to take them, good luck. And for those without exams, will kindly die in a fire :-P. Hope you're all having a good spring out there - I'm curious to know if you have a favorite spring beer (Corona, classified as pisswater, doesn't count. Even with lime. Especially with lime). Leave it in the comments if you've got a favorite/have a new beer you think I should try. Cheers!