Forklift wouldn't start, so we hand-carried the IPAs

Forklift battery died at 6:47 a.m., right when the Oakmont IPA delivery needed to go from the loading dock to cooler four. No backup charged. No time to wait for a jump.

So we carried them.

Forty-two cases, two people, twenty-one minutes

Each case of Oakmont runs about thirty-five pounds. The route from dock to cooler crosses the stockroom, cuts through the back hallway, and ends at the far cooler door. Sixty feet, maybe seventy if you account for the corner.

I took the first twelve cases. Alex took ten before his shift technically started. We stacked them by the cooler door, went back, repeated. The rhythm was simple: lift, walk, set down, return. No conversation. Just counting.

Case thirty-eight felt heavier than case one, but that's always how it goes.

What we learned

Oakmont IPA is a solid west-coast style—piney, dry, 62 IBU with a tight grapefruit finish. The brewery ships it in reinforced boxes with triple-fold corners. Those corners hold up well when you're gripping them for the ninth consecutive trip across a stockroom.

Also learned: forklift batteries should probably be on a rotation schedule. That's a note for next week.

The Oakmont is on the shelf now, middle row, cooler four. Same place it always goes. If you're in this week, it's there. If the box corners look a little worn, you'll know why.