Yesterday, when I opened the trunk of my car, the smell, thick and heavy, instantly hit my nose. Beer.

"Aw, fuck."

I had been driving around with the oatmeal stout in my drunk ever since returning from the trip. With nothing to hold them in place, the bottles had become dislodged from their casing, and were scattered all over the trunk.

I examined each of them. None were broken, but one was mostly empty. The cap was still in place. The bottle appeared to be unopened. How strange. At least I didn't have any broken glass to contend with.

I concluded that the excessive heat must have somehow caused a leak in the lid's seal. There was no other way the beer could have gotten out.

There was no evidence of wetness on any of the upholstery. No visable stains either. It must have all evaporated.

I made sure the other 5 bottles were still full (thankfully, they were), drink the swallow that was left from the bad one, and drove home.

I could smell it even from the driver's seat too. Tobias's entire interior reeked of alcohol.

What does one do to get rid of this smell? I am not an expert on beer residue. For now, I'm trying the "just wait" approach. So far, it seems to be working. This morning, there was no smell in the cabin. When I opened the trunk, I could still detect an odor. Maybe it will go away after a while too.

As of last night, the beer is now under a pile of crap in the corner of my room. Security through obscurity.

I plan to bring it to scottgalvin.com's rescheduled dinner party, whenever that happens. One bottle short.