Instead of ranting or bloviating about a topic that has me ticked off or riled up, I would like to offer up some suggestions for getting the most out of beer in 2018.
And this isn’t some, get the proper glassware tutorial or beer thesaurus for using to describe your beers on Untappd or any of the hundred not so useful beer gadgets that pop up.
Just enjoy your beer. Seems simple, but it can be hard. It starts with when you choose a beer. Don’t feel like you have to chase a style trend if what you want to drink at that moment is just a Vienna lager (that wasn’t dry-hopped). Drink what you feel like drinking. Just the other day, I saw a pilsner on draft and thought that I should order it since they tend to get overlooked. It was also from a brewery that I hadn’t tried. Both seemingly good reasons but they ignored what I was actually in the mood for. It’s the holidays and the name of a new beer from Figueroa Mountain was Feliz Navi-Dank. Stupid hop pun the Christmas edition. So I ordered that because that is what struck me.
I am not advocating that you base all your decisions on beer names obviously and having new beers and breweries is important but beer drinking is not some chore, not a box to tick as completed. I will visit that other brewery when the time is right and I will have plenty of pilsners when the L.A. weather turns back to 80 and 90, probably in February.
Now that you have beer in hand, don’t sweat the other stuff. You can put your beer into a glass that maximizes the aroma but if you are just home from work and tired, you don’t have to. You don’t have to mentally review each and every beer. You can finish a beer and not remember each and every little aspect of it aside from good or bad. You can also pour out a beer if it is bad or let your friends finish it. Stay engaged and stay a beer geek but don’t lecture people over their choices. You can tell that friend who drinks Bud that it’s corn pop water but add that it’s his life and that it leaves more good beer for you.
Despite all of the horrible stuff in the world, #independent beer is an oasis of choice. There is no right answer and don’t let protocols stand in the way of just enjoying a great beer.
Thanks for reading and have an excellent 2018!!