happy labour day!
a nice little primer on hops
17 issues sober people have to deal with
(click on it, there are cats!!)
beer advocate’s history of american beer
heineken can’t compete with craft beer
(which probably comes as no surprise to beer geeks)
the top 10 craft beers in mexico
warning – this one’s in spanish, so depending on your ability to hablar, you may just want to look at the photos in the slideshow!
it hasn’t even been a month since i started drinking again
but i have me some thoughts on the happiness i get from drinking
i like drinking
especially beer
i like to do it fairly often
i like to do it with my friends
i like to do it with my enemies, okay, well, it helps me think more of my enemies
i like to do it in the morning
i like to do it in the afternoon
i like to do it in the evening
i like to do it just to the point of social lubrication
i do not like to do it to the point of illness
having my first drink off-cleanse and on vacation was wonderful
having several more later that evening was even better!
good company, fun new places to visit and warm weather all combined to make it a fabulous night of intoxication, not all of it from the beers and margaritas
(and don’t get me started on the hot brazilians we ended our night with…)
but seriously, there’s something about the conviviality of drinking
about the social lubrication of mild intoxication
the walls coming down, the smiles coming more easily, the laughter flowing
that makes me revel in sharing drinking time with old friends and friends i’m about to make
like one friend put it, you get a shine on
i like that taking some time off from drinking makes the starting back up again feel like a gift
now where’s my damned beer?
yikes!
musings on sobriety on a beer blog?
did you ever think you’d see the cruel, cruel day?
i dunno for sure how much of it is the lack of booze
but i find january to be a month where i fail to feel motivated to socialize
i do a cleanse every january
this involves eating no wheat, sugar, dairy, yeast, fermented foods….
basically i don’t get to eat anything fun
and that includes all forms of alcohol as they’re basically just sugar
january also happens to be the first month of the new year
and along with that comes introspection, reflection and self-indulgent resolutions to live better
january is a long, dark month
and in vancouver, its usually very long, very dark and very wet
all of these things team up in varying proportions to make me want to flee my life
or contradictorially, to hibernate
fortunately january is also a month of few social engagements for me
so it is very easy to hibernate
to lay low and contemplate my navel
however, when i do feel obligated to make an appearance at, say, a birthday party
i find it very different to show up sober, remain sober and leave sober when everyone else is drinking
i know there are lots of sober people out there with robust social lives
but i honestly have no idea how they do it
how do they manage to find their drunken loutish friends intelligent and funny?
how can they stand the booze breath being breathed all over them by close-talking and repetitive boors?
lord a-mighty, i can’t wait to have a drink!
there are a couple of upsides to my sober month
(okay, three weeks this year, with two days off for good behaviour)
there’s no drawing straws for who has to be the designated driver – its me!
my wallet is less frighteningly empty at the end of every day
i have had to find subjects other than what i think of the beer i’m currently drinking to talk about which i’m sure has made my neurons not being killed by alcohol fire a little faster
and best of all – i’m not one of the drunken louts repetitively close-talking and failing to amuse any other unfortunate sober people at the party!
Beck's Beer Blog - test 