One month down, 325 beers to go...

One month into my beer quest/journey/challenge, and here are some stats and thoughts:

41 unique (as in "different," as they weren't all "unique" in the other sense) brews. They came from 9 different states in the US (California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon and Texas), plus 7 foreign countries (Germany, Jamaica, Scotland, Mexico, Netherlands, Australia, and England). I am 10 beers ahead of schedule with 325 beers left and 335 days left in the year (but I don't anticipate keeping up that pace for the rest of the year).

Lowest ABV 3.5 (Amstel Light), highest 11 (Saint Arnold Divine Reserve 10), with an average of approximately 6.36 (two unknowns). Mostly bottles at home; a few on draft or from the growler; only two were from cans so far.

I'm liking a lot of these beers that I've never tried before, as well as some of those old favorites that I've revisited. However, I'm increasingly aware of how bad some of the beer is that I used to drink and that so many of my friends drink. Oh well...more good beer for me!

MLK Day

Today's MLK Day and unlike about 90% of America, I'm working. After being prompted to do so, I thought I'd take a few minutes to read Letter From a Birmingham Jail by Dr. King. After doing so, I'm embarassed that (1) it took me 40 years to read this, and (2) I had any resentment for working today. I'm also amazed that he wrote this while sitting in a jail cell, without access to literature or any other resources. I wish I could put coherent thoughts together while sitting in a quiet office with the resources available on the Internet just a click away. Even if you have read this more recently than 40 years ago (he wrote it April 16, 1963), it's still worth a read.

Making Excuses...

So as part of our New Year's resolutions, our family headed out to church yesterday morning like so many others dedicated to being more regular attendees.  I have to say that when I go hear our Pastor I always feel a little better about my life.  He is a great speaker, funny, and right in the trenches of marriage and parenthood, just like me.  So the sermon yesterday was called "iQuit: Making Excuses"...sounded like something I needed to hear!  And he started off by saying "many of you are probably here because you made a NY resolution to come to church"...busted!  He also talked about how people find excuses not to exercise like "I'm not a morning person" or "the kids just make me so tired"...busted!  He also told a wonderful story about how if he hadn't gotten in the car and driven to the gym on this one particular day, well then, he wouldn't have met the cute girl holding the clipboard, who is now his wife.  (see the complete sermon here www.hpumc.org/cornerstone)
So, I set the alarm last night, got up this morning and worked out.  I know, not a big deal, it's only one day and one time, but at least I did it because...I'm not a morning person and the kids DO make me tired! :)  Hopefully on Wednesday when it's time to set the alarm again, I will remember the sermon I heard and try my best not to make excuses.

So I know I'm crazy...

If you know me, you know I like beer. In recent years, I've made the transition from drinking beer in quantity (hello, college!) to drinking quality beer. I try to be a beer nerd rather than a beer snob, but I've been accused of both. And that's OK with me.

So this year, I've decided to do something productive with my drinking. It's not quite a New Year's Resolution, but more of a goal: I'm going to try to drink 366 beers this year.

Why? Well, to paraphrase what Sir Edmund Hillary said of Everest, "Because they're there."



So here are my self-made rules for this project. First, I can count each different beer only once. That is, I can have any given kind of beer more than once, but it only counts once toward the project. Second, It has to be more than just a taste--it has to be at least 10 ounces to count toward the total. Third, I'm not going to be obsessive about this. It is supposed to be fun...for me, that is. I'm going to keep a tally of the beers I drink, including the name, style, ABV, and origin of the beer. Oh yeah, Sambo challenged me to include in my efforts a beer from every state. So I may need help in finding beer from some of the more remote states!

Six days in, I've had 9 beers, from 5 states and one foreign country. I think I'll enjoy this journey. But who knows? I may get burned out on beer...but I'll have fun finding out!