A decade ago, the thought of consuming a beer all by my lonesome made me sad.
Today, it's something I do more nights than not.
Though my dogs are usually with me, and my wife is usually home. So I'm not truly alone.
And so long as I have a beer, I don't feel so lonesome.
In fact, beer is super social. And in an age when our social lives no longer necessarily involve the physical presence of other people, it's uncool but social to crack a brew or two all by myself down in my dank, dirty basement! (Actually, my basement isn't all that dank or dirty. The carpeting is ruined from the occasional sump pump issue and beer or whiskey spill, however. Someday I'll rip it up and do tile.)
Beer is much more social than bourbon, which was my first alcohol love/fascination. Around 2009 I became very intrigued by bourbon following a visit to Kentucky. I also found that the bourbon community mostly consisted of other middle-aged white dudes, which is a bit meh to me. I was, however, happy to find Pappy on the shelf at cost at a local store. (I sorta miss those days!) Also, bourbon straight is delicious but not all that refreshing, and as a new transplant to the suburbs I needed something to cool me down after mowing the lawn.
So, beer. Here she came, into me like a train, around 2010-2011. An endlessly fascinating variety was out there just as the craft beer boom began to burgeon. And in just over five years I've tried more than 4,000 different beers, ranging from single two-ounce pours at beer fests to 220 bottles and draft pours of Zombie Dust.
Between the crazy number of breweries we have and the incredible distribution to our market, Chicago is a great place to beer. And in the coming days, weeks, months and years I plan to bore the intertubes half to death with tales of beer consumed and then some. So join me in my beerventures right here on this new beer blog!
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