simondbell

So I may have mentioned a couple of times over that I am something of a superfan of the craft beers. Part of this comes from an insatiable need for something new and exciting beer-wise and part of it is to keep things interesting for myself, call it craft beer Russian roulette (always potentially one purchase away from something horrible!) However, recently I have noticed that my affections for “the amber nectar of the path less travelled” are turning me into something of an old codger before my time (honestly I am not as old as I look!) Just a couple of introspective observations of late….

1. I am quite happy to sit with 2/3 good IPAs for an entire evening. There is a variety of reasons for this but I think it’s down to the fact that every time I sit down in the evening there is a pretty good chance I will nod off so 2-3 beers is plenty between mini sleeps and also, they are usually strong enough in terms of alcoholic content that I only need that many to get the same impact as a load of pints of big brand porter down the local.

2. I find myself having not only a preferred off licence to buy my beer in, but also find myself whiling away an hour or so perusing the selection of new and exotic beers and seeking the insights of the in store expert / bloke working on the till like some sort of (dare I say it) wine connoisseur!

3. I am quite happy to spend a little more on good quality beer that doesn’t have to be freezing to be drinkable because inevitably it now takes me an inordinate amount of time to drink each beer (because of the aforementioned “mini sleeps”)

4. I am becoming a creature of habit, same spot on the couch, same tv programmes, same time every week I am consistently there and in fact I’m getting cranky when I have to be elsewhere as I am missing out on my quality drinking time! 

5. I end up boring my other half to death with running commentary on each new beer in terms of flavour, freshness etc and whatever background info on the brewery that I have garnered from the local expert / off licence worker and / or Wikipedia.

6. I have become a complete snob about the quality ales at tantalising prices that got me through my student days (and most of my twenties truth be told!) and find myself exchanging that eyes to heaven look with the off licence expert when some young fella passes me with a tray of generic euro lager that’s on special offer…

7. Lastly, and probably most tellingly, I will at some point in the evening have to stop drinking beers and switch to scotch or whiskey so that I don’t miss half of whatever I am watching while running to the loo every 5 minutes! 

So there it is, old before my time, but surprisingly not that bothered about it! Maybe I should be?? Anyway on the off chance any micro brewers out there are reading this and want to send me some samples to review I am 100% open to that!