“I’m too young to die.
I haven’t lived yet; I haven’t seen Italy or Spain.”
~ A recent quote from a conversation
Ever walk into a pub, bottle shop, or
brewery and have a similar thought?
A thought that we beer fans, connoisseurs,
and snobs will never experience all
of it?
Those beers that are only available in
small markets, but end up at the top of every
Best Beer list, tease us constantly. Or,
those one day events that most of us cannot drop a few hundred bucks on to get
to. Don’t forget about the breweries
that offer insane in-house offerings that are bragged about via Facebook and
Twitter.
Aye, we are all too young to
die.
As the craft beer world continues to
expand, the Beer Bucket List grows lengthier and more daunting. A small pang of anxiety attacks as we enter
the dens of opportunity, hoping and praying to choose wisely.
When I think of great beer, there are two
things that I consider to be of greater importance.
The
people I’m with and the surrounding community.
It
is the people, not the place or the beer.
I’ve had some great beer in my life so far. I’ve also made some great beer as a part of
Four Saints Brewing Company (http://bit.ly/K1lPu0).
Each of those beers drank and each of those places visited
really are the most superficial parts of those experiences. The connections made, renewed, or ended
during those times are the essence of what brings meaning to the craft beer
experience.
The people we are meeting as we work through our
Kickstarter campaign (http://kck.st/LmbeaM)
have been some of the most inspiring, caring, intelligent, funny, and genuine
people we have ever met. Our beer has
been the beginning of some great friendships and partnerships. And, with
success or failure of our brewery, those will last.
As social animals, we crave the sharing of an experience
more than the experience itself.
Ever been drinking a great beer by your
lonesome, and thought “I wish so-and-so was here to try this.”? I have.
It’s a little like riding a roller coaster by yourself. It may be exhilarating, but it’s lonely. Our hearts and minds race when we run into
someone who knows what we’ve experienced or are experiencing. We can learn a lot from those around us.
Craft beer is meant to be a social
experience. Craft beer is a
conversational lubricant. When you sit
at the pub, don’t be afraid to engage the stranger to your right or left. Ready to imbibe that beer you’ve been
cellaring for three years? Call someone
to join you. S/he may be the key to
something deep within your heart or psyche.
Or, at least they’ll be one less person to explain the beer’s
amazingness (or awfulness) to the next day.
Recognize
the exotic nature of your local community.
While living in Dublin through a graduate
program, at first, I walked around the city awestruck – mostly at the fact I
was in Dublin. I wandered streets, some
lighted and some not, finding everything exotic – i.e., “I’ve never had Irish
milk! Oh my!” Day in and day out, I found something new to
appreciate. I drank only Guinness.
Then, one day it happened. I found myself in front of the television,
watching a rerun of an American show I had already seen. Maybe I was yearning for home; but it caused an
epiphany.
Regardless of where we are, at some point
it all becomes mundane and ‘meh’. At
that point I made a conscious decision to make wherever I was, for however long
I was there, for whatever reason an exotic experience. It takes a little work, an open mind, and
willingness to truly accept your current place in the Big Picture to do this.
Craft beer again offers us this
chance. With each local brewery of
varying sizes and niches a beer drinker should rarely find him/herself
struggling for that exotic experience.
Make the connection with the bartender or actual brewer, talk with the
locals and regulars (you can tell who they are), observe the people and
place. Local breweries and brewpubs can
be an amazing link to the parts of the community that are unfound as of
yet. You’ll soon find yourself sitting
in a jungle with new species of animals sitting all around you. Hell, you’ll be a new species yourself to
some of the other explorers. Let’s hope
they don’t plan to mount you on their trophy wall.
The growth of the craft beer world is
sometimes scary;
hoping it doesn’t implode again.
Hoping the return to a buy local mentality
is real
and not some manufactured mantra of the moment.
Buying local isn’t just about a
financial reinvestment into communities – it’s a human reinvestment into the
one thing that makes everything spectacular.
Human connection, awareness, and
compassion along with great beer and great people can help those great communities
revive, resonate, and revel in renaissance.
Too young to die? Yep.
I still haven’t met my neighbor across the
street.
It’s about time to split a sixer
with him (or her).
