Life Goes On...

 This photo was taken 14 years ago today.

Ir means the world to me, even though so much has changed since this seminal moment in The Life of Polk...

It was taken at a bar in Blue Mountain, with a man who was my very closest confident and best friend. He got me to order a Harp Lager. Surprisingly, even that euro pint was way out of my comfort zone at the time...

But more than that, so much more, it represents a time when I held the world in my hand...at least I felt that way. I was in the middle of the greatest decade of my life, without knowing it, and this pic reminds me that there was a time, a very real time, when I was surrounded by folks who loved and cared for me and who I would do anything for. I didn't realize it would all come to a crashing end, honestly, all at my own actions...but damn, those memories, those special moments, hold me here on this planet harder than any gravitational pull ever could. 

I miss the people who were so important to me then, I miss who I was too. I know that time and circumstance has landed me exactly where I'm supposed to be, but the nostalgia for a time when I had folks in my life who had my back no matter what hits hard sometimes.

In the last decade, everything I knew changed. Some of that was beyond what I could control, but so much was created right in my own mind, I pushed and pushed until almost no one was left. I miss the easy days of friendship, frivolity, and fun. I know I can never recapture moments like this, but the fact that they existed gives me hope that I can find my way home again....

That smile is so real that love goes beyond any years put behind it, and I stick around because I think that maybe, one day, I can be that guy again....

Next pint is on me.

Polk

September 17th, 2024

It's Not All Okay

Every once in a while, someone will leave a comment on a video or post I've made reviewing a beer that sends me off into a rabbit hole of trying to not only answer their query, but diving even deeper because my own obsession becomes more focused.

I like to know things, if only for my own edification, especially when it comes to craft beer, something I've spent almost a decade talking about in various forms and ways. I started out as a true acolyte, a deliver that the independently made beer could change the world, that we were better people for supporting it and that the community and industry could work hand in hand in delivering a new way to be inclusive, growing and spreading that love like a well poured pint.

Of course, if you've followed along for any amount of time, you'll know that kind of vibrant bullshit is on the surface and pushed by pretty pictures and reels on Instagram by a well meaning, but ultimately silly narrative that never wants to criticise because it's all supposed to be positive and nobody gets free stuff by wanting to talk about the dirty underbelly that hasn't ceased, even after we had some harrowing revelations not so long ago.

People have quickly forgotten the stories collected and shared by Erin, formerly of Little Beasts Brewing, supported by Ren of B. Diversity and a whole host of other brave folks who dared to speak out loud about some pretty horrible experiences that were over looked and kept underground by the community. It is no coincidence that most of the people involved in trying to bring light to that darkness have now, for the most part, left the craft beer world, the toxic blowback and general ignorance of people played a part of it, but no doubt it is the defense of people's favourite breweries, the tribalism and my team can't do anything wrong mentality that fuels the worst of what came at them. The worst of us is often the loudest in defense of what we perceive as something that represents us. That Brewery can't be led by a terrible person, I like their beer and I'm not a terrible person...this is the thinking I see. Fanboys and girls have wished terrible things on people who dare to bring up anything bad about their favourites, fueled by the current rage farming and us versus them narrative at every level of government and personal interaction we see online and in the media. Proper discussion and giving a shit about other people has been replaced with a self centered, me first attitude that belies a good community, a caring one.

But I digress...it seems easier to leave it all behind, drink beer at home and leave the bread and circuses to the clowns who want to run things...or we fight back...

Polk

September 16, 2024

The Price of Beer (Redux)

 I like to think that I have reached a point as a consumer of beer that I have a discerning enough palate and brand awareness to be making informed purchases.

I am a follower of what's new and returning, I subscribe to 100's of Brewery newsletters and keep myself always on the lookout for interesting things whenever I stop in at the LCBO.

However...

Someone asked about how I felt that the Dominion City Sunsplit IPA (delicious, by the way) cost $5.10 and it caught me off guard as I, honestly and without thought, didn't even look at the cost when I picked it up the other day.

It seems like a high price for a 6.8% IPA, albeit one of superior quality and consistency,  always a fine choice and I feel lucky that I can just get one whenever I want. It wasn't that long ago that the only way to get this legendary flagship beer was to have someone mule it back from Ottawa or when it became possible, to do an online delivery order and get it sent right to my front door. So I don't feel like I am doing a disservice to the quality when I wonder just what the high end is for really good beer that we buy? What is the price too far for us to pay?

Looking through the LCBO site, I count 19 IPAs (toss a few Double, Triple and Quadruple for good measure) that cross the $5 range, with Bellwoods Brewery Greenbelly Triple IPA (10% ABV) sitting on top at $5.75 for a tall boy. There are 70 or so between $4 and $5, with a lot of 6% IPAs rolling well past the $4.50 mark. Hell,  there's even a handful of Pale Ales priced at that halfway point. Is this just a continuation of paying more for better beer? Or is it a callous money grab by some places cash in on name recognition and reputation?

I get that ingredients and packaging cost more now than they used to and certainly there are breweries that pay better and have benefits and supports for employees, I don't think everyone is a greedy capitalist who has ulterior motives to trick consumers. Great beer, especially higher ABV ones, cost more to make and the return needs to reflect that. It is only a handful of pints that cross what once was viewed as a magical barrier to beer drinkers and as someone who's tried almost allof them, I can attest to that quality personally. This isn't even to get into those breweries that don't sell at the LCBO, lord knows I've spent a pretty penny on beers well over $6.

 I know I'm not alone when I buy without considering price sometimes. I'm not buying 24s of $6 beers, usually 1 or 2 cans of each, although it adds up let me tell you...but I also know I'm in the minority of the minority of beer drinkers, craft is but perhaps 15% of the market and despite years of growth, cracking 25% seems like a long shot at best. So how to make sure good beer gets made? Gotta pay those bills somehow, costs keep going up and there is only so much to be done at ground level to keep them down. The worry is that at some point you price yourself out of the 'curious' drinker market. The folks who like to try new stuff for fun, sprinkled in amongst their regular local or macro beers. At what point do the budget conscious, and honestly today that should be a whole lot more of us, look at the price of a beer and put it back on the shelf, a missed opportunity, but a sound financial one. 

I've been more aware of what I'm spending this year, everybody in the middle of the economy feels that pinch of higher prices for every little thing we need just to survive. I ponder what beer will look like in 5 years, who survives and what is the end game for some places that cannot keep up. There are some breweries that can scale up their production, keeping their costa lower and we see that in some fo the best IPAs available in the LCBO. Great Lakes' Haze Mama, Nickel Brook's Headstock, Sawdust City's Juicin' all retail for under $4, and I don't think anyone will question their quality or consistency. I understand that the smaller you are, the harder it is to account for such things, but I also know that there is coming a large inflection point in craft beer and who comes out the other side needs to widen their base ans bring even more folks into the fold. Quality matters, but for the vast majority of beer drinkers, price almost matters more...

I don't have the answers, but I'll be curious to watch it all play out in the coming months with the rollout to convenience stores looking like it's going to benefit the few large sized brewers over the little guys...but that's a whole other thing to write about.

Until next time...

Polk 

September 16th 2024