October Sober - Top 5 NA Beers from the last month

 

Has it already been an entire month? I know time moves faster as you get older, but man, this last 4+ weeks seemed to be gone in a flash.  The transition from outdoor patio beers to indoor basement beers happened almost overnight and while I will miss my sunshine and warm summer breezes, I do enjoy hunkering down in the winter and enjoying all my lazy indoor activities while the wind howls and the snow flies. Soon we will decorate the house once again for Christmas and I'll get that weird nostalgic feeling that challenges my sobriety at the best of times. I used to love to get 4 or 5 beers deep and dive into classic TV specials and holiday movies while reminiscing about how it used to be. Being sober, I find myself more in the present, but when I do cast my mind back, it seems to be in a better light and with less regret. I don't know which way is better, I sure did love that Christmas buzz, but here we are now and I've got another 5 great Non-Alcoholic beer options for you to try as we head to the season of giving. 

  As always, I had these delivered from our pals over at Designated Drinks. You can get yourself a whole fridge full of great options over on their website https://www.designateddrinks.ca/

  In chronological order, here we go :

  1. Side Launch Brewing NA Lager (October 4th)

    In search of beers that taste like damn beers, I found this latest release from Side Launch and was pleasantly surprised. Once renowned for their to style Wheat, Dark and Pale Ale in the sideways printed cans, Side Launch has taken some swings for the fences in recent years and not always hit the mark. I am happy to report that this lager is a true, simple tasting, clean and crisp half pint that leaves no aftertaste nor has any off flavours. It feels like a macro lager and delivered a fine experience. 

Full video here.

2. Refined Fool Brewing Wet Thunder NA Lager (October 9th)

  I've long been a fan of Sarnia's Refined Fool. Lots of fun beer names to go along with some pretty solid offerings inside said cans and mix packs that deliver a fun time in every 6'er. Having said that, this non-alcoholic Lager was just the thing on a warm, sunny October afternoon to refresh my spirit and my smile. It was reminiscent of a Molson Canadian, but more refined (Ha), crisp and bitter with no off flavours or aftertaste. Simple and good, it does the job you need and does it well.

Full video here.

3. One for the Road Brewing No Regrets NA 

  This one was a second go around in 2025 and I think I liked it even more the second time. Full bodied, bready toasted malt body with caramel sweetness and a firm bitterness make for a true marzen style lager, a nod to the fall season with that Oktoberfest feel throughout. It strikes me as a huge compliment when I say a beer doesn't taste not feel like a non-alcoholic option and this one is right up there with the best of them in that regard. Nothing missing, all good in the glass. 

Full video here.

4. Lake of the Woods Brewing No Wake NA Blonde Ale (October 23rd)

  Harkening back to a classic Ale, think 50 or OV, No Wake came in smooth and bitter with no doubt as to the care and work put into it's creation. At under $2 a can, it's a bargain that delivers far above expectations. Bitter and full with a slight fruitiness, grainy cereal malt body and a feel that is all beer, no filler. I finished a 6 pack without a second thought, it felt like the old days, drinkin' with the old guys and letting the world slide on by.

\Full video here.

5. Sober Carpenter Brewing Scottish Ale (October 31st)

  Coming in just under the wire as the trick or treaters hit the streets on Halloween, this ode to the maltier side of life from Sober Carpenter hit the mark from pour to sip to savour. Looking to always find something different, especially in the NA world, Sober Carpenter resembles what Beau's used to be in craft beer, always throwing new stuff into the wild and while not all of them are hits, they sure do keep us trying new things and expanding the non-alcoholic offerings in the world. This one was a bready, toasted malt treat with toffee notes and a solid bitterness, feeling like a full strength offering, made with the classic Fuggle hops and having an old world feel in a new world order. Excited to see what they'll try next.

Full video here.

  And of course, we have to have a moment of disappointment or how will we know when we are happy...

1. Eichbaum NA German Lager (October 25th)

   I don't know why I keep trying these non-alcoholic Euro Lagers....it's almost pure torture from beginning to end at this point. For every decent one I find, 2 absolutely terrible ones pop up behind it and for some reason I gotta drink 'em all so you don't have to. This wort forward, smokey ashtray laden sweet mess shouldn't be in anyone's glass, it feels like someone hated you enough to try to give you a double vomit beer and watch your discomfort and sadness. I am disgusted now and it's been weeks since I had this awful offering in my glass before it hit the bottom of the toilet...just fuckin' no.

Full video here.

  A pretty good month, 20 different new and returning non-alcoholic beers made for a full flavoured and many styles experience and while more than a few are not to appear again in my fridge, there weren't a lot of full on bad pints. The good are getting better and the rest are coming along. Let November begin!

Cheers!

Polk

November 1st, 2025

  Drinking is personal.

  My relationship with alcohol is more complicated than anything else I've encountered in my life, because at the end of it all, it's really about my own internal struggle and conflict with how I live and what kind of reality I see every day. The past is hazy, I leaned hard into the mind altering, carefree way that a couple of beers could make you feel, nobody loved the 2 or 3 beer buzz more than I...nobody. I didn't want to get obliterated every night, my addiction was far less insidious and in front of me in a way that I wanted to escape but still seem in control. Just enough alcohol to numb, not enough to become a problem for anyone but myself. And without the health issues I encountered last fall, I don't see how I would have interrupted that pattern without some form of intervention, from the outside or within.

 I always say that nobody know more about how to diet and exercise than a fat guy, we know the stats and what we need to do, we just can't find the will or the way to do it...but baby, do we know the cheap, expensive and everything in between about it. Same goes for drunks. I can see through different, sober, eyes now, even though I always knew the problem existed. I watch how much everyone else seems to drink now, and know that I probably drank at least as much and probably more. Until you step back, you don't see how many you're putting back in a week, they all blur together into a mash of everything is okay...until the day it isn't.  

  We glamorize the new releases and beer fests, ignoring the underlying social and health issues associated with our favourite thing outside of paying homage to fallen pals and urging the "moderation" crew as long as it doesn't impact the bottom line. We don't want to talk about the societal issues, health ramifications and mental health problems associated with alcohol, we just want to see pretty reels and pictures about community and having a good time. We know deep in our souls that everything on social media is seen through a foggy lens of false perfection, all the while claiming authenticity and good times. I live in this world, it is my window and my door, the only way I feel like I belong anywhere is when I exist there and it is exhausting. The break I forced myself to take from most of it during my initial recovery was freeing in a way, but I still find myself drawn back into its orbit because I don't know what else to do or where I should go. I like talking about beer and how it feels, even the non-alcoholic ones have a way of giving you a break from the world, where you can focus on what's in your glass instead of the growing dystopia that seems to be gaining momentum around the globe. I know so many folks want beer and other alcohol based communities to be free of politics and a place for everyone, but as we have seen and heard for so long, the more things change, the more they stay the same when it comes to our problems and our inclinations. Is it wrong for people to want an escape? A place where the biggest problem is a beer style they don't like or an off flavour killing the lager vibe? The gathering of like minded individuals, who's political leanings may or may not be aligned, is possible, as long as no one rocks the boat or makes it weird. But making it weird means making it better. Making it weird for the majority means everyone can feel weird together. 

But what do I know, I'm a drunk...

Polk

September 29th, 2025

One Year Later...

                             

  I woke up this morning, knowing it's been exactly 1 year since the last time I indulged my inner drunk and had way too many pints, topped off with a big old glass of whiskey. One year since I could barely breathe after going up a flight of stairs or walking to my car and one year since my resting heart rate was somewhere around 170 beats per minute. In those 365 days, I have not let go of reality even once. No slip ups or "accidents", never having more than 2 beers in a single day and no hard liquor of any kind. Part of this is predicated by all the medications I'm on to help control blood pressure and keep my heart from running itself out of beats before my time is supposed to be up. But the other part has become a battle of internal monologues, each vying for supremacy and each with some good points to be made. 

  On one side, we've got the good times Polk, the drunkard who loves to let go and seeks the haze that only a half dozen beers and a full glass of whiskey can bring. He seeks the nostalgia of a past that sometimes isn't just seen through rose coloured glasses, it's outright delusional. But he relaxes. He takes the weary mind and the world gone mad and just let's them go. He watches his favourite movies and shows and has not a care in the world except for his next drink and he gets to drift away into the night, careless and thoughtless.

  The other side, Sober Polk, hangs off me like an ill-fitting suit two sizes too small. The biggest problem I have run into being sober for an entire calender year is the unrelenting reality of the world around me. Living through the entire last year without a hazy filter or escape has led me down some pretty dark paths and while I know intellectually that drinking too much is part of why I'm where I am today, I still can't help but miss it dearly. Sober Polk is a quieter guy, but he rages underneath and sometimes that bubbles through unintentionally. I feel like I have begun to care less about things that used to be important, maybe to not have to feel any emotion or maybe to shield myself from the temptation to say "Fuck it", and pour the last of my whiskey from a year ago and fire the whole thing up again. It would lead to my demise faster than I'd like, but somedays, sober me gets the feeling that he isn't afraid of that anymore.

  That I haven't given into my lesser angels this year has been a surprise to me for sure. I remember lying in that hospital bed trying to figure out and bargain with whatever the universe is to be able to just go back to living as I had been. What part of my intellect was I suppressing to try and make that work is beyond me, because I knew life was changing and would never be the same again...but then it kind of has been, just without any release from reality and responsibility.  I wanted it all to just be a big misunderstanding and it has turned into an internal struggle for my very existence. I know I am better now than I was a year ago and I have an incredible opportunity to further take my health in a better direction with the help of many professionals, part of a bariatric/heart health study I have agreed to be part of. I like when they ask me if I drink and I can honestly say 2 or 3 beers a week. 1 specialist asked if I could go completely dry and, without hesitation, I said "Yes.". 

And I meant it.

  I have come to enjoy my pursuit of the best in non-alcoholic beers over the last 9 months plus. I've found some incredible gems among the almost 200 different offerings I've been able to find. The ability to keep writing and talking about some kind of beer is part of what keeps me sane and around. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't do even that little escape into what I love to do. But as I have learned in the last year, I am capable of change, even if I fight myself all the way through it. 

  I need to lose a lot of weight still, apparently it wasn't the beer after all, I know, I was surprised too. I need to reevaluate my relationship with food and the how and why I eat the way that I do. I need to become more active, even if it scares to take the first step on a walk that could alter my life forever. The things I seek exist in the wisps of the future that stretch out into the unknown. I am not sure if I am truly capable of the next steps, I honestly have been fighting myself for so long that I am sometimes lost as to how to get myself unstuck. But I have hopes that with professional help, including some much needed therapy for my mental health, I can find some new tools to help me find a way forward into an even brighter future.

Thanks for all the support to everyone who's reached out in the last year. Your kind words have meant the world to this old fella and I appreciate every message, DM and comment I get. I don't wanna go anywhere, I still got a lot left to say.

Cheers!

Polk

09/22/25

I Drink Alone

   Is that a weird way to open a blog post? 

  Admitting that I drink alone?

  Well, it is the truth and I wanted to write about my life more this year, even if it seems a little uncomfortable or difficult. My greatest success and growth has come from laying it all out for the world to see and releasing whatever is inside me that tries to bring me down into the darkness again, silence is my own worst enemy.

  I think what I mean to say, without trying to downplay my lack of a social life outside my going to work or online, is that I enjoy my own company when I want to relax. After almost 4 decades in working retail, food service and general public facing jobs, I do feel worn down just a tad, the last 4 years have proven even more difficult with the rise of the selfish class, a special breed of hell mongers all their own. It has bled into almost every part of my day, the inward facing, sole spotlight seekers, to whom everyone must revolve for their existence to mean anything to them. It is exhausting sometimes and while there are some bright spots, I have not really engaged with anyone (with a few rare diamonds shining brightly) who I wanted to carry out friendships beyond the superficial stage in quite some time. Now that isn't to say I haven't met some wonderful people, but none with whom I could consider a daily friend, someone I could hang out with on a whim, without planning everything in advance and hoping something doesn't come up in between. All my best relationships seem to be online, quietly waiting for engagement when I have the mental capacity to do so...not so intrusive, yet lacking in spontaneity and time to forge close bonds that last longer than a text. 

  I did at one time, have a large circle of close pals, hangers on and assorted characters who would flit in and out, depending on the time of year, party theme or drinking indulgence. We hosted get togethers almost weekly, sometimes a raucous house full of poker players, karaoke singers and drunkards, other times just a couple close friends for dinner and games, maybe heading out on the town for a night out of nonsense and liquid fun. It was a glorious time, we were all relatively young, with little in the way of outside responsibilities and life seemed a grand stage for us to strut about, happily glowing in drunken revelry. Time marches on though, and as I tumbled down the rabbit whole of career interuptus, losing what I thought was my life, I began separating from everyone I knew, pushing them away because I could not understand how anyone would want to hang out with such a loser. Self pity turned into dark and deep depression, it took years to climb out of that particular hole, clawing my way up through thoughts of not wanting to be alive anymore to falling into a morass of self medicating to keep the demons at bay. When I finally came up from the depths, life had moved on and I was exactly where I thought I deserved to be.

  The last few years have been decent, I've grown a little better as a person, albeit one who still isn't certain of himself from time to time. I do not know if I can ever recapture who I was or at least, the part that I think I was, the happy go lucky kind of person I hope to project to the world when I leave the house. I turned down opportunities to go to beer fests, judge a beer competition, hang out with the few people who still reach out every once in awhile. It's not that I don't want to, it's that I don't know I know how to anymore. My ability to spend time alone has become a shield in defense of nothing, a tilting at windmills that only exist in my mind. But what used to be a heavy indulgence in clouded thinking and over indulgence has changed into a more quiet pursuit of peace and opportunity to try to understand who I really am underneath the layers I've painted on this life I tried to walk away from so many times. I am trying to appreciate my own time so that I can give it to others with the joy I used to. I cannot recreate the past, nor should I want to, that guy doesn't exist anymore...but I do.

  Finding myself hanging out with the Boys, I was happy, I do miss the camaraderie of The Lodge, the not so subtle jabs we would toss at each other when we discussed sports and played poker. It could get deep too, some nights we would delve below the surface, not too far, but enough that we felt loved and bonded, maybe not family, but something deeper. I salute those folks, true gems they were.

  Good times, hazy memories and an entirely different person...

  I drink alone. But I do not wallow in solitude, I have found myself slowly rising again, perhaps the road ahead is long and will not be easy, but it does not seem so insurmountable as it once did. I raise my glass to the days gone by, to the ones ahead and to the simple life I seek. Perhaps I shall find it, and you, one day.

Polk

February 26th, 2024

That Beer Buzz...

  There is almost no better vibe in the world than when you're having a couple beers and that magical warm and fuzzy feeling kicks in. Be it after 1, 2, or more beers, we all have a sweet spot for when everything is right in the world and you just drift along for a little while in your happiness.  You're not quite drunk, not quite sober, but existing in a beautiful place known as the Beer Buzz.

  It's a real art form finding the right spot, knowing when to say when and when to say just one more, a delicate balance of slow sipping and quick chugging, sprinkled in with some laughs and a smile growing across your face. I took a couple of quick polls on social media last week and found that the vast majority of folks (over 75%) who are with me for this weirdly beer centric trip I'm on seemed to agree that 3 to 4 beers was that very place to be when it came to the best feelings, the place where it's just right. I'll admit that I thought more people would lean into the old 2-Beer Buzz territory and of course some people still do, but with more than 3/4 of 300 plus people answering at the higher end, it got me to thinking if my own levels had changed over the years or not.

  There was a time when I'd get home from work and think nothing of rocketing back a 6-pack of Brava or  Old Milwaukee tall-boys in quick succession and that would get me on the way to where I wanted to go, a stumbling start to the black-out I was seeking. Somewhere along the way, I did find a better way to drink, still slipping into old habits of course, but generally being more aware of what I was pouring in my glass and trying to appreciate it gave me some pause when it came to my beer consumption.

  It's been almost a decade of riding along this craft beer road and I have finally come to a place where the conversation turned to seeking a better balance in what had become a daily grind of trying to keep up with things I didn't really care about anymore. What I wanted was a way to enjoy what seemed like the perfect feeling whenever the fancy took me. Some days that's no beers, sometimes just 1 or 2 and on those wonderful days when it really felt right, the Beer Buzz hum of that third pint with a fourth in waiting. And therein lies the art of the entire thing, knowing where you are and not having the one that tips you from the Buzz to the Drunk. I'll say that I have found since the vast majority of my beers tend to be above 6% ABV, 3 is often the best place for me to slide into home with my eyes wide open. It's a really nice feeling to not have the next beer, to know that this one was the last one of the evening and savour every last drop. Sure, there are days when I make the decision to go a little past that last beer and drag myself to another place entirely, but in the last few months, I find myself intentionally stopping at the same spot, satisfied with where I was and how it made me feel. Too many mornings filled with self reflecting conversations of how I shouldn't have had that last beer, seemingly wasting a great pint on a night that didn't need another one. 

  Honestly, I feel like that is what the goal of this entire endeavour has been. It's about enjoying a couple, three beers, without extending myself into bad habits I know I have and mistakes I want to make less and less. Taking nights off of beer, stepping away from a toxic work environment and making peace with who I am and where I came from has been a big part of this too. Understanding myself makes it easier to know when I have found that very real feeling the Beer Buzz delivers and I can lean back to enjoy it without needing to go any further. I've spent a lifetime in search of this very peaceful place...

  I hope you find yours.

Polk

February 20, 2024

  

The Streak

 

November 21st, 2015 - December 8th, 2023

2939 days.

The Streak began without my knowledge, gained traction because I thought it would be interesting to see if I could write about beer on Instagram every day for a year and morphed into a weird ritual that was part of my daily routine for just a little over 8 years. 

6,664 beer and beer adjacent posts later, it came to an end and strangely enough, something changed almost as undetected as it had started. 

  I've loved the feeling of leaving behind the world with a couple of drinks for longer than I can remember. It goes back more than 3 decades and while there have been long stretches of sobriety in those years, it wasn't long before I had a bottle in my hand and was tipping more than a few back every weekend and the odd weekday too. I enjoyed many nights with friends, just shooting the shit about life, nothing too deep mind you, and indulging in the three beers to the truth we would joke about as the pints flew quickly and everything seemed so grand.

  Then came the fall of all I had been working for and slowly I watched as my business and then my grip on reality slipped away from me. I was torn down to my core, exposed and searching for the reason why I had failed so much at life when I thought I was going to succeed.  Being labelled a gifted kid with no real understanding or support system to help me direct my energy into making that something more than a grade school bully target and then derelict high school drop out gave me an odd sense of accomplishment as I looked at how much I had managed to accomplish, even with what I had thrown away. I reveled in the mundane destruction of it all.

  Through all those dark days, I did manage to keep up appearances, my mask slipping occasionally and the frightening sadness underneath would ooze out into the world, causing me to retreat further from those who knew me before everything changed. I didn't want to be around people who knew me as a good-time guy, that facade was a heavy burden I carried because I grew up with the lesson that men didn't talk about their feelings or troubles, you just carried on and did what you needed to do for your family. Isolating myself from who I used to be made everything harder but there was a small light at the end of the very long tunnel and lucky for me, it turned out not to be the 3:10 to Yuma barreling down on me.

  When I stumbled upon craft beer and the growing community online in late 2015, there was a sense of us against the big corporate macro brewers, the Rocky theme played out as we tried new styles of beer and got excited about cask nights, beer festivals and meeting like minded folks through our little pictures on Instagram. I pledged to drink a beer and write about it every day in 2016 and when I completed that, I just kinda kept going. It wasn't my intention to do all I have done since that November day in 2015, but who among us is the same person they were 8 years ago?

  I loved a lot of what those early days brought, I found solace in talking about my own mental health struggles through the lens of Mindful Drinking and trying to drink less but better. It was true in my heart in those days, I really did believe in everything I wrote and talked about in those much more innocent times, a veil of superiority cloaked every pint we poured and every picture we took. We thought we would change the world, but as the years have gone by, we have seen the same issues society at large faces come out in the stories of the terrible behaviour of so many people involved in craft beer and the increasing influence of the hidden cost of this liquid dream.

  I've spent the last few years leaning more into the drunk part of my life, the escapism associated with a couple, three beers a night. Big daddy pours of Rye and a desire to just leave it all behind every day was evident to anyone and I knew it deeply. I had reached a point of no return and saw no way to stop this rollicking mine cart careening down the mountainside without something drastic happening. I couldn't step away, even when I stopped caring our putting much more than a minimal effort into what I was doing online. The first half of 2023 saw me push myself to the most destructive thoughts I had felt in almost a decade and there seemed like only one way I wouldn't have a drink in my hand at some point every day and it didn't involve being above ground.

  But...

  Somehow, fate intervened again, and I was let go from a toxic, degenerate workplace that had helped me manifest the very worst of who I was each and every day, a path leading me to an early end and a decidedly tarnished one at that. I took a few weeks this summer to just be, to let go of a lot of the internal self hatred that often manifested itself in way too many drinks and seek perhaps a new path forward. I found a job that was exactly what I needed, a place where my most valuable asset was myself and slowly began to climb up and poke my head out of the hole I had created over the last half decade. I felt that it was time to find a way to change my own relationship with this character I had created and when Covid finally came calling on December 9th, 2023, I put down my phone, my glass and stopped the tap for the first time in 8 years. 

  It was terrifying, not in a sense that I would lose any sort of online credibility or presence, it was a nagging voice in my head that was telling me if I stopped doing something every day, it would be bad luck and I would soon be gone from this earth, dead by lack of routine. I know it's a mental thing, but those 5 days late last year where I not only stepped away from drinking, but all social media, was a revelation. I hate it when people announce they are leaving or taking a break from posting, it seems designed to troll for some kind of sympathy and honestly, it gives me bad vibes. I promised myself that when the day comes, I'll just delete my accounts, take the apps off my phone and walk away into the non-digital sunset without looking back. And for 120 hours, I did almost that, with perhaps 2 or 3 people checking to see if I was okay because I hadn't posted a beer every day. I felt free from the self-imposed daily grind, I felt loose and found myself not needing to create something every day to make my life make sense. 

  More non drinking days followed, not to say that I haven't had some grey moments in the last month and a half at all, but there was a severing of a very long cord to something from my past that I could not let go of and as 2024 dawned, I felt the path I was on had branched and I could now choose where I went next, empowered by my break, the next day could be whatever I made it, a fresh start with each morning. Don't get me wrong, I know I have a long way to go in terms with my mental health and my relationships, both with alcohol and with the people in my life. I know little of what I did for the last 8 years will have lasting impact on anyone but myself and the burden of proving I can change falls squarely on my beaten yet unbowed shoulders. I am not going to change in a short time, those Saturday night pints are still fun to me, but the possibility of change exists now like it hasn't since the beginning of all this.

  There has been a shift in my life since last September, but I am not someone who changes direction quickly, a large ship takes time to turn and I am just such a large ship. There is a new calm I find, one I can maybe seek out in larger chunks of time, away from the screen and the beer that brings me here. I don't want to stop doing all this just yet, I've found my inspiration and motivation to write again and it too is making a difference in how I feel, my mood is better and my self worth creeps higher whenever I can take the words from my notes and in my head and put it all together in one long form piece. But there is an exit, I see the possibilities of what comes next and for now, that is what I am focusing on.

  It was a helluva long ride, I'm not sure why it all happened, but the story is changing and I wanna be here to see where it goes, 

Thanks for coming along, I appreciate it more than I'll ever be able to say.

Polk

January 22nd, 2024

Judge not, lest ye be Dry.

 

Be cool.

  I drink a beer everyday. I like to write about it too, it's kinda my thing. I support and promote craft beer because I enjoy what it has brought to my life and hope to keep the community growing and changing for years to come. I am pro enjoying whatever you like, when you like it and be damned what anyone else thinks of your enjoyment. 

But.

   I also think this applies to anyone who does a "Dry" month or week or whatever have you. I think anyone who chooses to completely walk away from beer or alcohol for a period of time or permanently should be able to do so without questions about their decisions. My own relationship with booze is a complicated one that goes back 3 decades and has many moments of joy and sorrow associated with it. Taking a pause from drinking isn't a thing to be mocked, even though I would have been saying a much different thing not so many years ago. I was the party guy, our house hosting parties almost every weekend and the alcohol flowed with me as head of bad decisions. I encouraged and cajoled people to drink with me, calling them out if they couldn't keep pace or didn't want to imbibe. Looking back, I am not proud of all that I did, but I also know that change and growth is possible and that's why I'm still here today to talk about how we move forward and change the conversation about drinking and our part in it. 

Marbs is always judging, but you shouldn't be.

  Personal responsibility for owning your choices is a good start. Doing what you need to do for your own health, mental and physical, should always be paramount to anything you do and while my own poor choices are well documented, I keep trying to be better every day. If not drinking gets you right with you, then that's all that should matter. I don't know what motivates it, but I see the people who do it sharing their "journey" much like others do with their social media accounts about beer or liquor and I don't for a minute question their decision. It isn't mine to make. The internet has allowed us to make friends across social and economic divides, distance means nothing when we can talk online and learn about each other virtually before we ever meet in real life. Sharing what we are doing allows us to communicate that with the wider world and that is what we all do every time we post a beer or whatever it is makes you tick. I don't see many folks being "preachy" about it, in fact a lot of them are forthright about their own struggles with consuming too much and boy, that hits home as I too have those conversations in my own head on a weekly basis. They recognize that perhaps they get a little too deep into their own cups, seeking that rush when they share a new beer pic that's gets their phone buzzing with likes and comments. It isn't just the beer that's addictive, the social media driven endorphin rush is real and powerful and not going away. So, by sharing their experiences with taking a break from booze, they can still stay connected and feel like they are not alone, big deals both especially as we continue to stay home and away from socializing in person. 

  I have friends who have gone completely sober, absolutely dry and hoping to stay that way permanently. They have come to the very difficult and personal decision that no booze is the only way for them to live and I strongly come down on their side with my whole heart and support. I congratulate them on every week or month dry as they celebrate it and make sure they know I applaud their courage to address what they need to just to survive. By the same mark, I also cheer on those doing the dry week or months because they too are being real and true to themselves. I know right now it is a most difficult time for many craft breweries, but supporting local doesn't end because someone took a month away from drinking beer. They are buying gift cards, picking up new releases for consumption after their dry period ends and continuing to share online their love of this community. As someone who lives very much out loud online, I don't hide a lot of my life from the world, I understand the fun in sharing something new and shiny in your world. I don't think I ever go more than a few days without posting pictures of Marbles and Simcoe because they bring great happiness to my life and while they are most assuredly not beer related, I don't really care because everything I do is about making myself feel happy when I may not be feeling that at all. 

Simcoe lets you know how he feels about judging people for not drinking

  Do what you like, as long as it isn't hurting anyone or yourself, and you will have my full support. I may one day do a "Dry" month myself, that would be a hell of a story to write and I do love to explore my own mind in real time and wide open to the world as I go along. But in all seriousness, be kind to other people as the planet still reels from this pandemic, the vitriol online should be reserved for the racists and hatemongers who deserve it. Someone doing a sober month deserves a "Hell. yeah", not a "Hell, no". As they say in the Different Strokes theme song :

"Now, the world don't move to the beat of just one drum,

What might be right for you, may not be right for some."

  Be good to each other and yourself and know that Old Polk is always here for a beer, some cheer or just to hear you talk.

Polk

Drunk at the Pandemic

Sobriety optional.
  Well, not really, but it sure feels like it some days as we go 4 or 5 deep in search of relief from the grind of being essential, not essential or somewhere in between. The jokes about rising alcoholism have a dark undercurrent of truth and I'll be the first one to admit my tweets and other social media postings are part meant to poke fun at myself and part a glimpse into a world gone mad with social distance. While not a super social person to begin with, the sense that I can do nothing except go to work and come home leaves me feeling stressed on top of the other stresses of dealing with the general public and working in a restaurant kitchen where you are often elbow to elbow with your co-workers. You begin to feel like a machine, a cog that turns round awaiting the next crank of the wheel taking you back into the world, suspicious of anyone who walks through the door, at times grateful to be working and other times terrified of having to do so. We have no training or previous time to refer back on to help give us a sense of what to do or what will come next and the longer this goes on, the more cracks begin to appear in our supposed united front. And these cracks are not just between people who think we've been too harsh and others who know this must continue for much longer than we realise. The divisions come from within and that is where I struggle the most.
  At the very best of times, I turn to a pint or two after work for a little liquid relaxation, most often sticking to that the majority of my time. Sure I have a beer every day, but it is usually just the one...until it isn't. Sliding into near alcoholism has long been a personal demon I felt like I kept at bay because I always felt that I did my job, provided for my family and didn't devolve every day into a mess of booze. Truth be told, without kids, I guess my responsibilities kind of end when my shift does because I literally do what I want after that. I long ago left guilt or feelings that I must do this or that family or societal function behind, secure that my personal space was all I needed or wanted. The pressure to do things was less and less as time went on and we established a fairly routine life that was a perfect fit for who we are. A little heavy on the beer from time to time, but for the most part in control.
  Then Jinx died, the pandemic hit and the whole flimsy façade came crashing down in a very real way. Turning to that buzz, the numbing of the world and the forgetting everything became easier with every passing day. Coming home to a pint or two before dinner, 5 or 6 more after and repeating for days on end became the new norm, easy to feel nothing than deal with what felt like everything. The incredible ease with which beer could be delivered to my house certainly has changed the game, picking up a 24 of  an IPA just to drink was something I hadn't done in years and that kind of abundance allows me to indulge my whims whenever I desire. Good or bad, beer delivers me from the day behind and prevents the worry of the day ahead to cloud right damn now. It isn't something I am comfortable with to be sure, but it is real and I am most likely not alone in an increased consumption. I see it, I feel it in every post my online friends make, the need for connection feeding the need for more and more release. We are a social bunch, this pandemic has driven us to seclude in our homes and that is felt most in our mental health while we struggle to wrap our heads around the months ahead.
  This feels disjointed, I usually write from a spark and go from there, revisions minimal and editing almost never. I have no energy for creating anything most for the time, finding my mind has little patience for a vision further than my next pint. While I can pop off a video and a few beer reviews a day, I feel the pandemic slips in more and more and have no problem addressing how I am feeling while still talking about what I'm drinking. It is a weird place to be now, trying to be responsible while also not completely falling apart every single day. I will be the first person to tell you and truthfully admit without hesitation that I desire that feeling 2 or 3 beers gives me every day. I wonder if tomorrow I might wake up with a fever, cough or worse not wake up at all, the stress cannot be good for anyone, let alone a dude pushing way over his ideal weight heading into the back half (third?) of life. Every ache and pain of the day behind me ricochets into a near panic and those pints help calm that beast, every time.
  When I wake up every morning, I look myself in the mirror and say today we will just have one pint when we get home. I even believe myself and head out into the world with hope that it will be a good shift ahead of me. I go forward with an eye to safety and making sure we do all the right things, but with so much unknown, so many things changing daily, it can feel overwhelming and by the time I step back in the door at home, 1 turns to 3 and off we go. Rarely falling down drunk, but seeking a balance to the uneasy feeling that climbs all day long, I wish I could say it will end anytime soon. I am trying to express how I feel and not just drink those feelings away, being mindful that it impacts the people around me, even if they aren't physically here. I try to be more aware, but I am so easily led astray by my own weakness for comfort, seeking any kind of break from the world around me.
  I don't really know what's next, I don't know that this exercise does much good for anyone or even myself. What I do know is that we are not alone in experiencing these feelings of living through history, aware that this will not be over soon and that collectively we will change in some way after we come though the other side of  pandemic unlike anything we've ever seen. I might be a drunk, but at least I'm at home.
Stay safe, try to keep it together as best you can and maybe we can go for a walk before we crack that first beer of the day...it will do us all some good.


Polk

The Path not Taken - A tale of Coors Light, Temptation and the Christmas that wasn't

  

There is a very fine line between craft beer enthusiast and common drunkard and I am a man who lives quite easily on either side of said line. A long time ago I discovered the transformative, albeit potentially and actually destructive, properties of alcohol and have often ventured down the path of oblivion for the pure and simple embrace of darkness. I'll not lie and say I don't enjoy the good buzz 4 or 5 pints gives me or the warm and fuzzy feelings you get after a few shots of whisky, but in the last few years, it has been far more about the flavours and exploration of what this craft beer life had to offer. Occasional missteps aside, I certainly do not consume the sheer volume of beers I used to put back when I was really and truly a drunk. I've relived a lot of those times in different posts here on the blog, my penchant for cheap macro beer that could be consumed in large quantities and quickly deliver a short to my central nervous system was well known, troublesome and yet somehow just part of who and what I was. I would come home from work many nights at midnight after a 15 hour day and quickly pound a 6 or 12 pack in a matter of an hour or so before heading to bed and then repeating ad nauseam as I struggled to stay afloat in a world that was quickly falling apart around me. Enter craft beer, a whole lot of soul searching, drinking, anxiety, depression, adventure, excitement and growth as I tried to change the track of my life as my mid forties chugged along headed for the mid-century mark of life. I like to think I've changed a lot and for the most part my relationship with beer has changed, most days are one and done and off I go to do what I do with my precious free time.
  But there are days...
  This last Christmas season was not a good time for this guy. I was mired deep in a funk that brought out the worst in my moods, quietly brooding and honestly thinking about little but the darkest of thoughts about myself, my future and how long I was even going to be around for. I could not shake it and while to most folks, my outward social media and real life performance was one that seemed happy and carefree, excited for Christmas even as I pondered if it would be my last. Kat took the brunt of my silent struggle as I was monotone and morose at the best of times, leaving her no doubt feeling helpless and alone as I struggled with dark demons that are known only to me, in my head and soul I fought on. I'm here to say that she helped me overcome my own damn self and I am well on the road to recovery once again, a little battered and bruised, but wiser and armed with some new tools and outlooks on how I can avoid slipping again.
  Why is this important to the end of the tale I tell today? It leans heavy into my past and the loss of control I used to relish when one beer became ten became a two-four. On Christmas Eve, I was shaken with demons inside and struggling to compose myself around my extended family without resorting to self medicating as I was finding my footing without sliding into over consumption as the holiday approached it's zenith. I had brought several big ABV beers to share, but no one was really into the sauce, a good thing I'd say as we gather with my Mom's extended side of the family and there are still a lot of little ones around. While I was trying to avoid going off track, I couldn't decide what beer to drink and not really feeling anything at all, I stepped outside and grabbed a Coors Light out of the case Dad always has on hand for Christmas guests. Why? I don't know, for a lark, because I hated myself a little for how I was feeling at a time of year I usually shone with joy or maybe because I know exactly what that kind of beer is to me. I quickly downed 3 and took a couple of travellers next door to my Granny's, where the clan was gathering for an hour or so of Eve gift exchanging and yearly checkins with those cousins we wish we could see more of. The Coors lights were having zero effect on my mood or delivering that old fashioned, good time Polk buzz that I was so used to and yet, as I drank them, I knew it would be so easy to slip back into that comfortable robe of empty promises I used to wear so well. You don't drink macro beer because it tastes good, although a lot of us drink craft beer a little like it's macro sometimes too, you drink it because it delivers what it promises, refreshing a dry palate and sweet, sweet drunk love. I am not going for the beer snob angle at all with this, I am quite capable of madness on a dozen IPAs too, but it isn't something I chase quite so quickly or often...if at all. But these blue mountains flowed from the can and bottle like ambrosia to some part of my mind and while I didn't get hammered and have some sort of tale of redemption a la Scrooge, nor did my mood improve until later that week when Kat was finally able to get me to listen and see where and what I was feeling wasn't real that I pulled out of my spiral and headed back to a higher altitude with a broken wing that was holding on with a little duct tape and best wishes.
  I couldn't quite shake that feeling though, the one when the beer hits your lips and just goes down without any thought or interest in what was going on, save another one and the one after that. It is tempting to shut all this social media down, lean back with a 24 and just let go and be gone into a haze wholly familiar. It would be so much simpler, easy to work a 10 hour day, get bent on a 6 or 12 pack of MGD or Pabst and sleep it off, I was and am practically immune to hangovers and that is a whole other story that will need another day and time to cover. I know that guy I was, I am comfortable being that guy and it seems far too easy and maybe preferable to let all this go and become that guy once again...
But I don't want that to be how my story ends, I have changed so much that I cannot fathom letting everything I've learned about who I am and what I could become go because it is easier to do things the old way. I may drink too much occasionally, I may not always be the best role model for anyone, but I am leaving nothing hidden and that honesty has delivered me from darkness again and again.
  So that's a little peek inside the Mind of Polk this early January Friday, I want to do more of this stuff this year, I miss getting these thoughts out of my head and onto the screen. It isn't perfect, but neither am I, best I can do is try and tell you how I feel, how I got here and what is going on. Maybe it helps someone, I don't know, but I do know it helps me and that's gotta be worth something at the end of it all.


Cheers!
Polk

On it goes...1400 days

  In 72 hours it will happen...
  1400 straight days.
  Almost 4 years of beer.
  Sunrise and sunset, elbows up and pints down for longer than I could have ever imagined doing anything. Since November 21st, 2015, I have drank at least one beer and wrote about it on Instagram. Well over 4000 posts, beer reviews, pictures and videos now reside in the vacuum of the internet to show the universe who I was long after I am gone...a little scary to be sure. Why did it happen? How? When will it stop? Should it?
  I don't know.

  In the beginning, it was all in fun, there was no intention of writing about beer every day, never mind sharing my life, grand failures and triumphs et all, with the world. I was just a guy discovering a new world and seeing beer differently for the first time since he discovered how good it made him feel two plus decades before. Slowly, things grew and changed organically, set pieces with thought out backgrounds and stories faded as I realised it was just about the beer and my daily existence with it that was what my purpose was. I began with a thought to share beer with the world and that became the driving force behind everything I do. I decided without consciously knowing it that I would write about things as I did them, as I drank them and with little thought to anything but my own truth.

  There is no master plan, no hustle to what I do every day. I don't have a cache of posts, blog or Instagram, YouTube videos or poems for Twitter saved up on my phone or computer. I try to live very much in the exact moment I am experiencing things and leave the well thought out and executed stuff to those far smarter and more dedicated than I. Truth be told, once done with something, I have left it there as a marker in my life, moving on with the knowledge that I was there, but now I'm gone.

I have too much respect for people who work so hard to create amazing images and videos, thoughtfully written treatises on craft beer and other things to believe that I possess the patience or structure to do any of that. I am a fan of the beautiful and the mundane, the words that flow and the pictures that capture my eye every damn day. I love the passion so many people have found for crafting a small part of this niche in the world for themselves, some for fun, some for profit and some because they just want to feel like they are part of something a little bigger than themselves. I am an encourager of expression, a minstrel of positive messages and a believer that craft beer has changed a lot of lives for the better in a world that often seems hell bent on taking away the joy and community of people who just want to live and love with abandon and an open heart.

  I have fallen out with people I thought were friends, made new ones and found old ones once again. I have offended and fought battles with words, given shots and taken them in defense of beliefs I didn't know I had. I have loved and lived with the idea that the simple act of sharing a beer picture can make the world a little better for someone not having a good day. If my videos make someone laugh or encourages them to do something creative because even this old war horse does it, then I feel like I've done my part right. If my pictures gave anyone the idea to do it themselves or my words moved them to write their own, then it was all worth every pint and every agonized moment after I hit send. I wish I had the drive to create a space in the world where my words and love of great beer made me an income, but I long ago came to grips with the direction and ambitions I have. I salute and will help lift up anyone who is trying to capture lightning in a bottle and create something of value for themselves and their future, I see you and will always have your back. I help promote things and people I believe in, my voice added to a cast that can be in single digits or tens of thousands, no matter the number, know that I believe in you and what you're doing if it is a positive impact on the world.
  Thank you, my friends, for being a part of this, a trip round the sun 4 years long and many, many pints deep. Things have changed so much in our community since I began and while I prefer to sit sidelines as home and share that experience with you, know that I am cheering you on as you go forth and find your own piece of the pie. What I do is who I am, be yourself and do things in a way that makes you proud, happy and filled with joy...I feel it everyday.

Cheers!
Polk
 

Drink the Fridge - It's time to clean out and drink up

 

 I like to come up with new ideas to celebrate my love of beer. Sometimes those ideas come from things I see or hear and other times they are thrust upon me by my own ineptitude or bad timing. A week of unexpected expenses has left me bereft of my usual beer money and I was left staring at myself in the mirror with a feeling of unease as I am a pretty regular (every other day at least) purchaser and peruser of local breweries and liquor or beer stores. To say I enjoy the acquiring of beer almost as much as the drinking would not be an understatement and I didn't relish the thought of the next two weeks without being able to add to what is already a pretty full series of fridge spaces in and around my home. While the budget conscious part of my mind saw this as a time to tighten the belt and reset my off kilter ways of spending, my totally irrational beer brain was apocalyptic at the prospect of not bringing home some new and favourite beers until the middle of the month. Luckily for me, my rational brain has been winning a few more of these types of battles lately and I committed to what I'd like to think is the wholly fun and interesting campaign of Drink the Fridge.
  After spending a few hours with my budget for the next couple of months, making sure we were planning ahead and setting aside to rebuild our now depleted savings, I then turned my mind to this concept of clearing out and drinking up the beers I had bought, was given or thought I needed at some time or another. A walk through the house yielded some real gems lost in the back of the food fridge and downstairs in the now seldom used bar fridge, beers forgotten or left for another time, now fast approaching. A lot of fruity sours, dry hopped this or that, lagers, ales, stouts and various one offs that somehow caught my eye when I first purchased them but then found a way to the darkest recesses of my mind and my fridge.
  So out of necessity and really, about damn time, I'm taking the better part of the next two weeks to clean out the beer backlog that has built up as I constantly pursued the next beer and the one after that, even though I had and have a bulging collection of beer spread across the house and beyond that was just waiting for me to drink them. Perhaps this lesson learned will help me to value my dollar a little more, respect the budget I make and drink my beer when I should. This isn't about the cellared stuff, the ones we are keeping for later in the year or beyond, this is simply about the beer we buy and then set aside, pushing back as we buy more and more. It isn't that it is bad beer (for the most part), it's that I am as guilty as the next person of picking up something a few times a week because its new, shiny or I just wanted to. I guarantee you that many craft beer drinkers have a similar predicament but maybe the rest of their lives are better organized than mine so they aren't pushed to confront this compulsion to buy everything as often as I seem to find myself doing.
  Drink the Fridge will hopefully reset my mind to what I am buying and give me an opportunity to catch up with some stuff I am now seeing again for the first time. Will it be all sunshine and roses? Hell no, some stuff may have turned, gone bad or just plain not be what I thought it was. But the need to confront myself and bring order to this chaos is just what I need to get right with the beer gods and the universe I live in.


Cheers!
Polk

Comfort Beer - You can go home again.

The pursuit of the new and novel is the hallmark of most craft beer drinkers. We love to find different styles or variations of such and of course, pursue the elusive whales of our dreams. These flights of beer fancy are fun and leave us looking whenever we stop at the Liquor, grocery or Beer stores or the breweries themselves for something we haven't seen before. This is the reason so many of us got into craft beer in the first place, the constant and changing landscape of innovations and ideas drives the need to keep searching for the next thing.
 While this is what we do most often, we also lean back sometimes to the beers that took us from there to here and enjoy them quietly and in a deep appreciation for what they have brought to our lives. Whether you've been a consumer of craft beer for decades or are just dipping your taste buds in slowly right now, we all have those beers that bring us joy and ones we return to again and again without fanfare but with much love. Some people call these "Go-To" or regular rotation beers but I like to think of them as "Comfort Beers" and with good reason, they give me just that.
  A Comfort beer is trustworthy, never wavering from the original intent and always reliable. It delivers what you remember and what you enjoy with equal aplomb and even if it's been a while and your palate has changed or improved, it still gets you smiling when you take that first sip. You find yourself buying a few cans of this beer every so often just because and it can surprise you when you haven't had it in a while because it continues to be a consistently beautifully crafted ale. It isn't flashy or trendy and for some of them, even well known, it can seem like they have been missing from your life for far too long. You know them and you love them for exactly what they are.

  While each of us has our own version of a Comfort Beer, the hallmarks of consistency, quality, reliability, availability and trust play huge factors as often times new beers can miss the mark or leave us wanting as brewers change and challenge the notion of what a certain style of beer should be. For me, a true Comfort Beer is as close to the style points as possible and delivers them in balance between all flavours and aromas. It also has to be readily available all year long as a one off or seasonal release may not be there when the notion hits you and you crave the familiar. Although having said that, I do count on a few releases every year to join me as I roll along through life like long distance love.
What hits the mark for one person will not for another but here are a few pints that you should pick up again or maybe for the first time to enjoy and reflect.

Nickel Brook Brewing Headstock IPA - The OG of West Coast style IPAs for me. Big citrus pith and pine with a toasted malt body that is all about balance.
Wellington Brewery Imperial Russian Stout - The only year round Imperial stout in Ontario. As a slow sipper at the beginning of the day or the last pint of the night, it is perfect.
Amsterdam Brewing Boneshaker IPA - The beer that taught me citrus pith and pine are good things. It's big brother Fracture is a yearly Comfort beer that never disappoints.
Steamwhistle Pilsner - Legendary quality. The original crossover beer for so many of us and a ubiquitous part of our craft beer life that appears again and again, especially in summer.
Great Lakes Brewery Canuck Pale Ale - That most Canadian of Pale Ales. Available fresh and with an unmatched consistency of taste.
Clifford Porter - One of a handful of beers that sets the benchmark for any that come after it.
Collective Arts Ransack the Universe IPA - My first love. A tweak has developed it once again into a must have on a regular basis.
Side Launch Wheat - My favourite straight up wheat ale. Perfect in every way.
Muskoka Brewery Mad Tom IPA - A cottage take on the classic West Coast IPA. It hits different hop notes than most classic IPAs and that brings me joy. Twice as Mad Tom is delightful too.
Sawdust City Brewing Lone Pine IPA - A brilliance of balance. Pine, resin, grapefruit and more citrus check all the boxes. Twin Pines...oh baby.

  While I am sure I could list a dozen more and that your own personal list of Comfort Beers may contain a completely different set of beers, the intention is the same. Identifying the beers you trust and know will always deliver what you ask of them, Finding your way back home after an adventure and enveloping yourself in the love and spark of what you know and love is a fabulous feeling.
  Enjoy your summer and remember it's okay to just drink a beer because you know it and enjoy just drinking it. Life is all about chasing the dream, but sometimes you just need a break and a Comfort beer should be exactly that.

Cheers!

Polk

 
 

Enjoy the Core - Flagship beers in a FOMO Era : Polk's Opinion

  

2019 begins and once again we start our year in beer with a look at what we drink while we think.
 The last 4 years have personally been a tremendous period of exploring and finding exciting, unique craft beers from new and favourite brewers alike, but I was reminded last week of the other part of what we do. Drink those beers that got us here and those we have around almost all the time, or used to. Should we be going back more often to those original and introductory beers? Indeed and we should do it with an eye to seeing just how far we've come as consumers of this wonderful, happy elixir.

Enjoy the Core.

My first craft beer love

  We will always persue the new and different, the returning favourites and the one-off collaboration brews but it is the ones we pour week in and week out that we have come to talk about today. While the sheer number of breweries in this province means we are never short of the novel and shiny bright, new beer feel, we have favourites and that is okay too.

1st mad tom, 2014

  For me, the word core or flagship can mean a couple of things, especially given that not every beer hits the LCBO and your local craft brewery may have a beer that sticks around most of the time, enough that you have it pretty regularly anyway, and so it is core to you. When talking returning or seasonal beers, these factor into the conversation for the sake of their constantly appearing at a certain time each year to fill in a void in the beer calendar, but  For today, let's stick to the beers you can usually count on getting when you want them.
The Flagship journey begins with my first favourite beers...

my beer fridge circa 2014

  For as long as I can remember I was a Molson guy. My go to beers were almost always a Canadian or (blech) Molson Dry and I was content to sit around, day after day, just pounding back this tasteless, albeit well made and unchanging, macro beer. The odd foray into MGD or Stella when I wanted something fancy was not uncommon, although when a 24 of anything went on sale or had some cool swag, I would have no problem switching allegiance to save a couple bucks or get a new shirt. The market is filled with people like I was, like maybe you were too, buying case after case, unending and uninterested in Craft beer or any other such nonsense. As I started to drink heavily, I drifted to the discount brands to save even more money and increase the stretch of my beer money. Lakeport led to Brava led to Brava Light and that was rock bottom as 6 packs of BL would disappear within minutes and the beer barely registered on it's way down.

Brava Light birthday cake

An actual thing that I used to do

  Moving on and up, my trips into craft beer were slow and steady, pushing out the room I once made for the super light and crushable barley pops and I turned to PBR and Old Milwaukee as my own personal core and "cleanser" (what we called the cans we would drink between sharing a new beer) drinks, still loyal to the idea of drinking one thing all the time with little sparks of genius lighting the path far down the line. Slowly the tide turned and despite the Untappd check-ins and badge whoredom, eventually even certain craft beers became regulars amidst the pursuit of the new.

  My first loves and pints of much return were toasty and a little bitter as Great Lakes Brewery Pompous Ass and Grand River Curmudgeon gained a foothold in my heart.

I miss this

These were followed by Mill Street vanilla Porter and finally the big and piney Nickel Brook Headstock and Amsterdam Boneshaker before my much beloved Collective Arts Ransack the Universe gave me a hometown option I am still in love with to this day. I am an unabashed west coast loving IPA guy and it all stems from my core fridge beers moving in a slow but steady rise in bitterness. I buy the 1st one and the latter 3 fairly often and indeed in 2018 I talked about core beers over 180 times (out of 976 posts on Instagram) just because they still make me smile when I pour them in my glass. While they are decidedly hoppy in their nature, I love to look at the beers that helped bring to where I am now so I can see how much I've learned and if it is me or they who have changed.

vintage can, beauty beer

  Having said all that about my personal trip round the beer world, I was reminded of the core beer and their perceived decline in pursuit of the new when Stephen Beaumont (link here) tweeted about the drop in sales of certain classic American Craft beers like Sam Adams and Sierra Nevada Pale ale and had the idea of doing a Flagship February, sort of a look back at where we came from and what they meant to us then and now. A fine idea and one I am fully intending to get down with, as it is one I already do on occasion now. But more on that when February gets closer.

all time fave that is always on hand

  While I have no doubt market saturation fuels some of that and the sheer rise in options available to beer drinkers at a local level must come into play, I wonder if it is the same here in Canada, specifically Ontario. While I lack the data to say for sure, based on what I see in my extensive feed and the response I get to my own writing about those beers we get all the time, I don't think it is as bad as all that. A world that saw little in the way of choice at the LCBO and no local options would obviously have kept sales of personal staples like Muskoka Mad Tom or GLB's Canuck higher than they are now but that is not only the result of those who pursue what we like to call "Ticking" or checking in on Untappd or any other app for tracking your beer. There are simply more choices and that is excellent for beer drinkers. But still the question remains...
  Is it a bad thing to want to try and experience new and different beers?
  Isn't that what attracted us to craft beer in the first place?
  Innovation and the rise in the number of available options has had to have some impact on core sales but that doesn't mean we don't love them just the same. I seek them out fairly regularly and write about how much I have changed since I first tried them. Often I come to appreciate them far more now that I understand myself and my palate much better after exploring all that has passed through my glass. A look through the many good beer folk I know on social media shows a near constant thread of new beers but an equal number of them enjoying their local or first favourites. We love to share what we enjoy regularly and that is part of what we do on social media. Especially if it is your local craft brewery where you have come to know the people who work there and become a regular at the tap room.

Refilled many times with my favourite beers

  So while I will admit I feel like there is a decline in the long standing flagship beers of yore, it is not necessarily that we have turned away from them but rather that we now have close by and local options that have become our new regular beers. The changing landscape of craft beer in Ontario has been ramped up in the last 3 years and with the continued expansion into more towns and even neighbourhoods, we will see new favourite core beers emerge for those who live close by.

constantly one of the best

Life is all about exploring and learning, keep looking for new and wonderful creations but don't forget where you came from and who helped get you here.


Cheers!
Polk