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

On 50

 I'm 50.

Half a century.

Time for a 2/3rd life crisis? Why 2/3rd's? Well, I really don't think I'm gonna see 100, but I got a shot at 75...maybe...I wanna at least make it to retirement age.

But today is an oddly quiet day. There is no party, my 40th had dozens of friends and family over to the house for a Roast of Rob, and I know that my solitary celebration is entirely my own doing. When I move through life, I have shed jobs and friends with some astonishing speed. My persona and interests have careened from devoted Freemason, party planner and sports organizer to depressed and reclusive hermit who only communicates through an online exaggeration of myself to cover his very real mental health struggles. Even in the 6 or 7 years I've been this beer guy, I have made and lost friends, some explosively and some because I became too much of a disaster waiting to happen for them to hang around. Regardless of the reason, I have watched it happen without much control because there is something inside of me that feels I am unworthy of any friendship and waits for the other shoe to drop and everyone to leave...even as I myself force them away. I don't know why this happened, I used to love having people over, parties for the smallest of reasons, hell I threw an Irish Wake for one of my fish when he died, going so far as to write a eulogy, build a coffin and have a service for Seamus "Pinky" O'Brien....that was his name...great party. 

  In 2012, when everything came crashing down, we struggled to keep the lights and heat on...literally. Having your heat cut off in late October or your phone's cut off the next month as you leap from one disaster to the other strains you. But I seemed to still be able to be somewhat like myself but I didn't see the edge of the spiral that was swallowing me every day. It was such a gradual devolution of who I thought I was that by the time I felt so low I contemplated what I was even doing being alive, let alone having friends, it was so far gone that I didn't know if I would make it to this very day. 50 seemed like an impossibility and there were more than enough days where I thought about the end that I wanted to make sure I had as few people around me as possible. It was somewhere in this darkness that that sort of logic grew and fed my anger at myself and the world I had built just to watch it crumble around me. I hated who I was and as I worked 70 or 80 hours a week in a job where I was clinging to the last of what was, I felt humiliated by my public failure that I had no answers for and spiraled deeper into that hell I knew I deserved.

  A year later, mid 2013, I found a new job that led to a return to a somewhat normal life, still burdened by debt and doubt, but now with health benefits and a normal 44 hour work week. This seemed to slow my slide towards the darkness and when I started really getting into writing and talking about craft beer in late 2015, it really did feel like I had made it through some of the worst storms of my life and was doing more than treading water or worse. Life felt better and I embraced it.

  That rolled on quite well into 2020 and as the pandemic came to dominate my every day, I began again to lose touch with the people I had gathered into another new circle of friends and began collapsing into the darkness once again. Three years on and I reach this magical number of years gone by and I look back to a life that looks like the rings on a tree stump, some fat and full of growth and life and others thin and short, filled with anger, depression and hate. It has not been at all what I imagined even at 30 years old, I couldn't have foreseen the massive changes coming to the world itself and my own small part of it.

  I wish I could say I know where I'm going. I wish I could feel like it is all getting better every day. I can say that we did find our way to a better financial way of life, debt free and not living paycheque to 4 days before paycheque. It took a lot of lean years living close to the bone and keeping the house to reach the ability to utilize that equity to clean the sheets and give us a fresh start I never really had since my early 20's. With money not being a crushing weight, I wonder where the fear, the deep pit of self loathing and lie awake at night worries will come from next.

 I want to be a better person, but I don't know if that is really who I am. I wonder who I will be in 5 years because when I look back at the me of 5 years ago, I don't really remember how it felt to be that guy, never mind 10 or 20 years ago. I'm trying to not just recapture what I feel are my glory days, that's not something any of can do, time passed is time gone forever, but I want to find who I am supposed to be as I enter this next phase of my life. It's not quite the endgame, but I do feel that pull of legacy and memory tugging at my not so swift feet. I always say you never really die until you are forgotten by the the last person who remembered you and I know that circle is pretty small for me now. My words and videos will outlive me by whatever time those platforms exist and perhaps my need to post something every day or share the minutiae of the nonsense in my head because I find it calming to create something, anything to leave behind a little stamp of "I was here". 

Existence has been weird, but I wanna stick around and see how more of it turns out.

Polk

03/16/2023

Sunday Mornin' Polk

 Lagers. They remain the most popular beer style in the world and no amount of craft beer will ever change that fact. Calling them bland, tasteless or boring means little to the larger beer drinking population who view a pint as a pint and not some sort of weird journey to be documented on an app or social media. It's a cold beer on a hot day, a round with your friends after work or the case you grabbed for the weekend. It's beer, whittled down to what it always was and for the most part is still being consumed for. Social lubrication, relaxation, taking the edge off the rougher parts of our day and generally being part of the background as opposed to the focus of what we are doing. Nobody is doing a tasting experience of Pabst and that's something I have come round on as I leave the proclamations and snarky comments of the Evangelical beer folks behind. I was once there and now I am here, not quite full circle, but coming round on one.

   When I started writing about beer I was a neophyte in every sense of the word, I had no idea the community even existed and found myself rolling into a tide of information and people that overwhelmed me and had me deep into reading and searching for more. It was only 5 years ago but it feels like decades when I look back and read my rather hopeful and bright eyed posts about changing my relationship with beer. I hate that phrase almost as much as some hate the word "mouthfeel", but I digress. I really believed that by turning from lagers to the whole spectrum of styles available from not just here, but all over the world, that I was becoming a more discerning and thoughtful consumer of alcohol. This of course is the beginning stage of any new thing, it is the shiny dime catching your attention on the street and I still see it everywhere I look. 

  The echo chamber of social media, particularly Instagram but elsewhere too, gives you the feeling of a community connected with all the same goals and directions, socially, morally and otherwise. Of course, if you step back and look with any degree of realism, you know that good people do not all drink good beer and the reverse is true as well, assholes drink craft beer too or how would I even be here. Not to say we shouldn't try to make the world a better place, but shouting at the same people all the time doesn't really move the needle as much as we'd like to think it does. It's like buying into the hype that posting about a beer actually helps a brewery sell it to anyone but the same people we are all talking to anyway. The incredibly large world that exists outside of social media is where most of the beer buying happens and when you step away from the noise the internet generates you see things in a different light.

  It is a funny circle to travel when I look back at my railings against big beer and corporate pints, my Evangelical phase in craft beer went on for a longer time than I thought but as with anything, eventually you see cracks in the facade and let fall away the blinders to revel that not everything is rosy with the world of hops and barley. After coming back to earth, I found myself drifting into lagers and pilsners again, to be sure a far more nuanced version of their macro cousins, but having beer that tastes like a damn beer is pretty refreshing in this hazy, pastry laced adjunct world. Of course as a guy who likes to write about beer everyday I acquire all kinds of styles to drink, my favourite being the heavily hopped West Coast IPAs which seem to my palate to be lager like in my ability to just consume them without a thought to anything but doing just that, drinking a beer. 

This disjointed meander through my Sunday morning conversation with myself was going to be a look at where we go when we reach the end of craft beer rainbow but took a left and landed in a strange universe of truths and observations about the craft beer world around me. I remain a supporter, consumer, imbiber and general bon vivant when it comes to talking about it, but I also know that it is a small slice of that world I inhabit, most consumers care not for reviews or pictures. They care about the beer they're drinking, they care about supporting a local business, they care about having those pints with folks they love and cherish. We do what we do because we love to do it, I have no illusions about the larger world around it and I guess that's the point I can finally rest on today.

Be kind to each other, we could use more kindness.

Polk

Leap of Faith - One Polk's Dream..

 

I look into the mirror every morning and I see a tired man looking back at me. I am old at being young, but young at being old (to quote The Barenaked Ladies), but I feel every year sometimes. Life is rolling along at an ever increasing clip and as a blue collar guy who left high school and has worked in a variety of customer service jobs over the last 30 years, I don't have much in the way of plans for the future. Little savings from being self employed for 13 of those years and working for chains that don't offer retirement packages means I am most likely to work till I am well into my 70's or until I keel over at the grill one day. The prospect of another 30 years spent grinding out 50 hour work weeks with 2 off for good behaviour seems daunting at times as the entirety of my life will be spent working to just stay put. Not an appetizing thought by any means and I lack the self discipline or guts to trim my life to the basics so as to save and retire a bit earlier on a modest budget. But one day I had a thought, perhaps I could "retire" for a few years now while I can enjoy it and then toil away my remaining years with the wonderful memories I could create.
  How's that now, you ask yourself?
  Well, admittedly it isn't the smartest plan or the most stable but it is a dream to dream each night.
  We bought our house about 12 years ago, right before the market went ape-shit. Coming in at a very reasonable price, we looked at it as our forever home where we would raise our child (to come soon after) and enjoy the life we were building. A simple 2 bedroom home with a huge yard and room to grow, we hosted parties,a wedding and so much more before life got really complicated after I lost my business in 2012. The struggle to stay afloat was real but after a time, we found our footing and on we went. The real blow was when we found out that it wasn't in the cards for us to have kids, tough to swallow that one I will tell you, but once again, we refocused and strode on into the night with our sights on tomorrow.
  But I did get tired of it all some days. I looked at a future where we just keep doing the same things, day in and day out, a fait acompli until I take my leave of this mortal coil and no longer care. This cannot be all there is and one day, a mad plan, a decidedly crazy and unabashedly irresponsible plan popped into my head when I was a few pints in.
  We sell the house.
  Travel the world for 2 or 3 years.
  Come back and resume our lives, but with the tales and memories to carry us to the end while we still can enjoy them.
  Simply put, as madness usually thinks of itself, the profit from the sale of our house is going to exceed $300,000 and while we do have decent jobs, they are nothing we couldn't find again after a few years away. I don't have a career that needs saving, a life worth living should be lived well and hard. This is what I proposed one evening...
 We take half of what me make, maybe a little more and just go.  Leave with the wind at our backs and don't stop until we have to come back to ground and resume this life lived proper and true to what is expected.
We would head to Europe for a few months first, chasing beer dreams from Belgium to Germany and the Czech Republic. Drinking Belgian Trappist beers in taverns across from the monastery that produced them, sitting in a German Bierhaus during Oktoberfest and crushing Pilsner Urqhell on the patio in Pilsen would no longer be a dream and without a rigid travel timeline, we would be free to explore at our own will.
  Returning across the Atlantic, we would embark on the most ambitious part of my "retirement" plan; Polkapolooza : North America. Buying a truck and a trailer, we would start our journey in Newfoundland, exploring the local craft beer and food scene in every province and territory in Canada as we travelled across this great land. Timing stops for cultural events that pique our interest, we would search out experiences that will give us the memories promised but left unfilled in an uncertain future. Perhaps a year or so spent driving and stopping in to visit anywhere we fancy before we turn south and visit our friends and neighbours in the United States to do more of the same.
  Rather than looking for a reason or a purpose, we will simply go where the wind takes us and live the life that we cannot expect as our years advance. There will be no lazy senior days for this guy and this rather wacky and wholly un-thought out plan remains a dream that tantalizes my soul when the days get dark and the future a muddled mess of repetitive convention. Is it idiocy or madness that drives me to contemplate taking a risk and just letting go of all the routine and "correct" things we are supposed to do? Sure, a little of both but I do know one thing for sure, I was not born to just work until I die and pay bills.
  There you have it. The flights of fancy of a middle aged dreamer who will head back to work tomorrow with a little glimmer of what may be, even if that's all he has to keep him going.

Cheers!

Polk

Beer Advent 2018!

  

Santa Polk, 2016

A few years ago (2015 to be exact), Mrs. Polk returned from a trip across the border with 25 American Craft beers and I was inspired to create my first Beer Advent calendar from her very generous gift. It helped to lift my spirits in the darkness of Winter to know I would get to unwrap a beer and surprise myself each night while we got ready for the big day and I continued this tradition as the years went on. The 2016 and 2017 editions were decidedly Ontario Craft beer focused as we began exploring all this province has to offer and this year will be much the same with the addition of some big, boozy bastards specifically saved for this time of year. With that in mind, I have some tips and ideas for you to help create your own calendar or one for someone you love.

1) Picking the Beer

Beer Advent 2017

  The planning should begin a few weeks before December 1st so you have time to get all 25 beers without breaking the bank. The collection should be in line with what you or your loved one likes to drink with some surprises thrown in for fun. Look to the LCBO for the single largest selection of favourites and new beers, but supplement that with a few trips to local (or not so local) craft breweries to really give them a treat. The whole idea is to craft an experience that will both delight and inspire joy when they open a beer each day. If they are adventurous, mix styles and formats with an eye to new and never before had beers. But if they don't like a particular style or brewery, it is best to avoid them as this is a gift meant to celebrate beer in the best possible way.
  Ask them or their friends for suggestions or visit your local brewery and pick the brain of the folks that work there, they love to help people out. Look for a few special brewery only releases to really add some zip to your gift.


2) Packaging

  Now that you have all 25 beers it is time to get them ready for December 1st. I individually wrap each beer and outside of a few that are traditional for certain days, I have Mrs. Polk randomly number them and into the fridge they go. Some folks put them into a 24 box with a label on top of each one with that days number written on them or perhaps repurpose Pringles cans decorated and numbered for the occasion. Whatever you want to do, the specialness of each day is in not being quite sure what beer will be coming next, giving a little bit of Christmas joy to every day. Have some fun, personalize the packaging if you are so inclined or just keep it simple. They will love it.

Mrs. Polk wrapping while I drink

3) Drinking

  The day will arrive and then the fun can begin. If you are making it a gift, try to space out the special beers or the big ABV ones for days when your loved one can enjoy them. A 13% Imperial stout may not work on a hectic Monday but maybe is better suited to their day off so they can slow sip and feel the love. This is about enjoying a single pint and celebrating rather than getting hammered or over consuming. Maybe they can't have a beer every day and you can share a few of them a couple of times a week or whenever you can safely and purposely relax and find the right time to experience the joy of beer.

December 24th is always Double Tempest day here!

4) Surprises
  Who doesn't like a surprise? While the gift of an Beer Advent calendar is fabulous in and of itself, why not take things to the next level with some twists and turns. Take a road trip one or two days to new or old favourite Craft breweries to give them a beer fresh from the source. Make a day of it and give them the gift of an experience, always a much more fun thing than just siting at home. You can add some glassware, hats, shirts or other branded stuff from their fave brewery to spice up any day and with all the choices out there, this would be a nice addition to random Tuesday in the middle of the calendar. Look for events at local breweries, i.e. Paint Nights, Trivia or Comedy and get them tickets to experience an evening of beer and fun. Try to take it to the next level by doing something out of the ordinary that you know will delight the person you love who loves beer.


  Good luck my friends in your pursuit of the ultimate month of beer. Whether it's for yourself or someone you love, the Beer Advent calendar is a wonderful way to celebrate Christmas every day.
  Life can be hectic as the holidays approach and I hope you can find time each day for a few moments to just sit back, pop the top and enjoy a little libation while the season swirls around us.


Cheers!


Polk

Barley Poet - Polk on Polk

It was always supposed to be about the beer.


It was never really about the beer.


  Life took many turns in the last 3 years as I took on the mantle of the Drunk Polkaroo and began sharing what I was putting in my glass with the world. It started as a lark and now I find myself on the precipice of a life I'm not sure I understand with the direction unknown.
  Almost from the beginning I started to share what I was doing or thinking as I drank my latest find. Little stories, props and asides made for a better time for me as I began to slow down and explore my past and my own demons that remained with me all these years. The beer was a way to communicate my emotions and thoughts, whether anyone read them or not. To put down and shine a light on some of my darkest moments as well as celebrating some of my triumphs was exhilarating, still is to be honest, and on I went.   Videos came next and finally Twitter, which despite many peoples warnings, has been where I have truly found my voice. The blog has slowed down a little in the last couple of months, but I probably still write somewhere around a couple of thousand words a day between all the other places I express myself. Not to take away from what I do here, it has a place and a time and that will be a little more frequent as I move on with the next steps of this walk about the world.
  I recently started to ponder why I bothered to do any of this at all. So many of my social media friends move in and out of regular posting, time constraints, kids and jobs get in the way and I think to a large extent, the sheer number of people doing the same thing has taken the shine of being one of a few away from the whole enterprise. It's not easy to cut through the noise and feel like you are actually connecting with people when the voices start to blend together and you feel like you've lost your way. Perhaps I read too much, but I have noticed things and paused to wonder why I have continued to do exactly what I do, without respite for almost 1000 days in a row.
  I like to think I make a difference for some people but I am not naive enough to think I move the meter on beer sales one iota with a pretty picture on Instagram or a funny (to me) video on YouTube. (Follow along here if that's your kind of thing : Pints with Polk )
   What I hope is that I have been able to affect is opening up the conversation on depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and a host of other subjects I am constantly talking about in any post when the fire strikes me.
 It was never really about the beer at the end of it all, the beer was merely the vehicle I drive to find out where I'm headed next. I don't have a plan or even a clear agenda when I buy beer and talk about it. Coming home, I just grab something out of the fridge and have at it while I let the day ruminate in my mind. I talk of flavours and give my rating but in between all that, I leave a little of my soul online and with it, my only legacy. No children means when I'm gone and those few who knew me in this time, I am no more. But with my digital footprint, I will at least exist a little longer, maybe even helping someone long after I am gone.
  The videos give me a little glimpse into where I was when I made each one, some quick and simple, others drawn out with a message I wasn't sure I had when I started. I see myself and know that I exist, right here and now.  Putting myself in my photos recently just because I was feeling the need to be there, to see that I had that moment and outside of the inevitable slog of trying to keep the 50 hour workweek from dragging me down that I was still and truly Polk.
  I don't think I will ever stop writing now, it has become too integral to my everyday routine. Not everything sees the light of day and I will lean a little hard on the poetry because it has given me new light in my work. I enjoy thinking about every beer and where it fits on the style guide I have created from well over 3000 beers in a little under 3 years. My rating system is mine alone and I love it for what it gives me, despite the many misgivings I have about it. I will continue to make videos almost every day when I can, I rather enjoy the camera and watching them back, it means I'm never drinking alone.
 Instagram (link) will always hold a special place in my heart and as the streak nears 1000 days, I look forward to continuing to appreciate the wonderful art being created by beer lovers everywhere on this app. There is a more communal feel to the beers and I like to see the friendships online blossom as people seek out new beers and travel around having meetups and trades. It's a beautiful thing.
  Twitter (link) is where I spend most of my online creativity now, it is a rocket ship that I love to ride and see where it takes me. It has become a stream of conscious for me as I engage myself with mental health, workplace and life problems and of course, the ever present beer in hand. Poetry has become a huge part of my everyday life and rarely do I go more than a few hours without some kind of randomly worded rhyme coming from my fingers. Not all of them are what I would call winners, but I'll stand by them as genuine and truly from my heart.
  The whole enterprise is driven by my love of great beer, the people who drink it and those who work in the industry. You have all played some part in making me who I am now and I thank you for sticking around this long, as I do tend to go on a bit when inspired. I am not going anywhere, changing anything except that I will always follow my muse wherever it takes me and that will be perhaps the best thing to come.


Stay tuned, as long as I'm here, I'll be out there!


Cheers!


Polk

Serious Polk
Barley Poet

 

Are You Available?

 

If the world's best beer does indeed exist but you can't get your hands on it, is that really the best beer in the world to you then? I've been lucky enough to have friends and family put some of the most sought after craft beers in the world into my glass. From Pliny to Heady Topper to that latest Bellwoods release, I am truly a blessed guy when it comes to the generosity of others. But what if I had never had any of those and instead just drank what I could find locally, on one of my tours around the province or at the LCBO? Would that make those beers any less amazing or my life any less interesting? The truth is if you have never tried a beer or have no way of ever getting your hands on it then it really is just another release that doesn't impact your life outside of the fact that who doesn't want to try every legendary brew they can. Distribution matters when it comes to beer and perhaps that also is why we view those hard to get beers so differently than our close by, often better, craft selections.

  I was once a guy who lusted after those whales, lamenting when I couldn't get them and feeling like I was missing out if I didn't find a way to grab a few to post about and enjoy. I was so wrapped up in finding and drinking those beers that I started losing sight of what was right in front of me, World class beers made right here, as good or better than anything else. It has only been through a long process of learning to let go of what I cannot control that I have come to appreciate what is happening right here and now. To be honest, as Canadians we have long looked south for validation and it continues with the beer.  Not only does it apply to those amazing US craft beers but to those you cannot get up here by traditional means, needing a long road trip or a beer saint to get them to your fridge. We can establish some really good friendships by building a trust in trading beers but even then, you are going to miss out on something because that is just the way it is.

  A great example of this is right down the highway to Toronto and the famous Bellwoods Brewery. This icon of innovation has really ramped up the releases this year with an array of IPAs, Milkshake and otherwise, which cause lineups and sellouts almost every time. With small bottle runs of a few thousand and a strict purchase limits, they create the perfect storm every time because the quality has been without reproach. I have been able to get a good chunk of them and can easily place most of them in the top of any list when we talk about Ontario Craft beer in 2017. An example of the problem arose when at the Golden Tap Awards, which are voted on by the general public in an open nomination online ballot, Beau's All Natural took home both best brewery and best beer for Lug Tread, a solid Lagered Ale. Scores of my beer pals were outraged and railed against a system they couldn't fathom wouldn't just give every award to their personal favourite brewery. For me I saw the wide distribution and excellent customer service combined with a willingness to take some chances on their beer that led to this recognition. Is Lug Tread better than Witchshark? In my eyes, that's not even a discussion because they are different styles and while I might review the latter, it behooves me to inform folks that if you can't get to T.O. then you are out of luck because that's the only place to get this amazing beer. If there are only 1200 bottles of a certain release and a limit of four per person then at best maybe five or six hundred people will experience that particular beer. That matters because if you cannot try a beer, does it really impact your life? I would put forth the notion that getting your beer into the most hands is also part of the discussion and being able to produce a great beer at a consistent and large volume has it's merits as well. I always say that brewing a great one-off is good but creating a beer that you can replicate with reliability is the holy grail. Add volume and you've got my attention.

  The argument continues with the example I use more often than not. Great Lakes Brewery Canuck Pale ale is one of the most widely available and finest examples of the style I have found. Is it better than Jutsu from Bellwoods? I'll leave that to the experts but for me I can have a Canuck and know that it will give me the same great punch every time. Jutsu is an amazing pale ale too, but to get one involves a trip to the heart of Toronto and with the busy work or life schedule most people have, that is not always possible. So many beer lovers I know have neither the means nor the will to brave that drive for a beer, so they remain outside looking in.

  For the majority of beer drinkers I know, most of the smaller/midsized breweries are still an unknown and that is something I'd like to see change. The move to online ordering is giving us access although the shipping costs can sometimes be onerous. Good friends who send us something we can't get in exchange for the same from us is another way to get these great beers into our fridges but that too can get expensive and time consuming. An idea floated by those much more in the know than me is that there should be a OCB controlled Craft beer store or perhaps allowing cross selling between the brewers themselves, a kind of cooperative effort that would lead to even more growth in an industry already heading to the stratosphere. I'd personally like to see a combo of the last two and would hope that the future of beer is more access not less. Availability matters and while I have learned to accept what I cannot have, I still have that little bit of hope that someday we can all share in the bounty that is Craft beer at it's finest. But until then, let's celebrate what we can get and enjoy it with gusto!


Raise your glass and your standards,
One Beer at a time.


Cheers!


Polk

From the Bottom of the Bottle...

  Hitting the road on a beer run used to mean a trip to the store to pick up a 24 or three of whatever macro lager was on sale. I didn't really care about what I was drinking outside of how drunk I could get and lived in that darkness for almost 25 years. I drank to fight stress, I drank because I was happy or sad, I drank because when the darkness fell I didn't have to care anymore. I could black out, disappear into my self and leave my problems until the next foggy morning. They wouldn't be gone and the pattern would repeat itself, a daily return to the well of self hatred and ignorance.
  Drinking for the sake of drinking was a way to cope with a life I hadn't planned and didn't think could get better. There wasn't any satisfaction in consuming Brava Light, I drank it with relish because I knew that as each bottle landed back in the box, I was one step closer to escaping to oblivion. Parties were planned because drinking alone made things worse and at least with people around I didn't feel like such a loser. The need for a beer became so overwhelming some days that I would find myself drinking in anger because I hated needing it so much. The ability to consume a dozen plus beers in one sitting each day was a point of sick pride and being able to finish a 24 a high mark in a dreary existence. It never went to hard liquor mostly because it meant more work; mixes, ice and glasses were too fancy for this guy. Just twist off the top and pour it back. I cannot bring back the days lost, the moments of sheer terror when I would realise I was heading into a dark space and couldn't stop myself. I look back to not so many years ago and cannot imagine what was in my head day after day as I plunged the bulk of my energy into snuffing out my life, one gulp after another.
  The rise of craft beer is not only responsible for the change in my beer drinking habits, it is the entire reason I am able to write these words today. What started out as a competition to see who could get the most check-ins on Untappd has led me to rediscover my love of the written word and a life I thought was long gone. The very act of writing has opened up a well of emotions and thoughts I had buried deep within myself and every time I review a beer, make a video or write a longer post here, I am reclaiming my very self. The guy who looked toward the future with such relish at 16, turned bitter, depressed and empty at 40 and now halfway to 50, is finding salvation. The beer isn't the issue, it was a means to an end and now that end has changed.
  I drink now to enjoy what is in my glass. I want to open a few beers not to escape but to belong, to be part of something bigger than myself and contribute to its' larger story. I don't spend a moment of my day wanting a beer to get hammered, but I do think about the story I will tell when I pour it in my glass. I care about every beer I have now because each one is a singular moment that adds joy to my life. I don't want to look at my fridge as a way to lose myself but as the source of inspiration. The narrative has been altered and the time remaining in my life  is made better by the beer not destroyed by it.
  Can I truly say I have left the old ways behind? I would love to say yes but know better. Moments in time come to me and beckon with the siren call of so many empty promises. I only now have come to grips with my own problems and make sure I try to confront issues troubling me rather than hiding behind a veil of bottles emptied in vein. I work hard to ensure I don't drink in anger or sadness but rather with an awareness of my past and my weakness in self control. I try to always approach each beer with a curiosity and open mind so that the review or story that follows helps show people that you can change and my life is proof.
  I will always have to remain aware of what I drink, no doubt there will be mistakes and I will have to own that. But the reason I can look myself in the mirror again and not hate the person looking back is due to a choice I made to say no to pounding macro beer in a race to the bottom. I am very lucky to have been able to discover a way out and while I am still a person who has to drink with purpose to remain in control, being aware of just that gives me hope for my continued rise from the ashes. It's not a perfect story with a happy ending but then again, real life is messy and the mistakes we make help shape the direction we go. I will keep raising my glass and my expectations, One beer at a time.


Cheers!


Polk
 

That First Beer...

  There is a moment every day that beer drinkers know and look forward to. That first sip of beer to make it to your lips is sweet ambrosia, be it a long day at work or a mid morning eye opener on your day off. Nothing quite compares that ripple in time when the world stops and you get to embrace yourself. Choosing the right style sets the mood for the ones that follow or perhaps it is your only one of the night and it has to be perfect. Do you choose an old favourite or let caution fly and grab something you've never had before. The pop of the top and a scent should grab you, enticing you further into the zone. The pour is perfect, tilted and then straight, for maximum effect. Swirl and sniff, it's getting good now, you can almost taste it. Raise up the glass, look at the colour, embrace what you hold in your hands and smile because it is time.
Close your eyes and experience with joy the reward of being alive to experience this moment. Texture, flavour, nuanced responses as you sip, smell and savour. Is it a heavy stout, slow sipping and mind bending? Crushable Helles lager, making you feel like you could stay here and crack another one? Simple saison with citrus, banana and clove reminding you of why you love this so much? It matters not what you do for a living, your bank account or love life, craft beer is there for you.
  Slowly taking the time to understand the flavours, complex or simple, as you take another sip is part of what makes this different. You are not mindlessly pounding macro after macro, chasing oblivion, you want more. You want flavours you never considered, new and exciting. You want funk, barrels and fruit. You want to be tested and tempted to push the boundaries of what you know. The art of enjoying your beer may be new or perhaps your palate is refined and educated, this matters not to the beer as it does what the brewer intended, nothing more or less. The communication from conception of recipe to brewing to your glass is done with care and if you let it, the beer will speak to you. Hopes and dreams fill the bottles and cans we buy, there are people behind these beers with stories that match our own. We are one in our pursuit of that perfect moment when expectation meets reality and we can finally let the world drift away.
  The final sip always seems to come too soon, there is never enough when you find the right beer for your day. You think about your life as you stare into the glass, its contents now down to one final test. Did it hold up? Do you? Pause before you finish, savour the happiness you have just experienced and give thanks to be here, right now. You let the glass rest a moment and then let the end come to you. You don't immediately head to the fridge for another one, you sit and wait, giving this time to be thankful we live in the time we do. Can you have another beer, another moment? Of course, but it will not be like this. The first beer is always special because it is the time you have given yourself to truly be who you are. The world may not always be fair, we may not always have sunshine in our hearts but your first beer is waiting and if you let it, it can bring you light in the darkest of days. Don't rush through life, stop and make sure you have time to just be, you deserve it.


Raise your glass and your standards,
One Beer at a time.


Cheers!


Polk

308.2 Pounds

That's what the scale I keep hidden in my office tells me that I weigh.




I am not okay with this.




  I've always been the "Fat Guy". The jolly, looking for a good time kind of person who indulges himself at every whim and leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to giving into his cravings. I eat and drink what I want, when I want and that has always been the way I live my life. I used to joke that I wanted to be like Homer in that episode of the Simpsons when he tried to weigh 300 pounds so he could work from home, but never thought I would get that far gone. Apparently I am willing to let myself go to that extreme and I am not shy about saying I am appalled at what I've become.
  It's not just that I have put on close to 40 pounds in just 2 years, it's that I watched it happen and did nothing to stop it. I eat late at night, drink a little too much, too often and am sedentary to the point of furniture. I can feel my clothes getting tighter and my breathe a little harder to catch. I know I stress eat and when the hours I work increase or my own personal anxiety goes up, I turn not to people but to the one thing I can trust not to judge me and that I alone control, my food and drink. It is usually funny to share the pictures of my 8 hot dog dinner, but I don't always share the whole bag of Doritios and crackers and cheese I would eat later that night. I laugh off the concern of those who think I am headed for a heart attack with my humour and toss a few fat jokes at myself to deflect the conversation away from it. I feel the pain of trying to make those pants fit and knowing that my shirt is too tight every single morning and am relieved when I get home and can slid into my sweats for the night. It's not that I don't understand nutrition and exercise, on the contrary, most overweight people are intimately versed in how to lose weight and live healthier.  It pervades our thoughts perhaps more than healthy people. We yearn to do it, but often are not willing or are just unable to change or make it happen.
 I wrote about being okay with who I was last year (read it here), but even then I was struggling with myself. I kept working on being body positive and not caring about what other people think. I still believe that. Screw anyone who tells you how to live your life or makes you feel bad, but I am not giving in to anyone else's pressure but my own. There is something wrong with how I am living my life and I am beginning to feel that on a very real level.
  When I finished recording every beer I drank in May (150 - The real truth in May), I was trying to be okay with it, but inside it was tearing me up. I have been an advocate of mindful and responsible consumption and the impact craft beer has had on my life and then I was supposed to be okay with averaging 5 beers a day? I made a concerted effort after that to reign in my impulsive and destructive multiple beer nights and have done myself proud on that front, cutting down to less than 100 in June and am on pace for around 50 in July. I don't know where I need to be with this but I am trying.
 Beer is not alone in my spiral downward, food has become the dark yet warmly embracing place I find my comfort. Long days, stress and a lonely life built on my inability to seek help for my anxiety means I look to anything else to bring me a sliver of joy. While talking about and sharing my love for beer gives me some online human interaction, financial and work reasons coupled with an often crippling level of anxious and angry feelings leave me looking for a way to feel good when the likes stop coming. When everyone else looks to spend time with their families, food provides that comfort to me. Lots of salty snacks, late night binges and multiple trips to the cupboard have left me full of calories but empty of emotions. I don't eat for pleasure, I eat to survive and then to fill whatever emptiness remains. I've always had a complicated relationship with food but never to the extent where I am now, beholden to a bag of chips for happiness. I lurch from the couch to the bed, sleep fitfully for 4 or 5 hours and then go through the workday with my eyes on repeating the minimalist lifestyle I've created.  I am thrown into a spiral if there is any deviation from my quiet and lonely plans. I see people joke about not wanting to see others and put what I am sure are supposed to be funny memes on social media about how they hate people and want to be alone. Of course it's all just in good fun because they wouldn't want to actually be alone all the time, the weight of that silence would crush them. I have retreated into a world of my own making and while I do love the odd event we get to attend, it is becoming harder and harder to leave the house for anything but work. I talk myself into it every morning because I need money to live and a man does what he has to provide for his family. But because my job involves working with the public, I must always maintain a positive and cheery attitude and when that work day is done, I usually have nothing left in the tank for anyone else. I can literally not speak for hours after work in real life, despite a lively online presence. I know it is of my own doing and that only deepens the spiral.
 That scale reading was far beyond a wake up call and now I know I have to do something, anything to restart the passion I once had and try to now instill in other people. I want to feel better about myself and despite my own protestations to the contrary, my weight is impacting my ability to function as a human being and is dragging me into a dark place I am not ready to go. So I will not do what I always do and I will ask for help. I will talk to the professionals who are there for me and have the ability and knowledge to give me hope and guidance. I will admit that I don't know what the hell I am doing and seek those who do. I don't hate myself but I am feeling like I don't even know who I am anymore and want to prevent that from happening. I will, as always, share this journey with you and try to use it to inspire others who are suffering in silence to seek help and a better way before it's too late.
  We are not alone and I know how hard it is to reach out and say you need help. But it is okay to admit your weaknesses and ask someone for their hand to lift you up or their shoulder to cry on. Trust someone, anyone and seek out answers for yourself. I always sort of knew this day would come and I am glad I can still stand up and try to make it better. Life is about the journey and I don't want mine to be over just yet.


Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me as I write about not only beer, but real life and the things that make it mine. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know. I will keep you posted as this detour takes me to a place I've never been.


Cheers.


Polk

Avoid Fridge Gridlock - Drink your Beer!

  

Choices, Choices...

Have you looked in your fridge lately? Your beer cellar or closet? Taken stock of what you have, when you acquired it and more importantly, when you plan on drinking it? So many of us tend to want to hang onto a beer because we only have one or two of them and with the exception of those beers actually designed to be aged, this madness must stop. I am not great when it comes to cellaring my beer because for the most part, I buy them to try them. I understand that Imperial Stouts and Brett laden beers will change and even improve with time spent waiting but I think sometimes we are focusing too much on the hoarding and having and less on the drinking and enjoying. I was having this discussion with a few friends the other day and it struck me as odd that we used to make sure we had enough cold beer in the fridge as opposed to buying 10 of something to age it and save it for later. When did the exclusivity and difficulty in acquiring a beer or simply having a dozen of one of them take away from the fun of drinking it?
  I am as guilty as the next beer lover of wanting that latest release from the darling craft brewer of the day. Only 600 bottles you say? Oh baby, I want some of that. But as I have spent more time trying and enjoying beers from all over the world, it has occurred to me that, with very few exceptions, I want to drink them now. What good is a fridge full of IPAs if I am unable to enjoy them fresh? Outside of those Imperial stouts or bottle conditioned beers, what am I really waiting for? Most beer has a shelf life based on how it was produced, the style and how it has been stored. If a beer is to be aged, usually the brewery will either do it themselves or let you know it can be saved for a later date. But the vast majority of beer we are buying at the stores or breweries is meant to be consumed fresh. No preservatives or additives means Craft beer is susceptible to the ravages of time and temperature so to age them makes no sense.
  Creating what I call 'Fridge Gridlock' is a serious problem for many people I know and the only way to resolve it is to drink the beer as you buy it. We all too often go rushing out to buy this or that must have new release and then repeat that behaviour a few days later when the next brewery announces their special, limited edition bottle. While I am also guilty of wanting all the beer I can get my hands on, this means I encounter Fridge Gridlock as I pile more and more beer into my fridge. Without proper FIFO (First in, First Out) management of my stock, some beers that should be consumed immediately get shoved to the back, only to reappear months later when cleaning or attempting to re-organize. It is important to move the newest beers to the back, rotate the older ones forward and then drink your way through. Not to say you shouldn't drink a new beer the day you get it, but if you have more than one, make sure you are not trapping older beers behind your 3 cans of the newest IPA.
  Having said that, I make it a point to drink most of my IPAs as fresh as I can, moving them to one side of the fridge and creating a zone for as many other styles. Lagers, ales and other longer lasting (flavour wise, anyway) styles can wait a while and I can generally work them into my rotation a little easier. Mood can determine your beer a lot of the time, as well as availability and time of the year. But to relegate beers to the back of the fridge because you bought too many and want to move on means maybe you should plan better or perhaps Beer Saint some of those out to friends to make room for more. I work on a pretty strict budget right now and with few exceptions only can buy one or two of the latest releases to go with my regular brews. I don't often buy cases of anything and have learnt that less is indeed more when it comes to choosing a beer every night.

I occasionally go a little overboard.

 Fridge Gridlock is not only about losing track of what is in there, it is also that weird paralysis that can come from having too many choices. I have had many times where I stare at the shelves unable to choose and walk away until I can decide. If the fridge is so jammed that you can't even see everything you have or your styles are all mixed up, this problem can be even more pronounced. A lucky few who only like one or two styles can avoid this problem but for most of us, organization is the key.
  I have been refining my fridge skills for a few years and despite many setbacks due to my own occasional self indulgence. I have found a  good way to keep Fridge Gridlock from taking over and leaving me with beer that is less than optimal. Some of my strategies are :

1. Keep rotating - As said before, first in-first out makes a huge difference.
2. Don't overbuy - Unless you are trading or beer sainting, why have 10 of anything that is just going to get pushed to the back of the fridge. Buy what you will drink and enjoy fresh.
3. Create Style Zones - If you're lucky enough to have the space, try to keep your beer separated by style and date bought. I try to keep the different types to different sides and shelves with some overlap (i.e. dark lagers near lagers; porters and stouts together). Regular go-to beers tend to go in the door, with the one offs or seasonals up front on the shelves to remind me to drink them first.
4. Cellar beers - I keep a list of what I have and when it went in. If you love to do verticals (many different years of the same beer) make a space for that particular one. Have an idea when you want to pull them out as not everything will get better more than a few years out. Keep them at a constant cool temp and resist the urge to look at them if you want to wait. Unseen is best until the right time.
5. Be Reasonable - Unless you pound beers every day, do you really need 60 beers at a time in your fridge? Buy when you can, stay on budget and keep your fridge clean.
6. Enjoy what you have - Don't let every new release make you buy more than you can drink. It is normal to want every beer you see but it is better to focus on what you have in front of you than to worry about all the others. Savour the tasty beers you have and create space for new ones at the same time.
7. Be a Beer Saint - Make room and have a great time by sharing your spoils with friends and family. It will help clean up your fridge and make you feel good about doing it.

  Know yourself and be true to what you enjoy drinking. Keep that beer flowing and don't let Fridge Gridlock take over your life. Drink your damn beer!


  Raise your glass and your standards,
  One beer at a time!


  Cheers!


  Polk

150 - The Real Truth in May

150.

  The number of beers I drank during the Truth in May was just that...almost 5 per day. That seem like a lot to you? Because it seems like way more than I thought I consumed when I set out to document what was a craft beer lover who maybe tipped back a few more than the average person. I didn't or couldn't imagine that as the final number because I was convinced I was having one or two most nights with the occasional evening of 5 or 6. What I found was as the month went on that most were 4 or 5 and some came in at 9...even with sharing, that many beers more than once in a blue moon is troubling to say the least.

Beer No 1 just after midnight on May 1st

  I only had one evening where I would say I chased the darkness and given that it was at the Albino Rhino beer fest with a whole whack of my friends, I have no issue with that particular day, even though it topped at least 12 pints all in. We were sharing beers and having a great time doing it, nights like that are few and far between for me, so I again am okay with it.

A Rhino and a Polkaroo!

  The other ones though are the ones I want to talk about here.

  I like beer, that is pretty easy to see. I've always liked it, for different reasons, but historically for how it made me feel and as a social lubricant. When I fell into craft beer, it opened my eyes to what I was really doing with my macro loving overindulgence and I could feel the brakes come on and my consumption plummeted. I went from 3 or 4 24's a week to a much lower count, albeit with higher alcohol contents and bigger formats. But I wasn't getting hammered every night and that was something really positive. That continued through to the Truth in May, I still drank less than I used to but more than I thought I did.

Posted 3 times during the Month. A slow sipper I usually kept to myself.

  One thing about my consumption that I have struggled with has been that I didn't feel I was drinking for the wrong reasons. I was enjoying every sip, writing and talking to my virtual and real life friends and doing all the stuff I had to do in my normal, non beer

life. I went to work every day, did my chores at home, went out a few times when the budget allowed it and generally lived my life in a positive and mindful manner. So how to bring that together with the fact that by any definition my drinking is both binge and alcoholic in nature when I don't feel that way personally. Craft beer and the community of people I have met have brought me much happiness and a renewed sense of purpose. Writing about beer every time I drank one and finding a picture was challenging but fun and I was glad to share the boring, mundane late night pint as much as that special edition Imperial IPA that I go all out to showcase. Am I making excuses to deflect from the fact that I drank 150 beers in a month and cannot stop on my own accord? I hope not and that is why its taken me a week to finally sit down and start to comprehend what it all means.

One of my favourite beers from May. So good.

  I started this post 6 times, each one different and none giving me satisfaction. That you are reading this means I found my voice and it both soothes and troubles me. To any normal person I am an alcoholic, a high functioning one, but still alcohol dependant. I cannot dispute that fact, I want to have a few beers every day but not to the detriment of my necessary tasks. I could not imagine drinking before work or getting smashed every night. It doesn't fit in with my life now but I do want that new or favourite beer and I enjoy writing about them several times a day. I discovered that it was those validations from social media that were driving a lot of my drinking. I always drank 4 or 5 a night but would save a few to post the next day so I could spread them out over a longer period. So I didn't drink more to post it, I merely posted it when I drank it and saw the truth in pictures every day. It bothered me a bit but didn't stop me in the least. That I didn't drink too much was always my argument and with every beer that went on Instagram, that façade was crumbling.

  Working in the service industry for 30 plus years certainly drives a good part of my love of beer and its' calming nature. I do not love what I do but it pays well and I am far past the age where I search for validation from my employment. When you're a blue collar working man, you care about doing a good job for a salary that pays the bills and maybe a little extra. I work to live but I do not live to work. Let me win the lottery and I will be the same guy but way happier. So my drinking is a reflection of a life in service to others and a way to let go of the anger that must be reined in when people treat you like a piece of furniture. Abuse of service people is a whole other topic and the stories I have from the trenches would make you question your humanity. People are good but the ones who we often spend the most time dealing with would make a teetotaller drink...a lot.

A few new breweries opened in Hamilton during the Month. Merit was first.


  Another large and usually quiet reason I do what I do is that we don't have any children. While we wish we did, and honestly every few days I wonder if we gave up too soon, the fact is that after work, I have absolutely zero responsibilities. I have to do my household maintenance and cook the occasional meal, but in terms of things I must do, there is nothing. I don't give in to familial guilt about things and without children we don't get invited to or feel comfortable attending many of the kid centric events that surround people with large families. Our friends are now largely craft beer folk so events we do with them tend to exacerbate rather than alleviate my consumption. But the very simple fact that when I have done what I need to for survival, I am free to do or not do anything I want. It is freeing, a little selfish and the truth in my life. So I have to admit that it is a large part why I can enjoy so many beverages, especially on my days off. Mow the lawn, clean the house, do a little laundry and then the rest of the day is mine. I can't apologize for a life that I stumbled into and I have no doubts that if there were children in our lives, I would not be doing the things I do now. At least, I can hope.

Fairweather Brewing in Hamilton opened just before the end of May.

  So with this long and meandering piece have I learned anything about what last month meant to me? I think so, I understand that my child free lifestyle has allowed me to claim a future that is focused on myself and those I choose to let in my life. My work schedule of long shifts, working most weekends and with the public leaves me feeling a need for a few pints after a long day, no harm in that on my part. I like the way 2 or 3 drinks make me feel and the release they give me, but I don't want to escape into the blackness that I used to chase. I understand that drinking 5 beers a day is not normal, not necessarily healthy or productive, but I see no reason to stop. I will make a better effort to find something to occupy my time but creating art with beer pictures and getting to tell stories of my life are important to me and my mental health. I am a caring and loyal person but I guard my free time jealously and plan for days when  I have almost no interaction with other people because I can. I feel a lot of sadness that I will never be someone's dad and want nothing more than to see that change, but it will not. I will work harder in my job, more hours, stress and I will be fine with that because it will give me the money and freedom to do the things I want when I am not there. I do not hate my life. I only get one, so I value every moment and day.

Beer #150 for the Month.

 Do I drink too much was the question I asked and the answer is way more complicated than I could have imagined. Yes, by every conventional standard, I do qualify as a heavy drinker. Clinically I am an alcoholic and if labels make people happy, feel free to call me that. Do I crave beer at the expense of living my life and doing the things that I need to do? Not at all and the knowledge that I have the ability to limit what I consume is something I probably need to spend more time on. I love my family and friends and want them to be happy and successful but because my path is now non traditional and child free, I will have to find out where that leads me. I do drink too much but in my life, that's what I do. I was for many years a person who put everyone else first and while I have wonderful memories, I plan that the second half of my (hopefully) long life is when I learn to say no and live a little more for me. The craft beer revolution has found me a way to express myself that I thought was lost forever and given me opportunities for adventures I didn't know existed. My own personal evolution as the Drunk Polkaroo has given me a platform from which to help others and myself. I want to think I learned something but the real truth from May is that I am having a good time and with everything else in the world feeling like it is headed to hell in a handbasket, my enjoying 5 beers a night and talking about them is the least worrying thing in my life.

  So thank you to everyone who followed along, hung out for a few pints during the month or dropped in from time to time to see where I was. It wasn't my intention to drink 150 beers in a month, but having done so, I must accept what it says about my life. I wish I could say I will drink less, but I will never lie to you my friends, Let's just say I am more aware of what is going into my glass and I am looking forward to a bright future with tales and great times with more of you.

Raise your glass and your standards,
One Beer at a time.

Cheers!

Polk


The Numbers from the Truth in May
76 Different Breweries.
(W means I worked that day, O means Day off)
1st - 5 W
2nd - 4 O
3rd  - 4 W
4th - 4 O
5th - 1 W
6th - 2 W
7th - 2 W
8th - 6 W
9th - 4  O
10th - 3 W
11th - 7 O
12th - 4 W
13th - 4 W
14th - 3 W
15th - 5 W
16th - 4 W
17th - 4 W
18th - 6 W
19th - 4 W
20th - 6 W
21st - 4 W
22nd - 9 O
23rd - 7 O
24th -  2 W
25th - 5 O
26th - 3 W
27th - 12 O
28th - 3 W
29th - 5 W
30th - 8 O
31st - 9 W