Hot Pink Freak

Why yes, to no one’s surprise, my “B” blog will be about…BEER.

I first started my foray into beer in high school. I know, who didn’t? Well, back then the drinking age in Texas was 18. I drank a LOT of the standard cheap beers, which I never did like.

I would find things like Anchor Steam, Fosters (back in the old big tin oil can days), Red Stripe, and the like. There wasn’t too much variety to be found in Texas…well…anywhere hardly at that point.

I pretty much stopped drinking beer and mostly drank cocktails. As I got older and my palate changed, I started trying something different. Guinness. I liked it much better than the pale ales & lagers from my younger days. Still, it wasn’t exactly what I wanted out of a beer.

Finally, more and more craft beer started showing up in Texas. Red Hook, Alaskan, Sierra Nevada, and more. This pub my ex and I used to hang out at called JW Rovers in Round Rock, had a “Drink your way around the World” or some such challenge. If you drank X amount of beers, you got into this great club. Name on the wall, special T-shirt, and events.

I won a major award! It's FRAGILE!

So we set out on a journey to explore every beer style we could manage to get our hands on. I decided I hated fruit beer (Sorry Pete’s Wicked) and loved Stouts (Thanks Red Hook for the now defunct Starbuck’s version of Double Black Stout). I fell in love with Belgian beer, and decided I just wasn’t up for Canadian beers. Okay, so I’ve changed my opinion on Canadian beers after spending 5 weeks in Montreal. ❤ Unibroue now. Same for the Griffon Red Ale by Brasserie McAuslan/McAuslan Brewing.

I digress. HOW I DIGRESS.

I’ve since discovered heaps of places to find information about craft beer on the internet. I’ve been lucky to live in hubs of good beer, both large independent brewers and small craft brewpubs. I discovered so many great beers while living in Seattle, and was gobsmacked by the craft brew culture which exploded in Austin over the last 10 years. (Hint: Look for Jester King in bottles. They’re definitely selling in SoCal right now.)

All my best outings are paired with beer. I enjoy sharing beer and teaching people about beer, just as I do board/card games. That’s why I’ve always been so passionate about my Board Game/Beer Geek meetups. Maybe you’ll join me at one and learn about great beer and fun games.

Hands down, my favorite beer, Ten Fidy.