I was genuinely surprised, even considering that, at the general level of enthusiasm.
| Are you enthusiastic about beer? | |
| More than ever | 29.60% |
| Loads | 46.30% |
| Only if it's Abt | 7.60% |
| Can't be arsed | 16.40% |
| 341 votes | |
In which category would I place myself? No, it's not option 3. I'd say that, sadly, I'm still at option 2. Dead enthusiastic. Which is a bit of a surprise. Because I've been at this stuff for years, off and on.
My enthusiasm levels are much where they've always been: very far over to the obsessive side. What has changed is the nature of that energy.
When I was younger, I dived headlong into the swimming pool of beer. Initially searching out as many cask beers as I could. Though, in particular Mild. With foreign travel, that interest widened. As I hunted down Lagers in Czechoslovakia, Alt in Düsseldorf and Gose in Saxony. Pursuits to which I devoted considerable energy and expense.
I rarely join the chase foe a specific beer nowadays. Unless it's something really special. And by special, I mean odd, forgotten and obscure styles. Not the latest trend. I can take or leave the newest type of IPA or adulterated Imperial Stout. My interest has now mostly shifted to history. Understanding how beer styles are formed and mutate as they spread out from their initial homelands.
I put in as much time and effort as ever, Just in a different environment. No longer out in the field with my binoculars hoping to spot a rare bird to cross off my list. But at my computer, excavating the barrows of long-lost brews. Without enthusiasm, I wouldn't be doing this work.
I hope I never lose it, my boundless enthusiasm for beer. For what would I be without it? Just another fat, old bloke sitting in the corner with a half-finished pint of Mild.
Most of the old blokes I recall when I worked as a barman used to drink halves, sometimes making them last a couple of hours. Does anyone drink halves anymore?
ReplyDeleteWorse yet, you could be a fat, old bloke sitting in the corner with a half-finished pint of Mild fiddling with his phone. ;^)
ReplyDeleteI'm an American homebrewer who has lost my enthusiasm for American craft beer, as half the handles anymore seem to be sludgy beer or IPAs brewed with those awful dank hops. Recently a new tap room opened up, and I went there with the wife and some friends this weekend. Not only were they celebrating Orval day (which appears to be made up by their American distributer), they also had London Pride on tap. It restored my faith in commercial beer.