The Beer Retard - January 2nd, 2008

2007 was a great beer year for me. I tried a ridiculous number of beers, took beer-centric trips to San Diego, Portland, New Orleans, Las Vegas and the Bay Area, attended several beer festivals (including my first Oregon Brewers Festival) and met some cool beer people both locally and up and down the West Coast. All the things I've done have substantially increased my beer IQ, but I still have a long way to go. Bearing that in mind, here are my Beer Resolutions for 2008:

• Buy homebrew supplies and brew my own beer


• Take several beer trips, including ones to the East Coast, Bend (OR), Portland (for another OBF), Denver (GABF) and either Victoria or Vancouver


• Write about beer 3-4 times a week


• Attend as many of the local beer festivals and events as possible and continue to make friends in the local beer community


• Try at least 200 beers I've never had


• Give podcasting another go with a new, revitalized format


• Pay more attention to less hoppy styles of beer


• Take steps toward being able to leave my current job and make a living doing something beer-related


• Take list-making and documenting to new OCD heights by keeping track of every beer I drink (see how long that lasts)

After going to Über Tavern's New Year's Eve party and enjoying some Stone and Avery beers at special prices, my New Year's Day was spent relaxing at home and watching DVDs. We had planned to break our record by watching six movies in one day, but we only got through four. I also managed to drink a couple beers, but didn't reach for anything new. I still had four beers left in a sixpack of Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale, so I had two of those. The Celebration Ale is such a go-to beer at this time of year. Whenever you're not sure what kind of beer to drink, but know you don't feel like a holiday spiced beer or a high octane malt/alcohol bomb...Celebration is the one to have. Style-wise, it's pretty much an IPA, but with a bit more body than your average hoppy pale ale. I'm pretty sure that sixes of it are still on sale at Seattle QFC stores for $5.99. I think I'll have to pick up a few more before they disappear not to return for ten months.

Stats:
Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (12 oz. bottle poured into pint glass X 2)

Not a huge fan of Borders, but today I went in armed with a $20 gift card and one of the things I got (along with a copy of the book The Omnivore's Dilemma) was the Beer-a-Day calendar you see pictured above. It's something any beer geek would want to have. Each day has information about a different beer and some other beer factoids.

Maybe I'll try to hunt down each beer of the day. Today's is the Courage Best Bitter (which they may have at Pike St. Beer & Wine). Yesterday's was the Dupont Les Bon Voeux (which I'm pretty sure they have on tap at the Stumbling Monk).

All calendars at Borders are 50% off right now, so if you need one it might be worth paying them a visit even if you prefer to spend your money at a small, independent store.