365 Beers
I've been somewhat hesitant to share my 365 Beers in 365 Days mission on my blog, but I've gotten tremendous support from my colleagues in this endeavor. So, I decided I could start reporting progress occasionally here.
A group of friends and I started on this quest in spring 2007 (my start date was April 16). Our goal is to drink at least 4 ounces of 365 different beers in less than one year. I felt like I was in a beer rut, and I like to try new things, so I joined the quest. We made the 4 oz rule for two reasons - 1) 365 pints isn't advisable, and 2) some beers are so bad that drinking more than 4 oz is just dumb. I keep track of my beer list in a Google spreadsheet that has information on brewery, beer title, beer style, date consumed, place consumed, and notes. Well, actually, I put the beer information in the Memo Pad on my Blackberry while drinking and then move the data later. It doesn't look like I'll make the 365 day deadline, but I may keep tracking my beer consumption. I've really enjoyed finding new tastes and getting to know local breweries.
I haven't been very diligent in my note-taking, but I have learned a few things since this mission started. One is that I like very bitter beer - double-hopped IPAs have been some of my favorites. Another is that the Stone Brewery is apparently incapable of making a bad beer. I'm looking forward to a trip to Escondido with Matt to see Stone first hand.
Here are some summary statistics about my progress:
Total beer count: 112
Beer drinking rate: 0.544 beers/day
Number of watery domestics consumed: 5
Number of different breweries: 73
Number of beer styles (e.g. pilsner, IPA): 16
Brewery with most beers on list: Brown's (Troy, NY; thanks, Ann, Lisa-Joy, and Dan for your help!)
Favorite brewery: Stone