365 Beers wrap up
A year has come and gone. My "365 beers in 365 days" adventure officially ended in April, and now I can go back to drinking what I like when I want it. I learned to appreciate the biting hops in an IPA, the crisp drinkability of a Pilsner, and the room temperature smoothness of a nice ESB. Those three varieties top my list of favorites, and I'm glad I've gotten to know them better. I didn't quite make the half-way point on my adventure; I recorded only 158 different beers from 101 different brewers.
Brew pubs made my life a little easier with their sampler flights and snacks - Stone, Grizzly Peak, dillon DAM, and Leopold Bros. were the four brew pubs I visited. Well, "brew pub" isn't quite the word. They brew beer, and they serve food. Stone, especially, has really, really good food. You'll notice Arbor Brewing is not on that list, even though they're right here in Ann Arbor. I really don't like their beer, and their food makes me sad. I managed to avoid them all year, save a University of Chicago alumni event and an "Alt" with my Haab's fried chicken. I appreciate all the work the Greffs do for our communities, but I won't be visiting Arbor or Corner much more often. Now that Leopold Bros. is closed, I won't have to make any more excuses to go to my Ann Arbor favorite - Grizzly Peak.
My favorites beers were brewed by Stone Brewing Co. in Escondido, CA and Lagunitas Brewing Co. in Petaluma, CA. Stone gets bonus points for their environmentally-friendly practices (including serving locally, sustainably grown food and biodiesel work crew fleets). New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, CO tries to be environmentally friendly too, and their Springboard beer is the only remotely blonde one I liked.
I'll be buying Stone beers for home when I know I'll be doing some drinking. Beers like Arrogant Bastard and Ruination IPA are not for the faint of heart, nor the "about to drive." They're so tasty and strong though, that they have a spot in my fridge. The Pilsner from Laguitas is one of the most drinkable beers I tried, and I'll keep it around for occasional, spontaneous consumption. It's great with burgers, oysters, to celebrate turning in a conference submission, playing Wii, watching the Cubs beat the Brewers 19-5, whatever. Both breweries' beers (and most of the ones I've tried) are available at Super Liquor IV in Ann Arbor. Super Liquor is the best liquor store around, despite their B+ from Beer Advocate.
For those of you who may consider my beer adventure a failure because I didn't reach 365 different beers, consider this - I spent over $500 to get this far. For a grad student who prefers Coca-Cola, that's a serious investment. Summer's almost here, and I may try some sort of Washington beer quest while I'm in Seattle. I'll let you know. Until then, drink responsibly and try something new every once in a while.
Beer project update
I've been asked a couple times lately about my 365 Beers in 365 Days Project. Well, folks, that was an overly ambitious goal. I have until April 15 to complete the project, but that's not going to happen.
Here are today's summary statistics:
Total beer count: 144
Beer drinking rate: 0.503 beers/day
Number of watery domestics consumed: 5
Number of different breweries: 96
Number of beer styles (e.g. pilsner, IPA): 19
Brewery with most beers on list: Tie between Brown’s (Troy, NY; thanks, Ann, Lisa-Joy, and Dan for your help!) and dillon DAM Brewery (Dillon, CO; Thanks, Mom!)
Favorite brewery: Stone (I'll be visiting the Stone Brewery in February. Stay tuned!)
I don't mind that I won't get anywhere near my 365/365 goal. This little project has helped me figure out what I like in beer (hops, and lots of it) and what I don't like (stouts, ew). I now know what I want with a hamburger (lager) or on its own (IPA). I've learned quite a bit, and that's good enough. I'll keep updating you on my progress; this project may become a drinking approach rather than a drinking project. Sometimes one just wants to drink a beer one likes, a familiar friend in a bottle or pint glass; this crazy 365 thing made that pretty hard, and I just couldn't keep up.
New (to me) and Useful: Upromise
I owe a lot of money in student loans. A lot. I'll take nearly any help I can get paying them down. Upromise to the rescue!
Because I have some loans serviced by Sallie Mae, I can transfer my Upromise account monies to my loans. I'm pretty sure it works like this:
- Open an Upromise account
- Link your credit cards to your Upromise account
- Shop at stores that contribute to Upromise accounts
- Small percentages of your purchases get put into your Upromise account
- Transfer your Upromise account money to your Sallie Mae-serviced loan
- Repeat steps 3-6
See, free and simple. You can also get your friends and family to sign up so that percentages of their purchases go to your Upromise account too. Thanks, family! Mine came out like gangbusters and signed up right away. Let me know if you have no loans and no one else to support via Upromise; I'd love to get a piece of your shopping too. 
Upromise is good for people planning to go to school too, but I don't know all the details there.
Oh, I almost forgot. Upromise partners with restaurants and bars too. That's right. 4% of what you eat out or drink can go to your savings account. Woot! Ann Arbor restaurants and bars include aut bar, Arbor Brewing Company, Leopold Bros., and Scorekeepers. There are more, but that's a start. Again, woot!
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