The February Session is hosted by the Montana Beer Finder.
Here is the topic: “In light of it being about two weeks before Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be a good time to talk about how we love beer. Pay attention now, as I said “how,” not “why.” Much has already been discussed about why we love beer: its creativity, its taste, its social aspect.
Think of this topic and discussion in terms of being in a relationship (again, a good primer for Valentine’s Day!). You can say to your partner, “Honey, I love you.” But think of the saying, “actions speak louder than words.” From my personal experience, it’s always better to show your partner the ways you love them instead of saying simply, “I love you because you make me happy.” Instead if you come home with flowers every now and then, or do extra house chores without being asked, or plan an impromptu date, these are ways we show our partners how we love them because our actions show we think of them when they’re not around.
To bring that back to beer, I’m not suggesting we need to be thinking of beer all the time, or as much as we think of our partners (though some of us might!), but I’m curious to hear what you beer lovers do to show appreciation for good craft beer.
Perhaps it’s that you buy a case of your favorite seasonal and share it with others every chance you get, or you commit yourself to only drinking that beer until it’s gone. Perhaps whenever you travel to a new place, you seek out as many local beers as you can instead of finding your favorites. Perhaps you don’t even buy bottled beer, but instead fill your growlers and drink at local taprooms. Perhaps our writing and blogging about beer shows how we love beer.
Again, think of the phrase, “actions speak louder than words,” so I’m not looking for what characteristics beer has that makes us love it, but what we do to show our love for it.”
After reading this month’s topic, the first thought that came to my mind was telling a story. And that is exactly the “how” that I strive to hit at every beer event, with every blog post and with every beer review.
My “how” is to take the golden opportunity to hand off my love of craft beer to someone else by really explaining to those who will listen why you love the (insert favorite beer of the moment here) in front of you. Then you are on your way to creating a story around the beer which I firmly believe creates excitement or at the very least creates an aura around the beer that will make someone else order one too.
And if you can go further down the rabbit hole and discuss the history of IPA’s and maybe even tell someone to buy a book on hops or Pete Brown’s adventure with a barrel of IPA then that makes the story even better.
With every new book I read about beer, I find new tidbits of beer history old and more recent that are perfect trivia to tell friends and family about. If there is a new brewery or gastropub opening, it is an opening to tell people that I work with about craft beer. Buying a beer for my sister-in-law is an opportunity to explain the parameters of a beer style.
All of these create a story about craft beer and people love to hear a good story. You don’t have to be the Brother’s Grimm (Though Grimm makes some good beers) or Stephen King (Sun King will do). Just show your love of beer by talking about it.
Very thoughtful post Sean. 🙂 I agree.
Indeed, without the story there would be nothing of substance. Well put here! Thanks for the post!