Hey, so… We’ve been MIA for about a month.
No, we didn’t die. Or pass out from drinking too much beer.
Category: Breweries
So I realized something. I decided to change my beer blog posts up, by changing to a monthly post, which I did for December…. and then I missed January… and then February and now we are to the middle of March.
Apparently, I need a personal assistant, not that I can afford to pay one, but someone who can hold me accountable for the things I say and then make me do them.
For now, I’ll have to hold myself accountable. So here it goes, March’s Monthly Beer Round Up.
I heard Madonna on the radio today and I became inspired. Now you’re probably thinking WTH does Madonna have to do with a beer post? Well, she does and but she also doesn’t.
Last week I wrote about the closing of two of my local breweries and the importance of drinking local as well as trying our best to give our money to small breweries and businesses as opposed to the big beer conglomerates like Bud, Coors, and Miller.
In the spirit of carrying on this support for drinking local, I am sharing my favorite local breweries in North Idaho.
As I write this my stomach is in knots. These knots are not the result of me being sick or that I have consumed too much beer but that in the last two weeks I have learned that two of my local craft breweries are shutting their doors forever. It is a crushing blow to them but also to my local craft beer world. It is why it is important to drink local beer.
Last year I lost a dear beer friend of mine. The Wookey Jack Black Rye IPA from Firestone Walker. Firestone discontinued the beer last fall and I went into full-on prepper mode hoarding any bottles of Wookey Jack that I could find. I collected a small stash that kept me going for a few months. My last Wookey Jack was enjoyed on May 18th, 2017.
Sometimes the beer world can be small. As I sat at Barbarian Brewery, 500 miles away from home, I ordered myself a tasting flight and glanced to the left as I waited. I locked eyes with a familiar face. But this face perplexed me as it made no sense to see this face 500 miles away from home. The face belonged to the owner of my local brewery. Then his brother appeared, the head brewer from the same local brewery. And then the manager of the same local brewery’s beer hall. We were all in town for the weekend and one thing was clear… we should have carpooled.
As history tells us, it was the Egyptians who first developed beer. It was not men, but Egyptian women, who were crafting the beer.
And for that, we thank these ladies.
Fast forward to 2017 and we now find the beer industry heavily dominated by men. Although there are still women brewers out there, according to a 2014 study by Stanford University, of 1700 polled breweries, only 4% had female head brewers.
Not a great showing ladies.
Let us step back to 2012 to the inaugural day of my first solo road trip. It was a warm sunny day when I arrived at the town of Polson Montana. A slight breeze created a twinkling ripple in the jewel-toned water. I navigated my truck, following the instructions of Samantha, my GPS, leading away from the main streets and the lake into a more residential area.
Sometimes wanderlust overtakes me. Normally I am a planner. Down. To. The. Minute. But on a Sunday late last year, I decided to not plan down to the minute. It was a beautiful sunny day that was meant for exploring. I had also not been to Montana since January of that year. Blasphemy.