My Favorite Beer...

is a free one...

All joking aside, there are thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of beers world wide... Who can choose one?

My favorite beer varies with the mood I'm in, the company I surround myself with, and my location...

EXAMPLES:
1.  Sitting around a fireplace in the middle of a cold winter = dark, thick, robust porter or stout.  Something deep in color, rich in malts, and smooth.  The higher the alcohol content the better.

2.  Having a cookout in the backyard with friends and family on a hot summer day = a crisp white or wheat ale, potentially something with an orange or lemon undertone.  Lower in alcohol content than the winter beer.  Something with a clear or hazy light color and light on the hops.

3.  Tailgating = I don't know about this one.  I tend to drink a miller light, for the necessity of having a can and glass typically not being allowed.  Most quality beers are not offered in a can unfortunately and therefore your selection is limited.  If I branch out further than the typically domestic light beer, something with a little hop is good here.  Recently I've become a HUGE fan of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.  Crisp, hoppy, refreshing, higher in alcohol than a domestic for when you need a quicker buzz.  Delicious.

4.  Out to dinner = No matter what restaurant I'm in, no matter what food I'm ordering, from seafood to a burger, from Morton's Steakhouse to Olive Garden, my favorite sipping beer is a nice brown ale or Scottish Ale.  Two that come to mind first that fit the bill are Leffe Brune and Three Floyds Robert the Bruce.

Asides from the obvious, a brown ale is brown, they are typically smooth, clean beers, lower in hops, and have a nice malty taste that sticks to your tongue.  They can be higher in alcohol content, but not always.

The Scottish ales are FANTASTIC.  They are enjoyable with any food.  Typically a stronger taste than the brown ales, similar in color, but normally with a more malty finish.  They are sometimes slightly hoppy, but not necessarily.  Scottish Ales are usually higher in alcohol content (Robert the Bruce is around 7.5% ABV) and will leave you with a smile on your face.

5.  Sitting around doing nothing what-so-ever/playing videogames/watching a movie/etc. = Open for whatever I may have in the beer fridge.  My beer fridge is full of variety.  I typically have at least a few of the following in there:  Blue Moon White Ale, Newcastle Brown Ale, Leinenkugels Summer Shandy, Yuengling Lager, Miller Lite, Abita Purple Haze, Abita Turbo Dog, Rogue Dead Guy Ale, Leffe Brune, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Sun King Wee Mac, Oaken Bucket Ras-Wheat... you name it.  My taste while doing any of the above mentioned activities can range from bizarre to fruity, from crisp to dark and robust.

As you can tell, I love my beers.  I have and always will enjoy trying new local microbrews in places I go on vacation and will never stray from my favorites I've already established.  If you ever have a question about a beer you may or may not like or just want to bullshit about hops and malts, lets talk... over a cold one of course.

Money Cant Buy Happiness... Or Can It?

Ok so maybe not true "happiness" (whatever "happiness" means...), but lets break all of this down.  Money, I think, can do alot for someone, a couple, or a family.  I'm not talking about millions, tens of millions, I'm talking "just enough" to make it. 

When someone says, "Money can't buy happiness", it must be put into perspective.  Lets say the average American family is living paycheck to paycheck, hoping to make ends meet, praying that a furnace doesn't go out or that nothing happens to a loved one that would require medical bills, for example.  What would an extra $1,000.00 a month do for this average American family? 

"Peace of Mind"

I'm not saying that peace of mind alone is happiness.  What I'm attempting to say here is that peace of mind is a stress reliever, a pain reliever, a way to dismiss a little burden.

Stress = nothing good.

I know when I am stressed out because of bills, expectations, financial burdens etc., I'm not happy.  I get anxious, nervous, unpleasant.

Money alone cannot provide happiness... but I think it can provide peace of mind, and THAT can lead to being happy, being comfortable, and the obtaining ability to enjoy life...

11:11pm - Make a Wish

As a child, I'm sure your parents told you that you could make a wish if you caught the clock with all the same numbers showing. ie 2:22, 4:44, etc.  Just so happens I glanced at the clock last night as it displayed 11:11pm.  I immediately thought to myself, 'this means I need to make a wish.'  I sat and thought for a second, only to come to the conclusion that I completely lost as to what to wish for.  My mind was blank, yet simultaneously overflowing with thoughts, I just couldn't think clearly.  For what does a 28 year old wish for?  Surely I could wish for money, health & well-being, power.  Those all seem like logical quick answers, but I was trying to think of something else, something that pertained directly to the situation I'm currently in.  I decided I needed to wish for something more specific.

Clarity seemed like the right answer.  But alas, I questioned myself again.  Obviously clarity did not present itself immediately, or else I would not be questioning myself so quickly.  And so my decision was to sleep on it.  Ponder it awhile, and let it settle.

It's now 8:30am the following day, and I believe I am still entitled to my wish.  Just because the moment passed, does not mean I lose my wish.  Surely not.  That cannot be the way a children's game works.  It would be expected, however, for a child to make a wish almost instantaneously, not "hold" the wish for a later time, but I'm going with it.

So what did I come up with.  A laundry list of things passed through my head, but ultimately through all the haze and fogginess, the only wish I could truly wish for, was for clarity.  That is what I did.  Who knows what may come of it?  Whether it will come true and give me some insight into the random, convoluted mess of thoughts in my head or be a complete waste of time?  Only time will tell.  I prefer and hope for the former not the latter, but we'll see.

So my first blog post might leave someone wondering what my current situation is... For that you might just have to continue reading my blogs.