I Love Beer

Like so many people around the world, I have a great love and appreciation of beer. It doesn’t get much better than sitting down on a relaxing summer night and sipping on a Sunset Wheat from Leinenkugels. It can pretty much only be matched by coming in from mowing the lawn on a hot afternoon and gulping down the coldest beer I can possibly find or lazing around the stands at a baseball game with a frosty mug of whatever I can afford at the ballpark.

Sometimes I’m a beer snob. I read magazines like All About Beer, Draft Magazine and Beer Advocate and I do look at beer ratings when I’m trying to find a great new beer I’ve never had before. It’s great to have good taste, but by no means do I intend to say that I don’t still enjoy a nice cold Bud, Miller or PBR on a night out at the bar.

I’ve also always been interested in the study of history. Looking at the past is always interesting, but the thought of studying the history is absolutely titillating to me!

Along with beer and history I’ve always enjoyed writing. Two years ago I wrote a travelogue about my two month trip through Europe. Part of that trip was spent in Ireland, England, and Germany, homes to some of the best beer-drinkers in the world.

I was making my commute to work one afternoon a few months back when I got to thinking about ways I could combine as many of my hobbies as possible. After some pretty serious thought I came up with the idea to go on an epic road trip through America stopping at every brewery, beer bar, and brewpub I could find. While on the road I also planned to set up interviews with as many brewers, owners, or beer fans as I come by. Then at the conclusion of my trip I will sit down and write a book about the whole experience. A big part of the book, tentatively titled “All Hopped Up,” is going to be history of beer, the breweries I visit, and the impact of beer on the cities I’m in.

This blog is going to be my companion to the final product. As I go through the process of researching and preparing before I leave, while I’m on the actual trip, and as I write the book, I’ll be posing updates here about my progress. I’ll also be putting up links to any interesting beer news that I find or on occasion I might even post a review of whatever beer I happen to be drinking when I sit down at the computer.

Check back frequently and let me know what you think!

-Brian