I hear it a lot from people who don't know me that well, who follow me, periodically, on Twitter, who see a photo of a glass or bottle, almost daily, on Facebook.
"You drink a lot," they say.
For the record, I don't drink a lot: I drink often, and there's a big difference.
Those daily Untappd
posts? That is the one beer I drank. Sometimes, I might have two;
rarely, three, unless I'm drinking a sampler, four to six four-ounce
glasses. I rarely, if ever, have drained every one of those glasses.
Almost every time I order a sampler, there will be at least one glass
that has only had one or two sips; other glasses will be left half-full.
I don't drink a lot: I drink often.
I can stop anytime I want. I know, a lot
of people with drinking problems say that, and I don't wish to make
light of those who really do struggle with alcoholism and are courageous
in their fight to break free from the temptation to put the bottle to
lips.
Because I am fortunate to not have an
addiction, I can say, with confidence, that I can stop drinking when I
want to. And, for the remainder of this month, and into the beginning of
October, I'm going to do just that. I shall not drink any beer, any
wine, any whisky, any alcoholic beverage, between September 8 and
October 2.
And the reason why I'm on hiatus from my cherished bevvies is not what you think: I'm back on my bike, training for a 100-kilometre ride from Ottawa to Vankleek Hill, for Beau's Oktoberfest,
on Saturday, October 3. Because I haven't ridden my bike very much
since the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour, from Perth to Kingston, in June, I
have gained some extra flab around the waist.
It doesn't take a lot of beer and little exercise to do that.
When I ride my bike, it doesn't take
long to lose the spare tire, but because I don't have a lot of time to
train, I don't want to fight the fat with beer. And so, until I get to
Vankleek Hill, I'm not putting unnecessary calories into my body.
I'm going to try to watch what I eat, but I have a greater weakness for food than I do for alcohol.
While I was on vacation, I travelled to
several Ontario craft breweries and I tried many local ales from the
Bruce Peninsula, Muskoka region, and Guelph, and I made some notes for
reviews. So, while I may not be drinking through September, my Beer O'Clock reviews will continue each Thursday.
I'm on a hiatus: my beer blog isn't.
I'm into the final half of my holiday sampler from Beau's and it dawned on me that I've posted a review every day this week.
I don't have a drinking problem. I drink: no problem.
On any given evening, I enjoy a pint, maybe two. But I never drink to excess. I drink responsibly. As I once wrote on Twitter: I don't get drunk. I get fortified.
But I digress.
I had only one bottle of beer yesterday and I actually sipped it over a couple of hours. After all, it was a 600-ml bottle. It was another bottle from the holiday assortment of Beau's special releases. For the past three days, I've randomly grabbed from the gift pack that I bought before Christmas, and then promptly forgot about them, forgot what beers lay inside.
To read the review on the first bottle I pulled from the box, click here; for the second one, click here.
Here's the third bottle that I pulled from the pack:
Patio Saison (Belgian-style harvest ale; 6.3% ABV)
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company
Vankleek Hill, ON
Beer O'Clock rating: 3
Appearance: pale, murky caramel to a deep grapefruit juice colour, with a whitish, foamy head that lasted about an hour.
Nose: citrus and floral notes.
Palate: mild orange citrus, traces of black pepper and clove, with a short, dry finish.
Overall impression: I could see myself quaffing this ale on a hot summer's day after mowing the lawn. This ale, served cool, would go down nicely. As it's name suggests, it's great for patio season too.
I'm pleased to say that the label on this bottle was in great shape (the previous two labels were a bit of a dog's breakfast). But I didn't get the Santa cap on the sun (it's not on the label shown on Beau's Web page).
My opinion of Beau's is changing. I used to think of them as a hit-and-miss brewery. I liked about half of the beer I tried, but clearly I hadn't tried enough of their products. At WinterBrewed, I had some phenomenal beer, such as their Winterbrewed, Bog Father, Burnt Rock, and Strong Patrick. During their FeBREWary season, I loved Oiseau de Nuit and Dubbel Koyt.
And of the three beers I've had of this four-pack grab box, I've enjoyed them all.
Good on you, Beau's.
Cheers!
