A Sunday Blessing

My friend Jason, Beerblogger extraordinaire , has already mentioned the terrific New Yorker piece on craft brewing. I'll re-iterate here: it's a brilliant article, very well written and thoroughly researched. I learned quite a bit from reading it.

Here's the most important thing I learned: Dogfish Head brewing's founder, resident genius, and god to whom beer geeks genuflect, Sam Calagione, named his company for the piece of land off Southport Island (near Boothbay--surely you knew, SLM!) where he summered as a kid. Yes, it's true, Dogfish Head is locavore compliant. Some of the ingredients are trucked in, as is the case with any beer, but the name is strictly local.

During 2008 I have suffered mightily: the horrible 3 beer limit; the 10 day suspension order; the wretched trips to beer-starved Florida and Virginia; the gut-wrenching free-versus-local dilemma. I have endured it all. But the cruelest indignation, the most horrific challenge has been to deprive myself of the single best beer in the world: the Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. I now know that my agony was unnecessary. So it is with pure joy mixed with a twinge of regret that I lift my glass and sing Hallelujah.