Brewing and Bottling

Beer Fantasy

I've been diligently following my 2009 rules, er, guidelines and have not consumed a beer since Sunday. I am starting to fantacize. What will be my first beer of the week?

A Rising Tide Floats All Boats

Lost in the plethera of local Irish pubs, Bull Feeney's is sometimes overlooked (at least by me). Yesterday I found Novare Res closed (this despite the fact that the posted hours indicated that they should've been open--I find this annoying). It was a bit cold, I was a bit thirsty, I walked on--but only as far as Fore St., where Bull Feeney's was not only open, but serving a new and improved beer list (see photo, sorry about the glare). With my relaxed locavorian standards I strayed into the Victory Hop Devil--guilt free. A terrific beer!

The fire place was hot, the bartender (Ashley) helpful and cheerful, and the atmosphere was warm and friendly. All in all a very pleasant beer experience.

It seems that Novare Res, open or not, may have raised the local beer menu standards. I'll explore this theory at some of the other venues. But I'll definitely return to Bull Feeney's.

2009!

My strict beer locavore commitment of 2008 is over! Largely successful, I did have the occasional slip-up, and paid the price as a result. It was a learning process. I anticipate that 2009 will be equally transformational. It will also be a year of self-imposed sacrifice, as noted below.

In 2009, I will evolve from being a strict beerlocavorian to being beerlocavore-friendly. This means that I will be a spiritual beerlocavore while occasionally embracing the creations from beyond the locavore boundaries, if only to bring back the thoughts, theories, and flavors to the local environment. This will have the effect of mitigating any burgeoning beer xenophobia.

Lest anyone think that the result will be a year without sacrifice, I will continue to lean heavily on locavore principles. In addition, I will strictly apply locavore rules to the consumption of mead--drinking only locally produced mead during the entire year. This without exception! In addition, in an attempt to lose some weight, I will, in theory, only consume beer on the weekend (friday-sunday, inclusive).

As always, I will report the results here.