IT’S BEEN A WHILE

I’m heading out on the town in Portland later tonight with another Alehead who’s down from Seattle for the evening, and I’ve found myself feeling nostalgic for the days when I was a little more involved in the craft beer scene. It seems like I’ve fallen victim to the mainstream trap – too many other people got into it, and suddenly it didn’t seem so cool/unique to be all excited or knowledgeable about it anymore. I certainly never though of myself as a fair-weather craft beer drinker, and in reality my consumption habits haven’t changed much. I still love visiting the ever-evolving plethora of breweries in Portland (I’ve recently become a visitor of craft distilleries as well), and every trip to the store includes a lingering stop in the beer aisle. Somewhere along the line I just got less involved in writing about/analyzing all things craft beer. I still aspire to (and have yet to) brew my own. I still love chatting about my favorite brews (and my less favorite brews) with anyone who wants to engage on the topic. I still consider myself a connoisseur. I still have a “cellar” of great beers ageing away for a rainy day. And I still find excuses to visit brewfests on a semi-regular basis. I suppose I’m not really sure what changed. 

As my association with the site has waned, so has my connection with some of the other Aleheads. In some ways Aleheads.com was a construct that we created as much to have an excuse to keep up our association with one another from our far-flung post-college locales as it was a result of our shared passion for craft beers. Aleheads joined us along the way who had nothing to do with our original fraternal origins, and I don’t know whether losing a worthy Alehead (St. Magnus) prolonged or foreshortened the life of the site, though I’m grateful that I had an opportunity to talk with him just days before his untimely departure as a direct result of this endeavor (during a malt-fueled Maltercation recording session). I don’t have the excuse of some of the other contributors, who spawned a bunch of little Aletykes and suddenly have real responsibilities to deal with. Perhaps it’s just the nature of any topical blog run by a bunch of non-professionals. Other priorities simply intrude, lives change, and interest wanes. In any case, I’m looking forward to sucking down a few hop-bombs this evening and waxing philosophical with the Captain this evening. I hope you have an excuse to enjoy some of the same.