beeeeeeeeeeeeeer?

could this be it? am i done with beer?

i haven't brewed any in almost a year, now. since beginning my "wine journey" last month, i've had nearly no beer at all. last night i went to an easter party at the captain's apt, where, of course, beer was served, but while tasting the rare beers (a batch 001 from russian river!) all i could think of: when's the wine on?

yes, the beers were good. oh boy, hops. and, uh, orange peels. but where were the strawberries, the blackberries, the tannins? oh my, the tannins, which i thought i hated, but, like brussels sprouts, now cannot get enough of?

at last, after slogging through three or four (rare!) beer tastings, i finally got to have some wine, a gifted, over-oaked california syrah -- and that was the beverage i enjoyed for the evening.

this morning i considered getting rid, finally, of my brewing equipment and my electricity-hogging beer fridges (to be replaced, of course, by electricity-hogging wine fridges).

one thing has remained constant, though, and gives me cheer in its constancy: want some rye? COURSE I DO!

i considered a consideration the other night, which, in the current economic climate, is perhaps too real a consideration to be taken lightly, that were i to lose it all, were i to need to sell everything just to put food on my table, i'd keep just one thing. my smallest, heartiest, most beloved shot glass, which found me in a thrift shop, having abandoned its former owner to find its way to me.

even were water all i could afford to fill it with, i would still meditate upon the count of its bubbles, and further, meditate upon who prior to me meditated upon the count of its bubbles.