Beer Regrets

Much like John Adams on his death bed, as I approach the end of this year, I find myself looking back at what I've accomplished and what I wish I would have done.  Not that I'm filled with remorse or anything, but I do have a few beer regrets.  To be clear, these aren't regrets for things I've done after drinking.  These are regrets over what I should have drank, where I should have drank, etc.  For example, I regret not compiling a spreadsheet from day one of every beer I drank and where I drank.  It'd be nice for analysis purposes now, like a spreadsheet could tell me what percentage of the beers I drank were, say, Brooklyn Lagers.  I tried to put together a comprehensive list a few weeks ago, but it was taking forever so I quit after logging like 50 beers.  That will be a task for an intern at the publishing company that inevitably releases my best selling book I suppose.  What got me thinking about my beer regrets is that Draft Magazine just arrived and it has their list of the 25 Best Beers of 2010.  I was glad to see beers like 21st Amendment's Monks Blood and Brooklyn's Sarachi Ace on their.  But what stood out for me was the inclusion of Short's Brewing Key Lime Pie.  Let me take you back to Michigan for a second.  While in Alpena, Liz and I went on a beer run with my dad.  We found a beer store with a TON of Michigan microbrews.  The stipulation was that we could only get one six pack, lest my grandparents think we were total drunks (a weird stipulation, but it was what it was).  After narrowing down the beers to Michigan microbreweries that I couldn't get in New York, I decided to get a Short's Brewing beer.  They had a ton of different things, from weird fruit beers to classic pale ales.  Seeing as how my family would be drinking this beer, I decided to go for a standard.  I grabbed the Pandemonium Pale Ale.  If you recall, this was the beer that was perpetually foamy and just not all that good.  You know what was sitting next to the Pandemonium Pale Ale?  The Key Lime Pie, one of Draft Magazine's Best Beers of 2010.  I had to make a choice, and I chose incorrectly.  Beer regrets.  This is sort of like when I go to a beer bar with a ton of different things on tap.  Do I get something I've already had that I know I like?  Do I try something new?  What if I get something new that's not that great when there are other beers that I haven't had that would be better?  It can get paralyzing at times.

Well, there's my daily dose of producticrastinating.  As to the beers for the past two days:  Friday I drank a Redbridge Gluten-Free Beer (still gross) and an Avery Brown Ale (still good).  Saturday was an excellent beer day in terms of both quality of beers and also quantity.  I had a Sam Smith Taddy Porter, 2 Duchesse de Bourgognes, a Two Brothers IPA and a Golden Pheasant Pilsner (okay that last beer wasn't so great).

Total Beers: 984
Countdown: 16.  All right.  Here we go.