Fill Your Pint With Big Dreams and Big Blue Van

I was an “IPA person”, that was my “beer identity”. In my time, I’ve choked down numerous waxy and hop-less IPAs just to hold true to that image. I was naïve and was completely depriving myself of the wonders of gose, barrel aged, wheat, barely wine and all the other goodness of the beer world! My perspective was narrowed by the neck of a single bottle, refusing to tap into the rest of what beer had to offer. 

World of Beer

Until the night of Big Blue Van…

It was a celebratory night and I was feeling extra adventurous. I was feeling so good that I had the gall to order a blueberry/vanilla wheat beer with my meal. The blasphemy that my past self was screaming at me for ordering such a brew turned into salvation (or salivation) after the first sip. The whole world slipped away and it was just me and Big Blue Van. It was like discovering a new sci-fi story where you become completely consumed in another universe. I felt the flavors striking different notes on my tongue with a pleasant hint of sweetness comforting that delicious bite of bitterness. 

 

College Street Brewery's Big Blue Van of goodness 😍

  

Once I came back from that first sip I was reborn, and since then, my career as a beer snob has been an ever ageing sour –each day improving from the last.

As I sit here toasting to this wrack of dead beavers I just unloaded for dog food, I reminisce of that night and think of the path it laid for me that got me to this day: savoring a citrus IPA while basking in beaver stench. 

Another day at the office

I remember the initial expansion of my beer palate being slow; I would only venture from my comfort zone when I was feeling wild. On occasion, I would participate in a stout during the winter months or a wheat beer if I was feeling festive or fruity but I always fell back on an IPA, almost afraid to break from that persona. 

For the Love of Hops

In my college town, there was a wondrous place called Liquor Deli. Liquor Deli is a mecca for beer and booze and it showed me the endless variety of drinking freedom available. Deep down I knew I wanted to try all these new beers, but I was afraid I “wouldn’t like them” or (even worse) find something I liked more than an IPA. 

Odell's Woodcut Barley Wine that changed my beer life

One evening shopping at Liquor Deli, I decided to blow my paycheck on a barley wine. Praise to his Holiness of Hops that I did, because that was the catalyst I needed to finally break into the brave world of beer that Big Blue Van teased of. Price tags, styles, labels and companies didn’t matter anymore; every beer HAD to be tried, analyzed and enjoyed (or otherwise). 

Happiness comes in a growler

It’s a thrilling hobby, drinking beer. You get to engage with a community by drinking its local beer and your brain links past events and emotions to various flavors, intertwining your life and your favorite brew (i.e. Octoberfest beers are a GREAT support for studying for the Physics GRE). It is a community that is constantly changing to create that “new taste” and you are on an endless scavenger hunt for the unknown and untasted. 

Beer in life and life in Beer

It has become my passion, one I never would have thought to get involved in, and one I wouldn’t have if I stayed stuck in my IPA rut (side note: this is not a bash on IPAs; they are still my favorite style of beer).  

Coincidentally, my beer journey compliments my life journey as I am not in a place I ever thought I would be. I’m not working for NASA or in graduate school; I’m mushing dogs and traveling the world (and drinking citrus beers with less than lively company). It’s not the route I was “supposed to take” but my world is hopping with color, experience and life because I tapped into the idea of pursuing a path meant for me and because I ventured to make a radical beer purchase one night years ago. 

Important step of puppy training

All of us struggle, in one aspect or another, to “do what we are supposed to do” or “do what is right” but in that mindset you’ll never get to experience the blueberry/vanilla wheats of the world.

I dared to break out of my IPA mold, and while I have spent money on some disappointing 6 packs, I have also discovered beer that has enriched my taste buds and filled my refrigerator with hoppy/malty joy.  

Another casual day at the office

Aside from this existential life analogy, drinking out of your beer comfort zone should be in every beer drinker’s interest. We live in a time where craft beer (and even domestic beer) is booming providing a plethora of styles, companies and flavors to crack into and enjoy.

Life is like a variety pack, it’s a collection of flavors that are daring to be tasted and you never know when one will surprise your senses and open your world. 

  

Pulling towards your Passion