Funny thing is that in my earlier ages, I did not like anything with alcohol. Only the fruit floating on sangria, after being at least a couple of hours macerating. That was the only thing I really liked. But there is always margin for a turning point and that happened to me.

My birthday falls in St. Patrick’s day. Many years I used to celebrate my birthday in Irish pubs, despite just drinking a soda. One year, in 1999, my partner and I decided to celebrate my birthday in Dublin. And then, exactly on my birthday, I decided to take a Guiness. OMG!! That was an experience! That was amazing! I must admit that all the Guiness I have had afterwards, never have tasted as good as that first one, and why? Because it is a special beer that you can enjoy better if you drink in specific conditions. Of course, you can drink it in Benidorm on a 15th of July at 4pm… but it will not be experienced the same way as drinking it in Dublin, poured by a bartender that took the time to pour it properly, and in the best temperature possible. Because Guiness have a moment and a space. That made me realize that drinking beer might be something more special of what I thought, and that there was more to learn from it. I wanted more!

As from that moment, my partner and I started the pilgrimage of trying as many different beers as possible and learn. My partner (now my husband) had already some years of advantage in this area. Specially with Belgium bees. Before the EURO, one of our hobbies was to drive an hour to the border, change Dutch Guldens (NLG) for Belgium Francs BEF and then reach Antwerpen and spend few hours drinking different beers. He is also a beer fanatic but while he classifies the beer as “nice, not nice”, my interest is a bit wider. I like the different aspects of beers. Since the Dublin trip, I have been doing my best to catch up and learn as much as possible and every day I enjoy more and more.

Last year, I joined a program where each month is a beer tasting is organized. And aside from tasting and learning from local breweries, and I came to realize that I need, and I want more. I want to know the mechanics of the beer. I want to know where the subtility that makes one beer different from other comes in place. And I also came to realize that my taste sense is quite good, so why not to bring this into a deeper level?

So here I am taking my thought into action and starting a new phase in my learnings.

Soon I will start my first class, so I will share my thoughts about it. In the meanwhile, you can have a look at the resources published. I found the information interesting.