If you know either my partner or myself, you are aware that we are a drinking household. Bottle of wine with pizza? Yes please. Meet you at a bar for lunch? But of course! We’re both fond of an evening cocktail, and those three kegs of homebrew in our living room aren’t going to drink themselves. Which is why with some trepidation I announced that I was going to attempt a Nodrink November. Just to make things even more interesting, I, the lover of offal was also going to attempt to make it NoMeat November as well. It’s like the opposite of Beerlass’ Porktoberfest. Of course, there were to be few blackout dates; birthdays and beer club meetings were planned, special ladydates and cocktail parties that were already on the calendar, and I am going to enjoy wine with my Thanksgiving dinner.
It takes announcing that one is abstaining to really make one realize how much drinking is a part of one’s personal culture. People always asked why, and with the absence of a “good” reason, deemed the idea stupid and set out to tempt me at every occasion. I’ve done the meatless / drinkless month before (last September) and literally every single day of that month my partner offered me a drink. Not to test my will, but because the concept of me refusing a drink failed to stick in his mind. I soldiered through then, but alas, a mere week into this month I’ve already cheated three times and am thinking of throwing in the towel. For the drinking at least. There are just too many planned drinking occasions this month, and I enjoy the social aspect of it. People have suggested February might be better suited for teetotaling; less engagements and all.
In this friendly, freedom-loving land of ours - Beer belongs...enjoy it!
Which brings up how inherently social drinking has become, in my life at least. I don’t run with a mixed shots let’s get wasted kind of crowd, but everyone I knew enjoys having a few beers with dinner or while playing rockband. Bad day at work? Let’s split a bottle of wine at home, or treat ourselves to one nice cocktail at an upscale joint. I know I am capable of going a month (or longer) without drinking, and this is an essential skill to posses if you fancy yourself a potential breeder and would not like to incur the wrath of strangers. But for now, I am young, childless, enjoy making my own beer, and sampling the mixology of my partner (he’s really far better behind the bar than I) so nuts to you, NoDrink November. You were a noble experiment, but one that failed miserably. So stop by my place to sample some of the brews, or I’ll meet you at Tria for Sunday School, and I’ll try this again in the colder months.
Tonight it the Sly Fox U Buy The Glass Night at the Abbaye. A supremely affordable $10 will buy you a keepsake pint glass as well as free refills from 7-9 P.M. Featured Sly Fox beers include the Abbey Xtra, Dry Stout, and the Seamus Red Ale, which I recently sampled and thoroughly enjoyed. Who am I kidding? I love almost everything that Sly Fox brews. I’m totally biased. In addition to hanging out and drinking, U Keep the Glass Night also offers the chance to win a whole bunch of swag from the featured brewery. Then you can have a sensible late dinner while you keep drinking. Good times.
So as some of you may be aware, tonight is a major sporting event for Philadelphia. This noble, dying sport known as The American Pastime has shone a light on our complex little city, and once again we just might shrug the chips off our collective shoulder and rise to what we know we are capable of; hard-earned elegant excellence.
