Crafty Converts

It has a logo and everything!

This is the story of how a slave to swill became a connoisseur of craftiness. This is the story of a friend-of-mine’s betrothed and her ascension into Beervana.

I first met my friend Matt’s better-half about a year ago when I had them over for our annual spring beer festival. I’m fairly certain that it was her first real foray into the beer community, and because she was raised properly, she came baring a gift, which happened to be a six-pack of Bud Light Lime (no comment). This event probably wasn’t in any way responsible for her eventual conversion to good beer, but it may have been the beginning of her journey.

The label has a Greatful Dead or
Pink Floyd vibe going on

Matt is originally from the Boston area, so it’s no surprise that at the time, he was convinced that good beer started and stopped at the Boston Brewery, birthplace of the Sam Adams galaxy of brews. However, since being forced to listen to me and a fellow beer nerd rattle on all day about craft beer at our place of business, he has slowly but surely become a fully functioning craft beer aficionado. As the quality of the beer in their fridge improved, Matt’s fiancée (we’ll call her Julia) decided to open her mind a bit and allow the deliciousness to overwhelm her palate. She began “seeing what all the fuss was about” with Matt’s IPAs, and before Matt knew it, his IPAs were gone… and the Bud Light Limes were still in there! Blogger’s Note: Take that Budweiser!!! Punk!!!

A more recent account from Matt about his lovely bride-to be goes like this: Last week, while at the Washington Capitals vs. Boston Bruins NHL playoff game, Julia went to the beer vendor and came back with a Starr Hill beer that she said was delicious! Matt went on to say that he thought it was a black lager of some sort, and that he was really impressed that she took so fondly to a beer that dark. After a bit of research on my part, I determined that the brew Julia was newly obsessed with was the Starr Hill Dark Starr Stout… a dry Irish stout with coffee and unsweetened chocolate notes.

He might not be Douglas Fairbanks for Guy
Williams, but it's hard to beat Hopkins at anything

I think it’s safe to say that Julia is going full-on crafty. It’s pretty cool in my opinion because we’ve got like a Yoda – Obi Wan Kenobi – Luke Skywalker thing going on. I guess that makes me Yoda. Always two there are; a master and an apprentice. Or if you prefer the Don Diego de la Vega model, “There is a saying, a very old saying: when the pupil is ready the master will appear.” I think I’d rather be Anthony Hopkins than a green puppet with pointy ears.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!