Hello and welcome to my beer blog. I'm John and, as the blog's name implies, I like beer. In this, the inaugural post, I intend to let you know a bit about me, my hopes for what this blog will become, how my posts will work, and, lastly, what I think about beer in general (not just that I like it; I assume you know that by now because I've stated it as plainly as possible).

Like the majority of my high school cohorts, I was pressured into strongly encouraged to pursue a higher education. For both my bachelors and masters degree, I attended Ohio University. The campus, located in Athens, Ohio, is beautiful. Placed amongst rolling Appalachian foothills (with a somewhat ominous repurposed asylum looming over the city), the place makes for a pretty great college experience.

Ohio University has a reputation for being a party school. This is very true; there are dozens of parties any given week night weekend. I attended quite a few of these during my undergrad (and graduate) years. At parties, I drank plenty of what I like to not-so-lovingly call "butt beer." This is beer like PBR, Natty Light, Keystone, Killians, Yuengling, and Rolling Rock, which, when consumed en masse as a reckless college kid, makes you act like a butt. Hence the name.

Three quick things: Some butt beers I actually enjoy on occasion (specifically the final three mentioned) and I intend to write about each them at some point. Don't let the "party school" rep OU has negatively impact your view of the institution--some of its academic programs are incredibly good. Also, this is not an ad for Ohio University and, if you're looking to receive an education, don't let my nostalgia about the place sway you. Do your research and pick a school that's right for you.

After I was over the whole partying scene (even when I was over it I still attended parties, albeit sporadically) I found myself drawn more and more to uptown Athens, which is where many of the city's bars are located. Athens' bars are incredibly cheap so I had a lot of drinks in them during my college years. Sometime around this point in my life, I really began to enjoy beer. I found myself talking about how certain brews taste, what they look and smell like, and, most importantly, I began to be able to discern between different styles (a porter is not a pilsner is not IPA. That sort of thing).

One fantastic thing about Athens is Jackie O's, a pub and brewery located uptown that, during my senior year, opened a cannery behind my house to export its brews across the state. This place, apart from offering some excellent brews, greatly contributed to my beer education by giving myself and my friends a place to try and discuss beer.

I am now pleased to call myself an avid beer drinker. I also enjoy hard cider (a cider house opened in Athens during my final summer there, which would have been a lot more awesome if it hadn't been so pricey) and I'm starting to dabble in homebrewing (the background image for this blog is my very first batch!). All of this to say, beer is a deep passion of mine.

Through this blog, I intend to share that passion with you by writing about my experience with a beer. I'll share my memories that a beer (flavor, aroma, everything) brings up, some history of the beer, and of course, I'll give you my impressions of it. That last part will more or less be a review.

There are some things to note about my reviewing process that are pretty peculiar. Above is a picture of my cat, Purrl. She likes to sniff a beer as soon as I open it. She never attempts to drink it or anything but, for some reason, she's just drawn to the aroma of some beers. Because of this I'll start all my reviews by stating how many sniffs she gave a brew before slinking off to sleep somewhere.

Another thing I'll be doing is what I understand to be taboo amongst beer reviewers: I'll be drinking and talking about a beer as its presented by the brewer. This means that I won't be pouring it into a glass to drink. I'll grab a bottle or can out of my fridge and talk about the brew as I drink it from the container in which it was purchased.

One final quirk about my write-ups is that I'll also be enjoying and discussing ciders for the simple fact that I really, really like hard cider.

Through my writing about a certain brew I hope to enhance your enjoyment of it.

Before I wrap up this post, I'd like to talk about my beer/cider preferences. This will allow you to better understand where I'm coming from and why I don't typically write a lot about a kind of brew you might really enjoy.

• I don't harbor any particular feelings for IPAs. Most of them are just too damn hoppy for me. Every once in a while I'll stumble upon one I can get behind. But, for the most part, I tend to stay away from them.
• I love porters. They're my absolute favorite. I'll post about them pretty frequently. But not all the time because I like trying a bunch of different kinds of beer from a bunch of different breweries. 
• Pumpkin ale intrigues me. Sometimes it's amazing and is the hight of beer enjoyment. Other times it's dreck. Expect a lot of pumpkin ale musings in the fall.
• I find seasonal brews to be the same as pumpkin ales. I'll write about them pretty frequently, too.
• As far as cider is concerned, I'm not a huge fan of the dry stuff.