Beer Geek Initiation

The natural path for every gluten-tolerant adult should lead them to falling in love with beer. This wonderful result of hops, malt, yeast, and water can produce some of life’s finest sensory pleasures, flooding the brain, tongue, and olfactory system with waves of enjoyment. For decades, however, the makers of watered-down factory lagers slowly brainwashed the general public into thinking that beer was just a cheap, semi-palatable way for the masses to achieve drunkenness.

Fortunately, that time has passed, and a new era, full of discovery, creativity, and excitement, has dawned over this incredible beverage. There is no better time than the present to explore and enjoy beer, and anybody with a functioning liver would do themselves a disservice not to take the first steps of the journey to becoming a full-fledged Beer Geek.

Within these pages lies all you need to be safely guided down the path of enlightenment. Even the most veteran beer connoisseur will find valuable knowledge here: how to flawlessly pull off a beer tasting, talk shop with the worst of beery know-it-alls, understand the proper etiquette of bottle shares, gracefully correct uninformed bartenders, and more — all in single-serving portions so you can take it in without getting tipsy. Most importantly, you’ll be able to pull off all of this while coming across as an activist for beer, rather than a snob.

So stop being intimidated by the burgeoning beer scene simply because you don’t know what a firkin is or how to pronounce gueuze. While all Beer Geeks give the impression of being weaned on imperial stouts, their first (and many subsequent) beers were almost certainly of the “lite” variety too. We all have to learn to wade into the deep end . . . and you now hold in your hands the perfect floatie.