Nine Months of Anticipation…Full-Time Sober Driver Included.

Hunting down breweries and new beers has never been easier. Most people can throw a rock from their house and hit a local brewery (I can’t, but that’s partly because I don’t have a very strong arm, my arm exercises never quite made it past the 16oz curls). As easy as breweries are to find, there is still the dilemma of driving home from the brewery. The idea of drinking and driving never seemed like a good risk/reward proposition to me. I just haven’t found an evening of beers to be worth $10,000 bucks and a night in jail, not to mention the risk of harming yourself or others. So what’s a beer lover to do?

Step 1– Marry an incredible woman.

Step 2– Get your wife pregnant.

That’s right I said it… I not only said it, I did it.

It’s not quite as raw and straightforward as this. I am incredibly lucky to have a beyond wonderful wife. My wife willingly and most of the time gladly sober drove me on my beer tasting adventures for nine months. As we awaited the birth of our daughter, I was able to savor the nectar of the beer gods without the added expense of Taxis and Ubers. In an attempt to say how thankful I was, I squirrelled away a handful of sour beers (my wife’s favorite) and made a conscious decision not to drink them in front of her during her pregnancy.

Many experienced parents warned me… “Your life is going to change drastically, enjoy your sleep while you can. Enjoy those beers while you can.” I have always had a knack for listening to wise and experienced people and am happy to say… I did both. I am so glad I did. As I write this I am extremely tired and entirely too sober to have to deal with the large amounts of dirty diapers and crying that come with a newborn.

Just the other day after my daughter had fallen asleep, my wife and I got to enjoy a beer together. It was our first in a very long time. The beer was a traditional Belgian Kriek (Lambic Gueuze aged with cherries). I officially have my long lost drinking buddy back! Life has never been better.

Cheers to good advice from experienced parents and a loving wife who takes such great care of her beer-loving husband!