Phew. It’s been a hell of a day spent in the garden. I’ve been clearing up all the weeds and branches from the house behind us. Doesn’t sound like much, but when you consider that the backyard has been a freakin’ MESS for years, you’ll know that it’s rough going. Especially since I’ve been doing all this labour in 25°C (that’s pretty warm for us Canadians).

So after lots of cuts from the branches, sore muscles from cutting and pulling and an injured foot with an event involving a tree stump that I’d rather not get in to, I’m done for the day. I want a beer to just relax with. Something with a nice flavour, but something I don’t have to think too much about. Sadly, my local store (LCBO Store # 242 : BRIMLEY & EGLINTON for any LCBO people reading) has an incredibly crappy beer selection. It’s more than 3/4ths Molson, Bud Light, Colt 40 and the connoisseur’s favourite, Bud Lime.

But every once in a while I get surprised and see the odd drink that sticks out. In this case it was a six pack of Liberty Ale from San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Co. I’ve tried their Steam Beer, which I rather liked, but this was the first time the Liberty Ale, created in 1975 on the bicentennial of Paul Revere’s famous horse ride, had come to the province of Ontario. At least the first time I’ve noticed. I wasn’t sure about it, and asked a few people on twitter who just said “get it” and so…I got it. Of course I did.

And you know what? It hit the spot for my tired, achey and sweaty self. It’s a nice showcase of the Cascade hop and has a wonderful malt backbone that creates a bit of a balance. I poured it in to a snifter (as some had suggested), sat on the porch and just…enjoyed it. Even zoned out for a little. It was really nice.

So the point of this post was a little more than a beer suggestion. More to say that beer tasting doesn’t have to be SERIOUS BUSINESS all the time. A good thing to do is just crack open an old favourite or a new experiment beer, sit back and just let the world roll off you a bit.

Right, I’m going back to the porch.