2013 Begins with Beer

For Christmas, my husband surprised me with a kegerator.

Many of you know my love for beer, and it has only grown as I have constantly tried to keep up with the endless supply of microbrews from all over the world.

Yes, wine is regal and delicious and perfect and completely beautiful, but I have to say, sometimes, I just need a beer.

In fact, as much as I love to try a new wine, I just as much love trying new beers.

In my new kegerator is a keg of Carolina Brewery’s Copperline Amber Ale. It is special because the beer is absolutely phenomenal, but of course, it is more special because of the relationship we have with the brewery.

My fun reign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill began in the Fall of 1994. It was right around this time that Carolina Brewery opened its doors.

My best friend Emily and I could not be more excited because the gentleman opening the brewery was Robert Poitras, a Tarboro born-and-bred, and we just knew he would be happy to contribute to our illegal drinking habits.

Boy, were we mistaken.

Before we even got out of the Carolina Blue gate, Robert told Emily to make no mistake about it; if we ever dared trying to come in there to buy a beer underage, we would get our fannies tossed out on to Franklin Street faster than we could say ALE officer.

It scared us enough to stay away except when our parents were in town, and when we ate dinner at the brewery with them, we drank our fountain cokes while they enjoyed the pleasures of craft beer.

But time flies when you’re in the best college town on the planet, and on my 21st birthday, Mary Ann took me to the brewery for lunch where I drank my first legal draught beer. I also bought my first growler before leaving to go back to my apartment.

The beers are incredible, and for Chapel Hill and east, it is the benchmark of brewerys.

My husband knows how I feel about beer and how I feel about people so at Christmastime, he had the perfect idea to get me a gift with meaning that I would use and love.

It’s relaxing and fun to sit back and enjoy a cold one. Sometimes wine just isn’t what you’re feeling. Dwight D. Eisenhower said it best: “Some people wanted Champagne and Caviar when they should have had beer and hotdogs.”

Here’s the thing: I want beer and hot dogs.