Is this what people mean when they say they're going to church? If so, I might have to start up a weekly conversation with the sacred text, and I could really start doing more with my Sundays.
I'm talking about beer, of course. And Reformation Brewery, tentatively scheduled for their official launch sometime this summer, not only embiggens the happy undercurrents of community and togetherness that drinking good beer usually inspires, but broadcasts it as the primary reason for what they do.
It's a refreshing and somewhat obvious extension of what the culture of craft beer seems to really be about, especially when (as it seems is the overarching lineage behind both existing and emerging craft breweries and brewpubs around the country) they climb to the pulpit on the heels of home brew.
I spent the evening with the people of Reformation Brewery last night in Woodstock, and in addition to getting a sample of their beer I also got a nice taste of the good vibes surrounding what they have in the works.
The evening was staged as an introduction, elegantly lacking in self-conciousness. Popcorn and paper bags on the tables. Pretzels atop a possibly porter infused cupcake (or so it seemed to my palate). Wishful tasting perhaps? Rocking chairs in the misty porch light and a couple of kids tossing around a football in the parking lot.
I suppose that's what happens when the beer hits close to home. It tells a story that inspires us, after our day's labour, to inhabit a shared space. To commune over our common glass, one that lessens our habitual uneasiness and interrupts our routine isolation.
It's a compelling narrative when told by just about anyone, but especially appealing when told by people who take it to heart, which by all accounts (or at least mine) seems to beat genuinely in the chest of the good people at Reformation Brewery.
If you ask me, we could use more of this communal, conversational space, more of this common ground.
Good things to come for us both, I'm sure. Looking forward to the summer.
Cheers!
hb