Beer Month was a fantastic way to start out Operation Monthly. We had a lot of fun trying new beers and revisiting some old favorites. My favorites for the month are Racer 5, Bigfoot, Celebration, Rubicon's Irish Red Ale and Arrogant Bastard Ale with honorable mention to Sierra 30 and Brother Thelonious. Surprisingly none of the beers we tried were terrible or without merit.

Along the way a few friends outed themselves as beer geeks and we met some folks from the craft beer community like Peter, Ashley and Josh. We also learned a lot about beer and the beer industry through our research for our posts, beer blogs, and by watching the documentary Beer Wars. The view of the of beer industry in Beer Wars is both inspiring and depressing. Seeing craft brewers like Sam Calagione from Dogfish Head doing what they love and making amazing beer was inspiring. Seeing the collusion between macro-brewers like Anheuser-Busch, politicians, and distributors that forces small brewers who want to make a quality product out of business was depressing. This movie is entertaining and definitely worth checking out.

Our beer adventures will continue beyond beer month, just not every single night. Along with trying new beers and going to an occasional brewfest we will be making our own beer for the first time thanks to my awesome sisters who got me home brew equipment for my birthday.

Here are few remaindered beer related items I picked up in April:

Mario Rubio » Reactions to Anchor Brewing’s Sale

Brooks on Beer: Aging beer - San Jose Mercury News

20 Things Worth Knowing About Beer - The Oatmeal

Beer Journal - 33 Beers

Brewers Association | Brewers Association Releases 2009 Top 50 Breweries Lists

Makers Market: Windy City Glass

Josh Christie » Mandles – Perfect for the Beer-Drinking Dude in Your Life

National Beer Day

Sierra Nevada Turns 30: An Interview with Ken Grossman