Help me understand this. We've all probably said at one point or another, "It's five o'clock somewhere." So, how early is too early.

Here is what starts this argument. Last week I was mowing the yard, always a hot and sweaty job, especially in late June. The high temperature for the day hit 100 plus the humidity. I finished mowing the yard at 8:30, that's a.m. not p.m. What I wanted more than anything after finishing was a cold, fresh beer. Is that wrong?

A few days before I had bottled a German Kolsch beer. Now, needing at least three weeks in the bottle to be ready to drink it certainly wasn't ready and that's probably what kept me from having a beer. Had it been ready I most likely would have had a beer at 8:30 in the morning. Well, I didn't but I'm curious to hear your take on whether early morning beers are politically correct.

Speaking of breakfast time beers, how about this selection from Buffalo Bill's Brewing - a Blueberry Oatmeal Stout. Wow, haven't tried it but I'm ready. Also, New Belgium Brewing out of Colorado does a beer called Giddy Up with espresso infused into the beer. Between the two I think we may have created the beer lover's breakfast.

Now, back to mowing the yard. As an exclusive craft beer drinker - not a beer snob - I have a refrigerator full of American craft brews and my homebrews. However, after spending a day in the heat keeping the yard looking 'neighborhood appropriate' I don't mind having a light beer. Yes, that's right, there are always a few macrobrewed light beers hiding in the back of the fridge that taste awfully good in the heat. Most of them found their way to the fridge when friends came over to spend a weekend afternoon and left beers behind. That makes them free beer, also, which is even better.

Finally, and a bit off topic, I am preparing for a 'beer and barbecue adventure'. My wife and I and another couple are heading out on an RV trip from Kerrville, Texas to Memphis, Tennessee - about 10-12 hours driving. We intend to eat barbecue at every BBQ joint and drink beer at every opportunity between here and there. We've established a BBQ scorecard in order to rank the best to worst along the trip. We haven't done a scorecard for the beer because we haven't found many beers that we don't like. Here's to the upcoming adventure - Cheers!

Hullabaloo,
Blake