August 27 -2017-

I had not written this post for two years. I suppose it is a faithful reflection of the personal and professional bustle of all this time, translated in a period of little activity in the blog. But 2017 is for me a transitional year that is allowing me to regain strength and sensations. The numbers do not deceive: at this time of year, I have written three times more entries than in the whole of last year.

In fact, only this August I have published more posts than in all of 2016. It is a tricky figure though, as I have been publishing a series fast-reading posts during this period of vacations -with an uncommon approach according to the style of my blogging-, which required less effort on my part than the usual. It has been a good experiment. The thing is that I wanted to write about aspects closely related to breweriana and collecting, leaving the seriousness aside for a while. In this sense the series of packaging elements, which will have punctual continuity throughout the year, have been a good means for me to draw certain topics about which I wanted to write

And what is this all this about, anyway? August 27 is the day when, 10 years ago, I kicked-off my adulthood by beginning to work full time as a financial consultant, becoming emancipated to move for a brief time to the city that changed my perspective on beer: Brussels. From then on, and since it generally matches with absolute precision with the return to the usual activity after the summer holidays, every year I look for a moment during this same day to celebrate this particular ephemeris and reflect on what I want to do in my life. And how I am to achieve it.

This year I had this thoughtful moment in a lively Welsh pub, the Queen's Hotel. I had little time, because I had to attend to my family duties, but I took full advantage of it asking for half a pint of a classic English ale that I had been looking for a while. With my Theakston Old Peculier in hand, and the convenient coincidence that certain tracks of This Is My Truth, Tell Me Yours -Manic Street Preachers- were playing, I quietly took in my surroundings from the semicircular bar of that fantastic place just next to the Swansea Bay. That's where I mentally charged my batteries for this new personal and professional season to be very rewarding and satisfying.

Beerwise, this entry gives way to the eighth month of September of the blog, a period that comes always loaded with activity, which I will keep commenting here without losing sight of the most relevant events that happen in the industry. Nor those most relevant points of my vacations, of course. Furthermore, I will soon make a long awaited trip, which will allow me to delve into my personal obsession to understand and see for myself the links between beer and popular culture. Roll out the barrel, and let the fun begin.

Salut i birra!