I almost forgot...

...about hops. More specifically, hop-heavy beers.

You see, I've been spending the last several weeks doing what all good little German-ish boys should be doing: drinking Oktoberfests. Otter Creek, Sam Adams, Dundee, Warsteiner - the list goes on. Actually, I think that's it. But along with the Oktoberfests, I've been leaning towards the darker, heavier beers along with the cool (and often cloudy) weather. My last two trips to the Tap and Mallet have been fulfilled primarily by stouts and porters, and I've been favoring the remaining porters from the Great Lakes sampler that I've had left over from the sunnier weather.

But today, the sun was shining bright. My schedule was as clear as the skies above. The was a half pound of beef in the freezer with my name on it. Or maybe it said "1/2 lb 90/10," I don't really remember. But I knew that this fleeting moment of post-summer warmth needed to be accompanied by something a little lighter than the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Braving the seemingly endless minefield of leftovers that (de)compose my refrigerator, I retrieved a bottle of Great Lakes' Burning River Pale Ale. After one sip of this easy drinking, 6% ABV ale, it all came back to me.

HOPS!

Those beautiful plants that once nearly turned me away from beer forever were once again at the forefront of the beverage that kept my overcooked burger from completely drying out my mouth. It was perhaps the most refreshing beer I've had in weeks; more so than the brews that I enjoyed on the Bills' opening day earlier this month.

And then I realized: I can't ignore hops. Last winter, I filled my shopping cart time and time again with oatmeal stouts that would go down smooth and leave that wonderful warm feeling in me. And yes, I'll do it again this year. But this year, I won't forget to keep a few brews on hand that pack a bigger hop offering, whether in stout form (Storm King), or just some basic pale ales. Because as much as I love a good, thick, motor oil-esque on a dreary winter day, you can't completely ignore a style throughout an entire Rochester winter.

That, and stouts will just be too damn expensive for the unemployed.