Stout Day 2012
Today is the second annual Stout Day, (or Tempranillo Day, for the oenophile) and people all over the country have their smart phone in one hand and their pint glass in the other. Just like IPA Day, Stout Day is a social media driven beer holiday and is focused on not only drinking a stout, but celebrating the stout and spreading its good word. We have teamed up with Untappd to produce a special badge for those that use their great beer tracking app. All you have to do is check into the Saucer and a Stout Beer and the badge is yours. Our Saucers and Moth are all celebrating in different ways, and some are taking it to the next level by celebrating Stout Week and even Stout Month. Check in with your local spot, everyone has great things planned.
Many people are getting fed up with these “National” holidays (eg. Talk Like a Pirate Day, National Cheeseburger Day, and plenty other even more rediculous made up holidays) but since our little Craft Beer thing represents barely over 5% of the national market, it is up to us to spread the word and get “Lite” Beer drinkers to drop their Macro products and pick up a craft beer. The stout and the IPA are two of the most misunderstood styles, so to me it makes sense for these two styles to be the first to earn their own day. How many times have you heard someone say “I don’t like dark beers” only to find out they have never even tried one? So many people are too quick to judge books by their cover and don’t understand the versatility the stout can have. Watching someones eyes light up the first time they sip a Milk Stout sweetened with unfermentable lactose, or even a thick and chewy Imperial Stout, perhaps aged in bourbon barrels or on a bed of cocoa nibs never gets old to me. That’s half the fun of craft beer. Sharing our knowledge and understanding of this craft along with a couple ounces of our favorite beer we might have smuggled back from a vacation wrapped in a sweater we took to the beach simply for the padding. There are so many people out there who do not understand what we hold so dear, and in some cases take for granted.
Remember, today is not only about the stout (or generating web traffic for the various websites built around capitalizing on this opportunity, most of which I think are spreading the good word for the greater cause) but is also about sharing. Invite someone from your office who doesn’t drink good beer to your favorite beer joint for Happy Hour today. Spread the word through your social media outlets that you live the good life and enjoy beer made by hands and not machines. Proudly exclaim what you’re drinking, who your drinking it with, and where. Open the door for another to become as enlightened as you are. Help those who are drinking rice/corn beer loaded with chemicals to find out there is more out there. And as always, tip your server well for letting you have all the fun.
