Beer School

I love to learn. I love learning new facts. I love learning about a topic that I have no knowledge about, and I just love to know stuff.

It is this aspect of my personality that has made me good at trivia. I tend to absorb things like a sponge, and I want to know EVERYTHING that I can, about subjects that interest me.

I will admit that I can be a bit O.C.D. with my interests. I typically will find out all I can about a topic, and it will become my focus for quite some time. I was like that with coins...numismatics.

My grandfather died a couple of years ago, and he left a coin collection behind. My parents asked me if I wanted to research his coins. At that time, I didn't know anything about the subject, but I was up for the challenge.

For the next several months I lived, ate, and breathed coins. I purchased several off of Ebay, and I learned about my grandfather's collection. This actually helped me feel even closer to my grandpa. Then one day the "switch" was turned off. I was done with coins, and I was ready to move on.

Lately, I have been interested in beer. Fortunately this interest seems to be one that I will have for quite some time. I have always liked the taste of beer, but I didn't know anything about the subject. I realized that I wanted to know things like the difference between an ale and a lager, hoppy beers vs. malty beers, etc. So, I set my sights on educating myself and trying many different kinds of beer.

Over the last several months, I have tried many different kinds of beer, and I have learned A LOT. I found an activity on Wednesday nights that has given me so much knowledge.

Cicero's, which is a bar/restaurant in University City, MO, operates a beer school each Wednesday. Every week a different representative from a brewery comes and talks to the class. The rep. educates us on their different styles of beer, and we get to sample 3-5 different beers every week.

This beer school is completely free. It's a win/win situation. Cicero's gets more people to come to their bar, and then they try different beers. This opens up a whole new customer base for the bar.

The students get free samples of different beers that many of us would be too apprehensive to try on our own. I will try anything once, but it's nice to get a free sample.

I look forward to Wednesday nights now, and I am very glad I found this. I have been going to this class since mid-September, and I have been interested in beer for a couple months longer than this. I'm enjoying this, and I don't think that the beer "switch" will be turned off. There are just too many different kinds of beer out there to try!

Cicero's Beer School