Balance

I've recently noticed how much I find myself thinking about, talking about and being impressed with the concept of balance. This has been something that has been part of my life for a long time, and it applies in so many instances. Time after time I find that when something is "on", where it feels good; whether it be your life, art, music, food, a relationship, or even a football team....it is typically in-balance. When something is off kilter, or difficult to manage, or somewhat jarring rather than enjoyable, it always comes back to balance. It's always a dance to find what is out of balance and then make an adjustment.

I find that having balance as an objective from the beginning to be much more fruitful than going hog-wild after something and trying to balance the result later.

Why have I decided to include this in my beer-blog? In my opinion, balance has never been a more necessary and admired objective in brewing than right now. Extreme beers are taking over the consciousness of many. The beer-press, the beer rating crowd and many others discuss the extreme beers of our industry with fervor and debate.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset by the recent craze, nor by the beers - I just think it's a bit out of balance. I love big beers, I love session beers, in fact - I love lots of 'em in between.

I wish them all balance.

I wish them well balanced beers, no matter the strength, from well balanced breweries with well balanced portfolios. I wish them balanced discussion of their balanced selection of beers.

I wish them all balance.

I am in constant pursuit of balance. I'm proud of where I've achieved it and motivated by challenges yet to be met.

I'm writing simply to honor balance. Seek it, admire it, patronize it; in all things.

A good example, "All things in moderation, including moderation." - Anon.

Cheers.