Boo!  We had our first little cold snap last week, suddenly, puffy coats are on, beards are filling in, dark beers are delicious again, and we are all hunkering down for winter…..not so fast.

We have to get through Halloween first.  With the onset of the global Pandemic, and the spiking number of positive COVID cases in the Salt Lake valley - I am sure things will look a bit different this year.  I know that the candy dish at our house will be empty - we do not plan to pass out candy, nor do we plan to trick-or-treat.

I know some have discussed social distance trick-or-treating, with my kids, I’m not sure that is possible.  So we might just plug in a scary movie, pig out on some snacks of our own, and stay up too late on a sugar rush.

But, back to what's important, the cold snap and drinking beer.  Sure we had a day of cold weather, but then things popped back to above normal and we are currently in a 7-day dry spell with no precip in sight.  So does your desire to drink beer outside waine just because of a one time event, or is it an internal trigger that says “put on warm socks and stay indoors” even though it's 70 degrees and sunny.

To me, I have a tolerance for the cold, so sitting outside in a puff coat with a pint is just fine and dandy - mittens serve as a koozie, and beer serves as a sweater - that you wear on the inside!  We have written a lot about beer and the weather, but it is a curious subject.

When the nights get longer, the beer gets darker, almost like our drinking habits follow a 23 degree tilt like the earth, and we have drinking seasons.  As I’ve blogged before, I drink beer because I like certain flavors, not because the night is longer or the sun is shining.

So we popped back to normal high temps, with the sun rays burning our skin again, do we go back to a nice light drinking habit - or did the switch flick?  We see a variety of habits as people come to enjoy our patio (Open for the remainder of October, and maybe some spotty service in November).  We certainly see people who’s switch has flipped - no more Three Deep, they are turned on to Pumpkin Black and Maltese Cross exclusively.  

On the other side of the pancake, we primarily see consistency in our patrons' habits, a Back Porch drinker is going to drink Back Porch, and then follow that with a Back Porch.  I get it, I like that beer too, but stretch your legs from time to time, check out the variance of Grapefruit Back Porch, put on those shades and get a little sunburn going.

I am excited for the new varieties of beer getting into the market right now, we see some pumpkin beers, some good, some….well….

We see some nice Oktoberfest and german variants popping up around town - and those are really fun to drink, makes you feel like a traditionalist - back when there was a reason those beers were made when they were made and served when they were served - because we had no control over beer and fermentation temperatures, so we depended on the seasons, and a little luck to make a beer.  I’m glad we are past that time, but am still stoked that these beers poke out during this season to enjoy.

So whether you think this year is a Trick, or the new beer varieties are a Treat - keep it safe out there.  If you have kids, make your own decision about snatching candy from bowls while dressed as a pirate (you not the kid).  And, whatever you do, raise a pint to the changing season, puffy coats, or sunglasses, or both, and keep those patio beers rolling as long as the weather will allow!  

Prost!