Digressions: My Life in 500 Words or Less

I fear the end of days is near.

No, not those end of days.

The end of days of me sitting at home enjoying my all-time favorite beer, Sierra Nevada Porter.

I first found this beer in late fall of 2013. I had just become interested dark beers, namely porters and stouts. Sierra Nevada Porter instantly made it to the top of my list.

When I returned to the Kroger where I first found Sierra Nevada Porter in order to purchase more, there was none to be found. Thus began a years-long quest to find my new favorite beer.

Yes, I wrote down requests at several stores to stock it, including my name and number so they could notify me if they were able to get any in. I did this at more stores than I can remember. None called. None had any Sierra Nevada Porter when I made a return visits, either.

I also visited the Sierra Nevada website, which lists retailers of their many varieties of beers for any given area. For a little while after I bought that first Sierra Nevada Porter, the website still listed Kroger as carrying it. But they weren’t. Later when I looked, the only place in HardinCounty listed as carrying it was the Fort Knox liquor store.

In the meantime, I took every opportunity when traveling through Louisville to stop by a Liquor Barn and stock up. I also found a place in MeadeCounty that sold it, and they allowed me to order a case. On one occasion, while traveling to Madisonville I did my homework and found a place there that sold it.

Then a few years ago, Elizabethtown got a Liquor Barn. I finally had a local supplier that consistently stocked my favorite beer. That was the height of my Sierra Nevada Porter run. I even had a case special ordered once through them.

But in recent years, Sierra Nevada Porter appeared only randomly at our Liquor Barn. In the past year, it pretty much stopped appearing at all.

Checking the Sierra Nevada website, I discovered Sierra Nevada Porter isn’t showing up anywhere anymore.

That is a bad omen.

Even though I know transportation has been affected by the pandemic, the flailing appearance of my favorite beer at the Liquor Barn began before then.

I had managed to save a few from the last few six-packs I had purchased.

A couple of months ago, my sweetie, Rebecca Ricks, told me a couple of three or four Sierra Nevada Porters I had given to her about a year ago to share after hours with co-workers remained. She brought them home.

Adding them to the three I had left gave me five. Since then I’ve enjoyed two of those beers. I want to prolong their presence, but I know I should enjoy them while I can.

Three remain.

The countdown to the end of days has begun.