How has the brewing network affected your life? Is it just a place where you come to get beer info (not likely since you read the forums) or has it taken on greater significance in your life? For me it's definitely a case of the latter. I ask kindly for you to allow me to get sentimental and personal, and I remind you that it is after midnight in Germany as of the writing of this message (meaning I've had a couple), and excuse me for the following shameless display of fuckin' feelings.
I started listening to the brewing network back in February 2008 shortly after I started brewing. The first show that I heard was the Jamil Show episode on Saisons (which coincidentally ended up being the episode of the year, lucky coincidence I guess), and at the time I had no idea what impact this would have on my life. Now to avoid getting hyperbolically emotional I know that it's just a beer brewing podcast, which probably doesn't mean much in the scheme of things, but what can I say, people find significance in their lives in weird places. So anyway, I quickly got into the other brewing network offerings and quickly started working through the archives, which surely contributed to my brewing education, as well as keeping me passionate about brewing the best beer that I possibly could. However, something weird happened over time, and listening to the Session, that Other Show, and the Jamil show for hours on end ended up endearing these people to me on a level far exceeding the importance of the pure information I was getting (what else could explain my strange affinity for that other show?).
This being the case I never understood the complaints leveled against the brewing network (the session in particular) that they don't just get to the info. It was very obvious that there was something more happening here that the pure dissemination of brewing information, and it was weird to me that some people didn't understand that. I really appreciated the blend of great brewing information, which there is a lot of, and the interaction of the characters, and their sharing their lives with us. I feel like these people are not just broadcasters, but people that I know, and dare I say it, my friends. Why would you want to listen to something where the hosts just robotically spit out information? So anyway I really became emotionally invested in the brewing network shows over time, and they became an important part of my life. I didn't just listen to information being read to me, I took part in an experience, and it meant a lot to me. I tell you this as a sort of a preface to what I am about to tell you. Over the past year, and the last 8 months specifically (while I have been in Germany) I have been having some off and on depression issues. I don't say this to whine or ask for any sympathy or whatever, I just say it to inform my main point.
Over the last year, as I've been sort of struggling with loneliness, and meaning in my life issues, the brewing network has sort of provided me with a solid foundation that I could always reach back to whenever I was confused, lonely and scared. No matter what other things I was dealing with I could always count on a new episode of the Session every week, where I could hang out with my “friends†and think about something else. Now while I wouldn't say that the brewing network has singlehandedly pulled me out of depression, I would say that they have definitely helped by acting as a stable element in my life that was important to me while I was going through some rough spots, and that has definitely helped me. Now please don't look at this as a sob story, I'm fine, but I just wanted to explain to you guys how the brewing network has played a much more important role in my life that I would have ever thought a brewing podcast could have. That's my entry for the feelings calendar for today.
So it is with this in mind that I ask you, what does the brewing network mean to you?
