One year (and a few hours) ago, I started down the road on a unique beer challenge. I mean that literally: I wanted to see what it would be like to have only one real pour of any beer for an entire year. Once I'd had one serving of it, that was it, I couldn't have it again until 2018.

Well, here we are, one year (and a few hours) later, and I'm happy to report that it was a highly enjoyable experience that, I think, casts light on some interested beer and beer culture questions. The short version is that there's a ton of beer out there, I barely scratched the surface, and vacationing is a far bigger threat to beer diversity than anything else I've noticed.

It was quite a year.

The Tally

First, one number: 409. I had 409 unique "tagged" (in Untappd) beers this year, and some number of homebrewed beers, but most of those weren't trackable. I did, though, make a conscious, good-faith effort to avoid any potential repeaters there, and I think I was successful.

Now, some of you Untappd Rambo-like figures out there might be scoffing at my humble 409 total, but I'd contextualize that. First, I wasn't trying to rack up a huge number - in fact, I was hoping to avoid it, since the second I checked a beer in, I couldn't have it again! As a result, that number doesn't represent every beer I shared or tasted over the course of a year, just the number where I had a "proper" serving of it (between 6-22 ounces, plus three very enjoyable and totally within the rules liters of different beers at an Oktoberfest event!). It could have been a bit higher. But still, admittedly, nowhere near you folks that rack up 1,000 or more every year...

Second, that number squares pretty neatly with my "normal" consumption tally for the year, which is telling. In 2016 I tracked every beer I drank, and ended up at 381 pints. If we assume that most of these in 2017 were 14 ounces in size, on average (which is probably right, if we assume a reasonable mix of at-home 12-ouncers, pints out, and the occasional lonely bomber), then that 409 beers works out to 351 pints, plus whatever homebrew I had.

My takeaway? Having to open/order a brand-new beer every time didn't seem to be much of a hinderance in terms of being able to enjoy beer when I wanted. I can't think of any occasions where, for example, I couldn't find anything on tap that was fair game for me and had to pivot to wine, mead, liquor, etc.

The Roster

Then there were the beers I was drinking. I guarded pretty jealously what I assumed would be my "bail out" beers: those macros you find everywhere. I figured that I'd be forced into situations where the only option was a Big Beer product or lineup, and so these were my "In Emergency Break Glass" (maybe literally, based on the flavor of some of these things...) beers.

I was totally wrong. I was almost never forced into that situation. In fact, I remember only twice: a dinner at a chain Latin place where I'd just been a week before, and a lunch at a beach town dive bar that we often visit more than once when we're in town. In both cases, though, there were still local craft options available - but only two or three, and I'd returned before the taps had a chance to change over.

As a result, I had almost the entire macro roster at my disposal right up until the end of the year. In order to heighten my enjoyment of a return to beers I'd last had a year before, in fact, this was my New Year's Eve lineup from last night (plus one Thomas Hardy 2006 barleywine, because you need to pair something good with a 10-plus pound prime rib and shrimp):