Quarantine Diaries XXXX
Thursday May 7th 2020
I’ve written a lot about how curiously but pleasantly surprised I’ve been by my capacity to get stuff done since all this started, but Thursday just wasn’t one of those days. While I still managed to tick off a respectable number of productive tasks, including virtual-attending an excellent Women on Tap Festival talk, preparing margarita Tiny Pies (oh yeah) and taking part in our weekly virtual pub quiz, I just felt utterly exhausted. Not sleep deprived, not particularly depressed, just exhausted. I felt steamrollered, the way I used to feel after I’d been working evenings and weekends back-to-back, just running on empty and ready to collapse. How can doing, if not exactly nothing then certainly not that much, be so tiring? Is it the psychological strain of having to self-motivate the entire time? Perhaps not leaving the house for three days was a mistake? Or maybe, as we reach the 8-week mark, I’m just tired of it all. Even holding conversations, something I’m normally utterly adept at, is becoming exhausting. How could it not when there’s nothing new to talk about and we’re all putting on a brave face to varying degrees, another bloody tiring thing to do. Yep, I’m knackered, my soul is knackered, and there’s nothing much to do about it. As Dave says in The Full Monty, ‘it’s amazing how tiring it is doing nowt, y’know’.
NOLA/Akademia Odin’s Kveik Ride IPA
This was such a happy surprise, especially when I was feeling so out of it. Thursday wasn’t a super-beery day (yep, I was even too tired to drink terribly much), but the first sip of this exciting collab immediately grabbed my attention. Much sweeter, more full-bodied and fruity than a lot of the kveik IPAs I’ve had to date, this was a hazy, chewy treat packed with a fresh strawberry flavour that had both JB and I clamouring for more. Distinct and unusual with so much juicy, fragrant strawberry, this was an absolute winner. I’ve enjoyed the NOLA beers I’ve tried to date but this is my first taste of Akademia, although we were meant to have travelled to Athens GA for my birthday last month and I’d been looking forward to paying them a visit. Based on this super-moreish brew, they will certainly be top of my list when we eventually make it over there – more please!
Craft Beer Amethyst 