Life is hard. It’s filled with tasks, chores, work. Your time is almost never actually "your" time. It is your boss’s time to say "Finish your TPS reports," or your wife’s time to say "Groceries. Laundry. Fix stuff. Not tonight, I have a headache," or the treadmill’s time to say "Bet you wish you didn’t eat three sleeves of Oreos for lunch dessert."

But do you know when it is your time? Do you know when you get to take a step back and distance yourself from all the soul-sucking, inane, unawesome things that comprise the majority of your days? The moment when you turn your attention inwards and whisper to the deepest crevices of your longing heart, "This is for you"?

The answer is clear: Beer Time. Beer Time is Your Time.

Oh, but the world won’t go away easily. Don’t be a fool. Just because you’ve given yourself a moment of respite, an oasis of frosty refreshment, doesn’t mean that everyone else has. "Harrumph!" they’ll cry. "You can’t have that. There are things to do, places to go. If you want time to yourself, get a hobby."

But that’s just it. Beer IS a hobby, and a glorious one at that. Beer drinkers are not uniformly seeking solace in the bottom of a billion bottles of Bud. They are challenging their palates, expanding their horizons, learning things. There is no evil in this. There is no wastefulness or sloth. Beer hobbyists are interested, invested participants in a legitimate, challenging activity. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I firmly believe that it’s a point that can’t be stressed enough.

Consider beer festivals, brewing competitions, or fancy restaurants that serve premium beer tasting flights on wooden serving paddles. Do these seem like places that would cater exclusively to reprobates or drunkards? Are people at high-end events like these trying to get hammered, five well-considered ounces at a time? The answer, of course, is "No." Serious beer enthusiasts want to share their most flavorful finds with like-minded friends and compatriots. The hunt for a mythical perfect beer, a well-hopped Holy Grail, is meant to be a communal experience.

Don’t let the world demonize your hobby. You love beer, and you should. Because you can. Life is too short, and made even shorter by the demands of living it. Some people knit, some people play FarmVille, and some people drink beer. So live and let live…and go crack a cold one!