Bottom line, is that he wants me to cut back on my donuts, my bacon, and my beer; what kind of monster would do that to a bloke?

I haven’t been bingeing the donuts and bacon (mmm nice combination there) for quite a long time now, and despite the impressive beer consummation lists that accompany my weekly musings, I still consider myself a moderate drinker, doesn’t everyone?

On a typical week, I will visit Jones Wood Foundry just the once, and have three to four pints of relatively lower alcohol beer on that occasion, and then if there is a cask event or random cask available in walking range, I will also venture out on the weekend to partake; for a random cask, I will usually stop at three pints, and for a cask fest, it will be closer to four/five pints doled out in 4oz servings.

I still consider myself to be a moderate drinker.

My doctor would like me to be even more moderate.

So, now that we are in Dry January Damp November, I plan on halving my beer intake for a while … for the most part.

Yep, I know that there is a cask event coming up in a couple of weeks at The Brewers Collective (TBC), and I know that I already have my ticket purchased.

Yeah, and I also know that I have a nice bottle of farmhouse cider that I brought back from the Finger Lakes a couple of weeks ago.

And then there are the four gift beers that came all the way up from Austin TX last week.

So it will not be a perfect halving, and there will be exceptions going forward, but they can be dealt with:

• I will ask for half pours (2oz) at the cask fest.
• I will be bringing the cider along for sharing at Thanksgiving.
• I will be sharing the Texan beers with the good folks at JWF this week.