Sip of Sanity

This sucks. Beer Helps. People make it better.

Things aren’t getting better anytime soon, but - thanks to you all - they aren’t getting much worse. At least here in Connecticut. Finally our reputation for being unfriendly and distant has paid off! Right? Huh. Gotta adjust the truth-to-punchline ratio for that one to land.

This year has been relentless. Beer helps, but not in the way you think. For us, it is part of a ritual; a reward at the end of the day. If you pay close attention, there is a moment inside each sip that offers reprieve; a portal to a stream of memories connected by this ritual. There we find temporary rest from the intensity of our present reality. When there is no light at the end of the tunnel - sometimes it helps to visit a world outside the tunnel - even if it’s just a different tunnel.

With no end in sight, it’s your continued vigilance that allows breweries and other small businesses like ours to re-open safely. We know masks are uncomfortable. We know the food requirements are silly. We much prefer drinking from our carefully selected glassware than plastic cups. Through all of this, we rarely get complaints. We can’t thank you enough for your support during this challenging chapter.

Now for the silver lining: these circumstances allowed us to set up a Biergarten with outdoor seating for 32! More folks are embracing hiking and other outdoor activities that offered a much needed chance to get out of the house. Maybe remote work is here to stay (for those who want it). Maybe home beer delivery will survive post-quarantine. Maybe we will all be a bit more patient and kind with retail workers.

And now for the preachy one: maybe we will remember that when real social gatherings stopped, “social media” proved totally and utterly insufficient. None of them: not Facebook, not Twitter, not Instagram, not TikTok – not…whatever the kids are using these days. These were tools to pass the time not to satisfy the human desire for community.

People still craved connection – don’t believe me? Ask your extroverted friends. They felt it first and more fully, but the rest of us weren’t far behind. That’s why a myriad of video conferencing services emerged. They offered the closest experience. “Likes” and emojis aren’t a substitute for conversation. They may be an enjoyable starchy side dish; never a meal.

Maybe, just maybe, we will have a greater appreciation to real, meaningful human interactions.

Connection is at the core of Luppoleto. We set up our taproom with communal tables and no bar and no TV so that you could connect with each other. COVID stole the broader element of connection, the serendipitous mixing part…for now. But there are still opportunities for connection in the ritual of sharing a beverage at the end of the day and virtual happy hours and socially distant fireside chats.

Maybe someday we will be grateful for the way the flames of 2020 forged us into a stronger, kinder, more resilient community. We look forward to that day. Until then, here’s to the tiny rituals that offer a sip of sanity.

Filed under #Commentary #Our philosophy