Wheel of the Beer

I’m not sure how many people are familiar with the neopagan concept of the “Wheel of the Year“, so this post might need a primer.

The Wheel of the Year is calendar-eqsue representation of the cyclical nature of, well, nature. It splits the year into eight segments, with each one ending (or beginning, depending on how you look at it) on a major event, called a Sabbat. Lunar events mark changes in the lengths of days, and were used historically by pagan faiths as an effective way to measure when crops needed to be sown, harvested, and stored for winter. It also made an awesome party planner, as festivals could be thrown to coincide with celestial movements.

There is a massive amount of syncretism surrounding the Wheel of the Year, as many people and traditions have added to or co-opted the idea of a yearly cycle and distinct seasons.

The traditional calendar looks like this, and includes eight holidays (and their modern or Christian equivalents): Yule (Christmas or Winter solstice), Imbolc (Candlemas or the Festival of St. Brighid), Ostara (or Spring Equinox or Ēostre, which is the namesake of Easter), Beltane (May Day), Midsummer (Summer solstice), Lammas (or Harvest Festival or the Liberation of St. Peter), Mabon (Autumnal Equinox), and Samhaim (Hallows eve or Halloween).

Found at: http://www.healinghappens.com/wheel.htm

I have once again co-opted the idea of the Wheel of the Year to fit more inline with my own beliefs, and as a result, produced the “Wheel of the Beer”.

It’s an infographic for drunks!

Just as you are more likely to eat an entire turkey around Thanksgiving, beer drinkers are more likely to drink certain beers at certain times of the year. Kolsch and Pilsner lend themselves to the hot, sticky months while porters and stouts lend themselves to the bitter cold of winter.

This wheel shows Oliver’s beer consumption habits based on season. The larger the bottle, the more of that beer I am apt to drink at that time. The further forward in the season the beer, the later in the year I drink it. Beers that cross lines are enjoyed during multiple seasons. This is as to scale as my crude scientific method will allow.

Note: This only includes commercially available beer that I buy for home consumption. Restaurant beer not included. No purchase necessary. See rules and restrictions for more details. Also feel free to click on the image; it links to a PDF that lists all the beers on here.