"You take one down and pass it around..."

image via sirkus

I am not at all a beer drinker. I've tried, but it's just not going to happen. All I taste is bitterness and all I want is a girly drink with fruit in it. So why, you may ask, did I go on a brewery tour this weekend?

image via collectible kitchen

Well, the boyfriend likes beer as does the spouse of a friend of mine so we made it a couple's date and took a drive to Holly Springs, NC and to the Carolina Brewing Company. We got to taste a bunch of beers, ask a bunch of questions, and learn how the stuff is made. And it was all free. Yep, free beer.

image via straubted

I still only drank barely a half of a glass, but it was a fun afternoon and I think it would actually be a neat place to go on a date or to take your fella as a gift. And, ladies, (as my friend and I noticed right away) the ratio of men to women, on the tour, is like 10 to 1.... so go with a bunch of girlfriends as long as you don't terribly mind meeting a guy who leaves the tour planning to make beer in his bathtub.

Oh, and realbeer.com has a pretty good database for finding brewery tours in your state.

(And do you think I would be a bigger fan of beer if only I had one of these vintage beer trays? It's nice to think so.)