The Chronicle
Latest dispatches
23 results across all types
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The Ten - 2025's Best Sober Moments
A whole year of beer boiled down to ten spots. Just ten moments that lingered in my mind and helped get me through the last 365 days make this list and while there were a lot of low points in 2025, these beers gave light and hope to an often dreary world. It's been an adjustment talking about NA beers versus regular pints, the alcohol effect being absent makes for a whole different vibe to be sure. But the options are getting better and as the market for NA offerings grows, so should the quality. I'm here for the beer, so let's get on with this year's Sober Ten. 10. One for the Road Brewing Proceed with Caution Amber (January 26th) One of the first non-alcoholic beers that really wowed me this year, One for the Road Brewing certainly tries to deliver as close to the real thing in a whole lotta styles as anyone out there. Prolific in number, they try to find an NA offering for every taste and this nutty, toasted malt beauty hit all the marks. Lacking not
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October Sober - Top 5 NA Beers from the last month
Has it already been an entire month? I know time moves faster as you get older, but man, this last 4+ weeks seemed to be gone in a flash. The transition from outdoor patio beers to indoor basement beers happened almost overnight and while I will miss my sunshine and warm summer breezes, I do enjoy hunkering down in the winter and enjoying all my lazy indoor activities while the wind howls and the snow flies. Soon we will decorate the house once again for Christmas and I'll get that weird nostalgic feeling that challenges my sobriety at the best of times. I used to love to get 4 or 5 beers deep and dive into classic TV specials and holiday movies while reminiscing about how it used to be. Being sober, I find myself more in the present, but when I do cast my mind back, it seems to be in a better light and with less regret. I don't know which way is better, I sure did love that Christmas buzz, but here we are now and I've got another 5 great Non-Alcoholic beer options for you
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Sober September - The 5 Best NA Beers I tried in September 2025
I had high hopes earlier this year for a monthly series of posts about the best non-alcoholic beers I had tried in the previous month, but like a lot of things I think are a good idea, I get in my own way and somehow talk my way out of it. So we are back after an 8 month hiatus with a Top 5 must try and 2 to give a pass to when it comes to NA beers. Up first, in chronological order of when I tried them, the Top 5 for September 2025 1. Nickel Brook Brewing Wicked Tame NA Hazy IPA (Sept 1st to 21st, inclusive) I drank one of these a day for 21 days and let me say that I always looked forward to cracking on open when it was time for a little refreshment. It has a great, full-bodied feel and it hits like a full on IPA. Full video here. 2. Tool Shed Brewing Zero Red Rage Red Ale (September 2nd) This one captured my attention with it's malt forward toasty malt body and caramel notes. It felt like I was dri nking a full test Red Ale, no hint of NA
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One Year Later...
I woke up this morning, knowing it's been exactly 1 year since the last time I indulged my inner drunk and had way too many pints, topped off with a big old glass of whiskey. One year since I could barely breathe after going up a flight of stairs or walking to my car and one year since my resting heart rate was somewhere around 170 beats per minute. In those 365 days, I have not let go of reality even once. No slip ups or "accidents", never having more than 2 beers in a single day and no hard liquor of any kind. Part of this is predicated by all the medications I'm on to help control blood pressure and keep my heart from running itself out of beats before my time is supposed to be up. But the other part has become a battle of internal monologues, each vying for supremacy and each with some good points to be made. On one side, we've got the good times Polk, the dr
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Time to Let it Go...
An appropriate us for my growlers now, I suppose... I've come to a crossroads in my life and while this particular intersection may seem a little silly, it feels like a momentous, albeit small, decision going forward. I have a lot of beer paraphernalia, bottles and clothing. Mostly bottles and cans I've saved from all the thousands I've tried, about 500 or so that line the shelves and walls of my basement, along with many signs and pictures, various knick-knacks and mementos of the last decade of my life. Here's the thing though, I don't know if they speak to me anymore. I don't know that what they used to represent is what or who I am now and I wonder, quite seriously, if hanging onto these things is holding me back from the next evolution in my life. I know that in the end of it all, they are just things, collectibles to me and my memories and not really necessary to the times they represent. But looking around as the NFL season begins and hoc
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One Day in July...
I wrote this back in July. I was in a pretty dark place a the time, it was a bit of that darkness that was driving me at the time. Feeling better now as I approach a year of sobriety, but I felt compelled to put this into the world to remind myself that I can keep coming back, every time. It's hard to believe a decade has passed so quickly. Time is relative, I've been told, and as I get older, it does seem to be speeding up, even as I feel like I'm slowing down. On July 11, 2015, I changed my handle on Instagram from RobbyBaconStrips to the DrunkPolkaroo after a particularly drunken night where I made promises to go to a beer festival the next day, drunk me making plans sober me could not afford. The origin of the name is something I've gone over way back in the early days (Find it here : Why the Drunk Polkaroo? ), but it was never intended to be about craft beer or anything other than a silly play on words and my ridiculous propensity for having a few more wobbly pops th
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Desperately Seeking Better (NA) Beer
I often wonder how to rate or judge non-alcoholic beers and then communicate in a way that people who are looking for NA options can understand. Realistically, the depth of the field isn't the best and there is a wild chasm between great and good, even more so between mid and bad. I guess it's a young(ish) industry that will need some time to really find its legs, if it can be profitable enough to force quality to the forefront and not just an add on to entice the DD to stick around so everyone can have a few more Pints before heading home with a six pack or two. Even some of the breweries that are entirely focused on making NA beers can have terrible products side by side with some really fine offerings. The lack of quality control, coupled with an uneducated and/or desperate consumer base has made for a rush to market for a lot of things and an acceptance of that's just how things are...but I think there is a real opportunity as we move forward in the Sober and So
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Looking for a Place to Happen - Seeking Sober Spaces
I've been on a lot of beer runs in the last 35 years, maybe just to the Beer Store in the beginning, but after 2015 we stepped it up in a big way, culminating in cross province, week long jaunts that left my fridge bulging and my glass overflowing with the new and interesting things Ontario had to offer. We've done multi day road trips, driving hundreds of kilometers in search of pints to explore and met countless people like ourselves along the way. Sometimes it was just popping into one of the nearby breweries for a bite and a beer, the simple pleasure of belonging to a community that supports the hopes and dreams of local small businesses and hoping to do our small part to help spread the good word. I love a solid beer run and this last weekend was perhaps the worst, most depressing one I've ever taken and it illustrates a real problem the sober or non-alcoholic beer world has when it comes to helping folks crossover or drink a little less if that's what they're after.
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Bottles on the Wall...
Beer is my memory keeper I have a couple of walls of beer bottles and cans downstairs in my little rec room and each of them contain many memories, moments in time that were special enough to warrant me saving the empty and displaying it for my own edification and enjoyment. I know a lot of folks may have something similar, maybe a shelf or two in the garage or basement for some unique or memorable pints, pretty things to look at that become part of the visual background noise of our house, another thing to dust and move on. More than a decade on the shelf. One of my first loves in beer. We save them to remember, but one day, they will become a memory of us before finding their way to blue bags and recycling bins when our time here is done. Their deeper meaning, of course, is a tangible, visible link to the past, often viewed through beer goggles and the distance of time. Nobody is saving an empty bottle of MGD from a random night in February of 2001 wi
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What would you miss? Sober in Craft Beer...
What do you think you'd miss? If they told you that you could never drink again or if you choose to give it up, for whatever reasons you have. What would you miss the most about craft beer in particular? Besides the warm and fuzzy feeling the alcohol gives you, what things do you think would disappear from your life that would leave a gap where your happy place used to be. I have given this a lot of thought since September, obviously my own circumstance and subsequent sober(ish) life caused me to make some radical lifestyle changes that remain ongoing and with various degrees of success. I haven't really been an active participant in a lot of beer events or even going out for a beer with someone in a couple of years, but I did begin to wonder what it would be like for someone who was more involved, more socially connected to the community and all it entails. When I first came back to social media in December, I was overwhelmed with comments and messages, muc
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Sober Polk : January Top Ten Non Alcoholic Pints
I've been asked by quite a few folks what my Top 5 or 10 non-alcoholic beers have been so far and since I'm all about listening to the people and spreading the good word about good beer, I figured I should take a little time each month and let you know what tickled my fancy in the previous 30(ish) days. Up first we'll take a look back at the end of 2024 coupled together with January of 2025 so as not to miss some real good things that I poured into my glass prior to deciding I needed to do this little monthly list of pints that excite Ol' Polk. No need to exclude when it's always better to be inclusive...ya know what I mean boo-boo... Digging back into my yearly list of my top ten beers (yes, I am working on The Ten for 2024, I know it's late, but life is kinda fuzzy right now) I'll stick to a few rules for myself while I compile The Five (Plus) each month. A) Only one beer from each brewery. If I really dig more than one, I'll let ya know in the post, but only one
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Proof of Life...
170 beats per minute. At rest... Was I scared? Was? Still am... It's been a roller-coaster of a week and a half, actually more like a decade of descent, but it came to a head last Monday and while I know it could be a whole lot worse than it is, nothing prepares you for the very first time you truly stare at your own mortality in the mirror and not be sure you're coming out the other side of this one to the good. I've been struggling with a lot of physical pain lately, the old flat feet giving me trouble, which I thought was leading to my extreme tiredness and shortness of breath, just another thing to power through and get past, I've always prized myself on my high pain tolerance, even though I always knew, in the back of my mind, that it wasn't smart to ignore your body's warning signs when they started going off like a 5 alarm fire bell, but that's who I am and how I got here I suppose. After a couple weeks of this kind of feeling, last Monday I finally broke down and hobbled
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Life Goes On...
This photo was taken 14 years ago today. Ir means the world to me, even though so much has changed since this seminal moment in The Life of Polk... It was taken at a bar in Blue Mountain, with a man who was my very closest confident and best friend. He got me to order a Harp Lager. Surprisingly, even that euro pint was way out of my comfort zone at the time... But more than that, so much more, it represents a time when I held the world in my hand...at least I felt that way. I was in the middle of the greatest decade of my life, without knowing it, and this pic reminds me that there was a time, a very real time, when I was surrounded by folks who loved and cared for me and who I would do anything for. I didn't realize it would all come to a crashing end, honestly, all at my own actions...but damn, those memories, those special moments, hold me here on this planet harder than any gravitational pull ever could. I miss the people who were so important to me then, I miss who I w
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It's Not All Okay
Every once in a while, someone will leave a comment on a video or post I've made reviewing a beer that sends me off into a rabbit hole of trying to not only answer their query, but diving even deeper because my own obsession becomes more focused. I like to know things, if only for my own edification, especially when it comes to craft beer, something I've spent almost a decade talking about in various forms and ways. I started out as a true acolyte, a deliver that the independently made beer could change the world, that we were better people for supporting it and that the community and industry could work hand in hand in delivering a new way to be inclusive, growing and spreading that love like a well poured pint. Of course, if you've followed along for any amount of time, you'll know that kind of vibrant bullshit is on the surface and pushed by pretty pictures and reels on Instagram by a well meaning, but ultimately silly narrative that never wants to criticise because it's all suppose
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The Price of Beer (Redux)
I like to think that I have reached a point as a consumer of beer that I have a discerning enough palate and brand awareness to be making informed purchases. I am a follower of what's new and returning, I subscribe to 100's of Brewery newsletters and keep myself always on the lookout for interesting things whenever I stop in at the LCBO. However... Someone asked about how I felt that the Dominion City Sunsplit IPA (delicious, by the way) cost $5.10 and it caught me off guard as I, honestly and without thought, didn't even look at the cost when I picked it up the other day. It seems like a high price for a 6.8% IPA, albeit one of superior quality and consistency, always a fine choice and I feel lucky that I can just get one whenever I want. It wasn't that long ago that the only way to get this legendary flagship beer was to have someone mule it back from Ottawa or when it became possible, to do an online delivery order and get it sent right to my front door. So I don't feel
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Do better...
I remember when I first got into craft beer, that evangelical feeling of wanting to help spread the word about good beer and help get people off the macro train of boring and bland lagers. We all went through that judgmental phase, looking down on folks drinking mass market beers and feeling better about our bitter IPAs and bold Imperial stouts as almost a testament to better living and character. It was nonsense of course but I still see the trends out there, albeit the pendulum has swung around a little and some beer folks now pride themselves on being better because they drink lagers and bemoan the rise of the hazy ipa as the dominate force in craft beer. Is it because when nobody drank ipas and they did, it made it feel special and now that more people are enjoying ipas, they need to find something more iconoclast to lord over the regular folk? It seems to me there is an inward looking, almost gatekeeping need to separate from the masses, no matter what they like. I used to b
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Bucket List : Singular Beer Experiences
Last week I was able to check another bucket list beer off and it spurred a lot of conversation around not only Pliny the Elder and our perception of it as being a much sought after OG whale of a pint up here in Canada, but also of other seemingly important, often difficult to obtain beers that we aspire to acquire with desire. For me, it all began with places like Bellwoods, a mystical place that was making stuff no one else in Ontario was able to. I would visit their Ossington Avenue location on special occasions, almost like making a pilgrimage to a holy place and each offering I would dutifully return home with to try and make out what special thing was going in inside my glass. Of course, as I spun further down into the world of beers, I became enamoured with yearly releases, special one-offs and collaborations, stuff like Nickel Brook's Bourbon Barrel aged Kentucky Bastard, Twin Pines from Sawdust City, Double Tempest from Amsterdam and Apocalypse Later Imperi
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From Bad Beer to Exceptional Pints : Rise Up
I've been drinking beer for the better part of 3 decades and thinking more critically about what's in my glass for the last 10 or so, examining the context as much as the contents as it were, occasionally traipsing into philosophy while still operating as the low-key drunk that I am. I have scored thousands of pints in video and the written word, some in as short as a few sentences and others as long as is way past what any sane person would consider necessary for a beer, always with an eye to style and truth in advertising when it comes to what I encounter . I've led with my heart, held grudges and soft spots in my soul at the same time and tried to always seek the good in every beer I encounter ...even when that isn't possible... What all this preamble is getting to is that after all this time, as I seek more balance and even more value for the things I have in my day-to-day life, I wonder why some of the beers we see hit the market even bother existing? Why do s
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Enough
I find myself in a weird position in life, a thing that gets magnified at work everyday when I talk to folks who are hustling to get by and hope to get ahead as the future rolls on. Seeking promotions, more money, more everything and while I understand it, hell it was me not so long ago, I find my hustle, my need for more has dissipated into the ether of my years and now all I seek is contentment, routine and just what I have. Enough. I don't know how it came to be. We struggled for decades just to keep our heads above water, not always succeeding, but always striving for more and better...until now. I find myself at the crossroads of somewhat middle age, okay, two thirds age, but what I am after now more than anything is not trying to get more, to look at what other people have and wonder why I don't. I find myself looking in the mirror and occasionally smiling with a chuckle that I'm still standing and honestly it's fucking bizarre to be happy after years of Darkness. I w
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On 51
Looking back on another year around the sun and while my 50th year was a shifting sand dune on which I climbed, stumbled down and rose again, I find myself at much the same spot as last year, albeit with a little more chill in my life. To be honest, not much has changed in the last year, I continued to be somewhat of a recluse outside of working, only stepping out a handful of times for dinner with Kat and only twice to have a quick beer with someone other than her. My circle has shrunk pretty small, I spend more time with Oreo, Marbles and Simcoe than any human and while I may have periods of deep introspection on what caused this loneliness, I can only quote Jimmy Buffett, "But I know, it's my own damn fault...". I watched it happen in real time and hardly recognize myself some days, who is that man in the mirror every morning, practicing his smile and covering his growing fear that it is all coming down to whether he can truly change or continue this slow a
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I Drink Alone
Is that a weird way to open a blog post? Admitting that I drink alone? Well, it is the truth and I wanted to write about my life more this year, even if it seems a little uncomfortable or difficult. My greatest success and growth has come from laying it all out for the world to see and releasing whatever is inside me that tries to bring me down into the darkness again, silence is my own worst enemy. I think what I mean to say, without trying to downplay my lack of a social life outside my going to work or online, is that I enjoy my own company when I want to relax. After almost 4 decades in working retail, food service and general public facing jobs, I do feel worn down just a tad, the last 4 years have proven even more difficult with the rise of the selfish class, a special breed of hell mongers all their own. It has bled into almost every part of my day, the inward facing, sole spotlight seekers, to whom everyone must revolve for their existenc
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That Beer Buzz...
There is almost no better vibe in the world than when you're having a couple beers and that magical warm and fuzzy feeling kicks in. Be it after 1, 2, or more beers, we all have a sweet spot for when everything is right in the world and you just drift along for a little while in your happiness. You're not quite drunk, not quite sober, but existing in a beautiful place known as the Beer Buzz. It's a real art form finding the right spot, knowing when to say when and when to say just one more, a delicate balance of slow sipping and quick chugging, sprinkled in with some laughs and a smile growing across your face. I took a couple of quick polls on social media last week and found that the vast majority of folks (over 75%) who are with me for this weirdly beer centric trip I'm on seemed to agree that 3 to 4 beers was that very place to be when it came to the best feelings, the place where it's just right. I'll admit that I thought more people would lean into the old 2-B
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Beer Zen - Nickel Brook Brewing Double Headstock
Yesterday I stopped in at Nickel Brook Brewing in Burlington after work and was lucky enough to get to try their newest release, the 9.5% Double Headstock Imperial IPA, while also spending some time chatting with Founder John Romano about the state of the beer business in general and reminiscing about the years that seem to have flown by since we first met. I've been a fan of this OG Ontario craft brewer for many years, getting to know the people that work there only reinforced that feeling and when I heard this particular beer was coming out, it brought back a wave of nostalgia from when I first started trying all these "weird" beers back in 2014/15. Up until the end of 2014, I was a dedicated macro beer drinker, the cheaper the better. It was about volume, not quality and I was adept at finding the best deals to deliver the quickest trip to getting drunk. As I started to wander around into craft beer, I was taken aback by the bitterness of IPAs, it threw me