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The short version

How we got here.

Nine years, four cities, and a suspicious number of breweries. Every good one takes this long.

  1. Mash2018

    Twice, for emphasis

    We met at a house party in Richmond, both analysts at CarMax. Matt announced he'd shotgunned a Four Loko; Anna didn't believe him, so he did it again. He'd swum for UNC, she went to Duke, and after a long pause he decided that was survivable. A few months and one IPA under a tent at the Foxfield races later, he finally asked. The first date was Strangeways.

  2. Boil2019–2020

    A few hundred miles

    Then the rotation ended. Matt went home to Atlanta, Anna moved to D.C., and we spent the next two years taking turns in each other's cities. When everything closed, a frightening year made it obvious that neither of us was leaving this to chance.

  3. Ferment2021–2023

    Atlanta, for good

    Anna moved down for a while, and the while quietly turned into the first time we'd lived in the same city since that house party. Then a stretch in Austin and one more round of long distance, apparently to be sure, before we moved in together in Atlanta in December 2023. We've been here ever since.

  4. Condition2026

    He asked

    He asked in Ireland, at Glendalough, at the end of a month of Guinness. Afterwards we went looking for a pub called Conways.

    Matt on one knee on the shore of the lake at Glendalough, holding a ring out to Anna, with the mountains behind.
    Glendalough photos: Olga Hogan
  5. Serve2027

    And now you're invited

    Which brings us to a brewery in West Midtown. Given that this began with a Four Loko in a backyard, continued over an IPA under a tent, and became official at Strangeways, that feels about right.

The tasting flight

A suspicious number
of breweries.

Click to flip

Your photo here

That’s the whole story.

The next round has you in it, if you can make it.

Invitations to follow