I absolutely adore Greek mythology. The creatures were probably the first aspect to grab my limited attention, but the imperfection and compellingly human nature of the gods, the odd sense of justice, the creativity and cleverness of classical civilization have never ceased to captivate me. "I, my, me" - isn't this supposed to be about beer? It will be, but first let me tell you about a youth named Narcissus. 

Born to a river god and a water nymph, the boy was impossibly beautiful from birth, and he knew it. Men and women alike threw themselves at Narcissus and all were rejected. Ovid writes: "Thereupon one of the scorned raised his hands to heaven and cried: 'So may he himself fall in love, so may he not be able to possess his beloved!' and Nemesis heard it." One hot day, Narcissus bowed down at a spring to drink and unwittingly fell in love with his own reflection. Unable to grab the object of his desire and unwilling to leave it, he wasted away to death by that spring, and in his place grew a yellow flower botanists call by his name. The rest of us call it a daffodil, and I noticed a bunch of them beginning to push up through the frosty ground this week. Spring is beginning, and with spring comes spring beers.

So: who joined me at the Harpoon tasting event at Monster B's last Friday? Anyone? Bueller?

I don’t know if it was the Harpoon or the fact that it was a Friday, but the place was packed like the gym in January. There or not, hit us up in the comments and tell us what beers you’ve been digging on lately. We encourage conversation around here, and we promise not to mock your affinity for Land Shark… much.

Speaking of animals that have no business being on land, Harpoon launched its Leviathan series of craft beers in 2008 as “an exploration in brewing big beers for adventurous palates.” The series was originally intended as a 100-barrel, limited edition release, but the market responded with enthusiasm, and they’re back. The Imperial IPA, Baltic Porter, Saison Royale, and several more will be offered in 120-barrel batches this time, and in bottles as well.

“He is the life of parties he’s never attended. His business card simply says 'I'll call you.'” The “Most Interesting Man In The World” commercials get me every time. Do you know what the two X’s in the Dos Equis name signify? Unlike the “33” on bottles from Old Latrobe, this one actually has an answer. XX was first brewed in 1900 by a German émigré to Mexico named Wilhelm Haase, and named “Siglo XX”, or “Twentieth Century” to commemorate the dawn of a new era. Concise and easily recognizable, the brand name has survived 111 years. Pacifico remains my personal favorite Mexican beer but, like the big building with patients, that’s not important right now.

Shall we? 

I was talking to a friend of mine recently, and asked him how he made his decisions on which beer to drink. “Whichever one is closest,” he said. Wit aside, there’s enlightenment to be found in those words. Most people will just drink whichever beer is available to them, so let’s take a look at some brews that are easy to find, but just far enough out of the main stream to be interesting.

Just about everyone who has ever been to an Indian restaurant has had Kingfisher beer as a choice. This and Cobra seem to be the Bud and Miller of the subcontinent, as far as I can tell.

Have you ever noticed that most people think music radio is terrible? iPods, Pandora, LastFM and SiriusXM have pretty much taken over the listening landscape. Listen to one station for more than a few hours, and you’ll start to hear the same songs over and over again. Multiply these hours by days and weeks and the audience becomes absolutely stultified. It’s the same with beer. We need variety to keep ourselves involved in what we consume, and this column is all about variety’s special spice. As such, we’re going to take a three-stop trip across the country this week to expand our horizons.

We’ll travel with the Sun and start on the East coast, specifically Ipswich, Mass., where we’ll find Mercury Brewing and Distribution Company