I am sipping today’s beer as I write this, and it’s only fitting that I start this challenge with Harpoon IPA.

Before drinking my first Harpoon IPA, I didn’t much care for India Pale Ales.

To tell the truth, I wasn’t a fan of hoppy beer at all. The bitterness was just too much for me. Avoiding pale ales, and IPAs in particular, was my secret shame for years. You see, loving beer but hating a strong hoppy brew is almost unheard of — like an optimist who grumbles about Christmas.

In 2003, I moved from Chicago to Boston. I sat down at an Irish pub the day I signed my lease and asked the bartender for something local.

“Just not Sam Adams,” I said. You can get Sam Adams in Chicago.

What he gave me was a Harpoon IPA. I held back my grimace — I’d heard stories about Boston bartenders, so I wasn’t about to send it back.

Harpoon IPA surprised me. Sure, there’s a fair amount of hoppiness to this beer. But it dissipates into maltiness, melting across your tongue and leaving just the mildest aftertaste. The hops don’t attack your taste buds, so you get to enjoy the bit of citrus-peel bitterness without reeling from it. Yet, there’s no doubt you’re drinking an IPA.

Harpoon became my gateway drug into the world of IPA, and I started to seek out hoppy beer. No more shame for this beer drinker — I became a certified hop head.

Even with all the great IPAs I’ve found, Harpoon’s brew has been my favorite. It’s what I ask for by default when I sit down at a bar or order from a restaurant menu. In fact, I had a few glasses of Harpoon IPA before the New Year’s Eve champagne came out last night. For my last night of beer drinking freedom, I chose Harpoon IPA.

Now I’m realizing that by drinking Harpoon IPA at the start of this challenge, I’m not going to have another Harpoon IPA for a full year.

I have one more sip left.

I’m going to miss it when it’s gone.

But this journey is just getting started, and I’ll discover some great beer along the way. So, cheers to you for joining me on this adventure. MMmmm… That’s a good beer!