I am the biggest (and maybe only) beer fanatic in Lebanon

There must be some award for this type of thing. I have been in search of Lebanon's only microbrew for nearly two weeks now. Monday, I went around Beirut with my Dad and aunt on the promise that we'd stop by the brewery and bar after they were done with chores. I haven't seen this beer anywhere. In case you're wondering it's called 961 which is Lebanon's country code. I saw only two bottles of it in a Beirut supermarket and none since then. On Beer Advocate they list 7 brews. One of which is an IPA and another a Barleywine. I got overly excited. It was going to be my first good beer in nearly two months. The ratings on BA are not wonderful except for some dude names "Beerophile" from Beirut (almost certainly one of the brewers himself) saying that this is the best beer in the world. It's that crazy self aggrandizing attitude exhibited by brewers and Lebanese folk alike. Anyway, Kingfisher is terrible and the only thing I've had here is a Lebanese beer named Almaza (owned by Heineken) which is better than kingfisher, but that's not exactly a compliment.

So 961... Apparently I'm the only person in this country who's heard of it. This is not a beer culture, it's definitely a wine culture. Supermarkets have walls of wines. You can buy wine in most convenience stores in "bigger" cities (population at least 5,000). I've been drinking wine and Arak, but beer is my real true love and so I search for it everywhere.

I found the address for 961 and made my aunt drive me that way after 6 hours or so of bargain hunting on light fixtures. We get to the correct corner (where the website claims the brewery/bar is) and ask where it is. This guy comes out from a corner store and asks my dad "Does he owe you money?" My dad said "no," and the guy retorted "yes he does, he owes everyone money. People are always looking for him." To make matters worse the guy at the corner store told us the the brewery had moved. Is it out of business? I don't think so, it doesn't seem to be? BA has new listings. On twitter they say they're looking for a US distributor. However, I can't find signs of them anywhere except for the two bottles of Euro-style lager (which I've had my share of) in the big supermarket.

So apparently I am the only person interested in trying new beer. I think I've been relegated to beer purgatory for a year while living in non-beer cultures. Let this be duly noted. Not only did I pay my dues in Chicago and Philadelphia searching for good beer, I am paying dues for all my friends this year. It is for you friends that I am scouring my little section of the globe trying to make sure that you don't have to suffer through crappy beers. As it is now, I'm pretty certain I'm the biggest (and maybe only) beer fanatic in Lebanon.