Okay, so this is happening tonight. And by ‘‘happening’’ I mean I’m drinking it.

And probably a few other beers.

This is only worthy of note because of something I posted earlier this week. Something where I said I’d be going dry for the whole month of February. Well, that’s now changed – I’ve gone dry for the first week of February (give or take the last few hours of Saturday) and that’s enough.

It’s a decision I’ve come to after a few days of thinking. I went dry February last year and was full of conviction, because I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. Now that I’ve proved that I could, this February there just isn’t the same motivation.

Also, when I went dry last year I missed out on several beery events that only happen in February. Last year, that was a sacrifice I was happy to make. This year, I’m thinking, ‘‘I really, really enjoy going to that. Why the hell am I depriving myself?’’.

One event I really, really was down about missing this February was my local homebrew club’s Summer Beer Fest. I’ve only ever been to one and it was awesome. Brewers bring kegs of their beers along and tap them and you just walk around with a glass drinking whatever you want. The one year I went, there was so many great beers there, beers I would have happily paid money for were I at a bar.

And the company is good too – they fit in with the whole informal nature of the homebrew club. There’s no membership list, no fees, no monthly meetings. You just turn up and enjoy yourself. Sure, I could just go to that but spend the rest of the month dry but I know from bitter experience that a big night after a few weeks of no alcohol equals a frigging awful hangover because my tolerance is way, way down.

Quitting also means I can enjoy Craft Beer Rising on the actual date rather than having to wait until March 1. And I can have a few beers while I watch my Dragons play in the Charity Shield tonight.

And it means I can try the 4 Pines Citrus IPA I was sent this week. I’d really been hoping I’d find some of this because I was so keen to try it. And when it arrived on my desk at work on Monday I thought, ‘‘Jesus Christ, I have to wait til March to drink this!’’. But not any more.

Of course, there are some caveats. The weekday wagon, which was due to start in March, will start now. And I have to keep on with my souped-up exercise program (well, it’s souped-up from what I was doing before), to help combat any fattening effects of beer.

In conclusion, I am looking forward to drinking a beer tonight.