It took me years and hundreds of pints before I realized that, when health officials advise us to keep hydrated during severe heat and humidity — like we’ve been experiencing — they weren’t talking about beer.

Oh, well. The point is, beer is good. It CAN be really, really good. We’re blessed in this part of the world to have several local breweries that craft and market their own excellent beers.

What we want to know is what YOU think. Tell us which is your favorite beer from which local brewery. Tell us whether it’s a pilsner, stout, IPA, sour, lambic or whatever, and gives us a few sentences describing what it tastes like and why you like it.

Email your favorite to Rick Koster at r.koster@theday.com.

Then crack open a cold one and wait for Aug. 21, when we run our reader’s survey on local beers.