I Feel Like Drinkin’Beer!
Howdy Doo Buckaroos and how the heck are you?
I Am The Beer Whisperer
Beervangelist, Prolific Beer Drinker
Purveyor Of Wisdom and …
All Around Good Guy!
And I Feel like drinkin’ beer!
I Like Beer … Really, Really!
For some it’s an acquired taste, but for me, it was love at first sip. Like most of us of a certain age, I grew up drinking the American adjunct lager, but I can still remember my first Anchor Steam. I didn’t realize at the time that I was drinking a craft beer. Then I had my first Guinness, my first foray into a stout. All of my friends HATED it, but I thought it was wonderful.
And Then …
And then I moved up to Washington State where I discovered Red Hook, first it was their flagship ESB, and then their Rye, oh my goodness, their Rye ale. I’d never had anything like it! To be honest, at the time I didn’t understand style, I just knew that I liked it! A LOT!
And then, and then, and then … More travels, more beer, well, you get it.
I wouldn’t say that I loved every one, but I loved the idea, the ability to try as many as possible.
From Working Class Beverage To Hipster Heaven!
From it’s most humble of origins, beer is/was mostly regarded as a working class beverage. Something for blue collar slobs to chug down after a hard days work. This stereotype mostly perpetuated on TV, but partly because of what American beer became, just a mediocre, or worse, adjunct lager.
Then, in the 70’s, brewing renegades like Jack McAullife and Fritz Maytag tried building a better mousetrap, with New Albion and Anchor Steam respectively.
Although the large evil empires put the kibosh on most new breweries, in the end they couldn’t stop the desire and thirst for better beer and the Microbrew era was born in the late 80’s.
And It Was Good!
Oh yeah it was good! The 90’s saw brewpubs pop up like weeds, burgers, pizza, BBQ and REAL BEER! So many of us, myself included, were introduced to unfamiliar styles, it was beautiful!
The sad part is many of these early brewpubs didn’t make it to the new millennium to see the onslaught that is now known as “craft” beer, however, it wouldn’t exist without these early breweries/brewpubs paving the way.
And then hipsters found craft beer and decided that they invented it. Okay, I kid the hipsters, but many of the younger brewers resurrected forgotten styles and put a spin on existing styles.
What bothers me about it though is the pretentiousness that came along with it. Don’t say the name of the beer or style wrong, use the right glass and whatever you do, don’t use a “shaker” pint or these pretentious knuckleheads will crucify you!
For me, beer is and will always be a beverage accessable to all(of legal drinking age of course). I appreciate and love all that is available, and I think we should enjoy our fine beer, but leave the pretentiousness for the wine guys.
So … If you’ll excuse me, I feel like drinking beer!
And Remember Folks, Life Is Serious, Beer Shouldn’t Be!