I will confess that I am no longer the beer drinker I used to be. [pause to let howls of rude laughter from The Englishman and the other regulars at the King’s Arms to die down] Seriously, I have.
As I’ve matured in years, I’ve moved on to spirits like gin, Scotch and [list of spirits redacted because of length]. Nevertheless, I still enjoy a beer or two or three, depending on a) the beer and b) the company I’m socializing with.
My besetting problem is that I just cannot find a decent beer in the U.S. that can hold a candle to English beer, specifically ales such as Wadworth 6X, Fuller’s London Pride or even Boddington’s. The last tastes completely differently Over Here compared to its regular domicile Over There; I suspect it doesn’t travel well in cans — does any beer? — and although London Pride does not suffer the same fate, I either have to go rooting for it in divers liquor stores hereabouts — it does not have good distribution — or else head to The Londoner several miles away, which means I can’t drive back because, well, pints.
And I don’t want to drive all the way up to Boulder CO just to buy Wadworth 6X because quite frankly, it’s sold in cans and even 6X liketh the cans not (when I’ve drunk them Over There), and I’m not going to drive a thousand miles or whatever it is, only to find shit beer at the end of it.
Likewise, I’m not interested in touring the “craft” breweries around here (even though there are dozens) because in the past I’ve discovered that recommendations from others always fall short. (Readers please take note before you offer up suggestions in Comments.)
I’ve often thought that Mexican Modelo Negro is the closest in taste to the English ales, but until now I’ve never bothered to test the hypothesis. So as a public service, I set one up. Here are the culprits:
As you can see, the Negro is considerably darker than the Pride, and drunk side by side, it has a harshly-bitter taste compared to the English ale. (I should also add that I got rid of some of the Negro’s fizz, and let it warm up just a little from refrigerator temperature as I did with the Pride. Don’t tell me I shouldn’t do that, by the way: I loathe fizzy drinks of any kind, and dislike ice-cold beer unless drunk on a hot day in South Africa, when I drink Castle Lager in any case.)
The worst thing about the Negro (speaking from past experience) is that after just two or three of the things, my mouth starts to taste like I’ve been drinking vulture vomit and I’m forced to change to something better-tasting or at least a little sweeter (e.g. gin, dark rum & Coke or Southern Comfort), and we ahem experienced drinkers all know where that action takes us. That taste, by the way, never happens to me when I’m drinking beer in England and once embarked on a course of 6X or London Pride I stick with it, as many of the aforesaid denizens of Wiltshire and London may attest.
Mr. Free Market doesn’t frequent pubs all that often, as he doesn’t like getting “full” on beer, and drinking whisky at British pub prices makes too huge a dent in even his capacious wallet. So when I go Over There, we end up drinking either in his garden (in summer) or his living room (all other times) and because there’s no driving involved, only stair-climbing (don’t ask how many stairs are involved in negotiating Free Market Towers), I end up getting a lot more shitfaced than I do at the King’s Arms, where I generally have to call time after only half a dozen pints so I can find my way home, wherever that is. No such restriction exists at the Towers, which means I have, on occasion, had to sleep (okay, pass out) in one of the several living rooms or parlors that are scattered about the ground floor.
Anyway, what disturbs me in all this was a conversation I once had with Mr. FM, in which he confessed that he’d rather lost his taste for beer — and the awful thought occurred to me that perhaps I may be heading in that direction too.
So, Readers: have any of you discovered a similar scenario in your drinking? (As always, I’m not interested in hearing from casual drinkers or teetotalers: your opinions are as those of a virgin on sex etiquette at an orgy.) Let’s hear from The Well-Exercised Elbow Set.
This is interesting, and yes, I’ve had the same experience. I have no idea why, but I used to drink copious amounts of beer, and now I’m more of a booze/wine drinker. It started when I developed Type 2 Diabetes, I thought (perhaps erroneously) that beer was worse for me than wine or liquor. Also, like you, I find the whole “craft beer” fad mostly awful. The absolute crap brewers come up with in the attempt to be different is astounding.
Still, I find I do like the occasional Yeungling lager on a hot summer day (unlike you, ice cold). I also like some of the more robust offerings from brewers like Stone Brewing or Ballast Point. But, like you, once I had a Boddingtons in an English Pub, I was never quite the same. And you are correct, I think, in that there is no close American equivalent that I have discovered.
Never been a big beer drinker, but when I do hoist one I have a cardinal rule: thou shalt not drink beer that looks like piss. The Colorado brewery New Belgium makes my current fave – 1554.
My taste for beer is fading too and I think it’s because my taste for sugar is gone. I have come to hate sweetness in everything from coffee through beer and wine to chocolate. I’ll have one beer where I used to have two or three. I’m drinking more wine, but only the driest reds I can find. Unfortunately that shuts out most American wines which are largely too sweet for me. I know there are dry American reds but they are hard to find especially with the bullshit that American vintners put on their labels. I wish they’d just tell me how dry the wine is and shut up about “hints of black currant and pecans..blah, blah”
As for small craft brews, 95% of them are shite, but then 95% of everything is shite. Even so many of the craft brews in the 5% are really quite good, especially when I roll into the tap-room after walking 20 kilometres to get there.
The problem with Brit beers is that there are so many different ones in so many different pubs and I need to sample them all. In theory I’ll be in London in late April, if our civil masters allow it, and I’ll continue my researches.
Fred,
Take the train out to Wiltshire (Marlborough or Pewsey should do it) and have some Wadworth 6X at one of the local pubs in town. You’ll either thank me or else curse me (for causing an addiction).
Thanks and I certainly will do that or something like it that will get me a taste or two of the stuff.
Wadworth has an excellent website with a map of all the pubs where their stuff is available. https://www.wadworth.co.uk/find-a-pub
There’s one in London, the King’s Arms, Fulham and one in Basingstoke which is a mere 20 miles from where one of my aunts lives. https://www.bartonsmillpubanddining.co.uk/
Looking at the Basingstoke website photo I noticed that the serve “cask ales”. Last visit to the UK my cousin explained the difference between cask and keg draught beers and when I paid attention I realized I too enjoyed cask ales more than kegged, canned or bottled. Is Wadworth a cask ale?
Anyway, I’m going to get me some.
No clue, don’t care. It just tastes like nectar.
I’m 55 and the sweet sugary thing is affecting me too. I used to live on chocolates, snack on candy all day, and drink coca-cola at least once or twice a day. Now, not nearly so much and when I do, the overwhelming sickly sweet taste turns me off. I was also diagnosed as pre-diabetic so a change in diet was required. After months of no coke, I can’t finish a single can because it’s like drinking syrup.
As for beer, I’ll knock back several varieties, including Shiner Bock and New Belgium Fat Tire. But after 2 or 3 I feel super bloated, not in the least bit affected by the alcohol, and wondering why I should drink anymore.
I’ve moved on to bourbon whiskey, straight, as my drink of choice. I’ll have the occasional beer in the afternoon, but the bloated feeling after several really turns me off now.
As for the virgin at an orgy – I used to drink 6 or more daily during weekends, sometimes 8 to 10 over the course of the day (yes, a day drinker, started drinking at lunch and knock off at bedtime). So I’ve had my experiences.
“But after 2 or 3 I feel super bloated, not in the least bit affected by the alcohol, and wondering why I should drink anymore.”
That’s me to a T.
It’s the damdest thing – I turned 40 and my sweet tooth just disintegrated and fell out of my head. I was never a big sweets guy, but I could down a shit ton of ice cream at a sitting. Dreyer’s Mocha Almond Fudge if you’re keeping score. But it’s had no impact on how I drink. So there’s that.
I’ve never been a fan of beer, but one of the techie Youtubers I watch regularly is and his channel is called Craft Computing. You will obviously want to skip much of the techie computer stuff and listen to his taste-testing of his beer of the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp3yVOm6A55nx65STpm3tXQ
Experienced beer drinker here (understatement alert). While at age 57 I enjoy the beer as much as I did, I find the after-effects of over-indulgence are greater than they used to be, not sure if it’s the beer or the staying-up late enough to drink that much of it, but that’s how it is.
For a long time I was a dedicated Guinness drinker, and I actually knew of a couple places that (a) served it the proper temperature, i.e. not ice cold and (b) had bartenders who knew how to pour it without half the glass being foam. Never had it Over There, and I’m told if one does one will never touch the stuff in the US again, but there it is. I also knew a place back in the day that served Bass and John Courage (the first “good” beer I drank in quantity), although after three or four pints Bass sours my stomach. I don’t know if you like German beers, but Spaten is good as is Krombacher Dark (my go-to at the local German Beirhaus), there are others but I can’t recall them right now. Some craft brewers and brew pubs have made wonderful stouts and porters, but those are best sampled locally since they often don’t travel well. I know it’s not helpful to you, but Wallenpaupack Brewing Company (a few miles from me) and Cape May Brewing Company (south NJ, where wife and I used to go about once a year) both make wonderful stouts. The BJs Brewpub chain also has an excellent Oatmeal Stout, don’t know if there’s any near you.
I’ve had Boddington’s on draft on cruise ships a couple times and liked it. I gave it a second chance after a first experience with it at a bar in Manhattan where I suspect it had skunked, it tasted like cow crap.
Nowadays it’s mostly Yuengling lager, sometimes I treat myself to some Arrogant Bastard or Sam Adams seasonal. I like a decent IPA, although most craft brewers have gone the route that if a IPA is good, MORE IPA taste is better and it ends up tasting like Pine Sol.
If you’re ever in Northeastern PA let me know, I’ll hook you up. We’ll go to the local German restaurant if that suits you, wife doesn’t drink so we’ll get home safe….. Failing that I’ll make pulled pork at home and I’ll get a supply of whatever I can from the local distributor.
Funny pub story: I used to commute thru Hoboken, NJ, and I’d often stop on the way home for a couple (or more) pints. For those who don’t know, Hoboken is one square mile, and there are probably more bars in the square mile than anyplace except possibly Vegas. I knew of at least a dozen bars within an easy walk from the train station. My usual place (where happy hour price was $3 for a pint of Guinness) was about three blocks away, and one day it was raining so I decided to try a new place right across from the station. So I ask the bartender what the happy hour specials are, he tells me all drafts are half-price, so I order a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. He brings it and says “That’ll be $6.50”, I assumed he forgot it was happy hour so I said “I thought you said it was half-price” and he replied “That is half-price, this is Hoboken you know” I replied “That’s my point, this is Hoboken, where two blocks from here I can get a good beer for $3 or a Coors Light for $2, it’s not mid-town Manhattan”. I had one beer and left. Last time I paid $13 for a pint of beer there was a naked woman dancing behind the bar.
After a nasty bout of throat cancer, I don’t taste things like I used to. That said, I like a beer, can taste it, and it actually makes my throat feel better. But with my destroyed mouth, bubbles are a no-go. So I was thinking of Modelo Negro from your posts, but now? Nah.. I can’t stand, literally, any of the retail beers like Bud, Coors, Miller or any of their bastard children. Too many bubbles.
When Bud Light first came out, I lived in the DC area. I was at a game at Camden yards and got a bud lite. I looked at it, looked at the wife, looked back at it, and said ‘my beer is fizzing’. It looked like fizzy piss.
My favorite is Guinness. While It’s not the same as the draft (and I have had it in the old country), it’s a reasonable facsimile. That’s my hang out beer. If I want to get my buzz on Angry Bastard is the ticket.
Shiner Black (and bock) isn’t bad either.
I’m not going out of my way to a bar for a beer of any kind, unless I happen to be meeting someone. After a decade and a half of travel, I’m done hanging in bars.
Well there’s a place a few block from where I used to live that currently has Boddington’s, Fuller’s , Guiness, and Old Speckled Hen on tap. Served cooler than on their native turf but not cold by any means.
Local beers are Drake’s, Lagunitas, and Fieldwork IPAs, Boont Amber Ale, and Trumer Pils.
Not long after they first opened I went in and ordered a Fullers only to have the proprietor come back and apologize because they had tapped the keg a few hours before, it hadn’t settled down yet, and he wouldn’t feel right about serving it.
But it’s in California.
Experienced beer drinker here. I haven’t lost my taste for beer, but I find that I am less tolerant of breweries taking a crappy beer, shoving hops into it and calling it an IPA. It seems that every other beer is an overly-hopped undrinkable IPA. But I’ve found plenty of beers from whatever location I’m in that I can still enjoy.
That being said, I drink more scotch or bourbon these days, simply because beer has a flaming shit-ton of calories in it, and I can’t afford to get fat, and I can get a buzz off of one-quarter the calories if I stick to the hard stuff.
Every other beer? Here in Hipsterville Los Angeles, it looks like three out of four beers are IPA.
They’re undrinkable to me. Pine Sol has a different aroma. IPA might as well be “I P**d Again.
I, too, have lost my beer habit. I traditionally stopped on my travels and tasted every local beer. Then I started to home brew my own ale–bad mistake. My taste for malt disappeared. I tried switching to wheat beers and other lighter, less malty beers. Nope. So I quit. I tried the new hard seltzers, they do fine for those hot summer days. (Crap I guess I am getting old.) My hard liquor budget sure went through the roof this year. So there are some compensations.
Never been able to wrap my head around the Brit proclivity for warm beer. Few things are more unappealing to me.
It all depends on where you live. East Coast or down south, warm heavy beer is like syrup. Pacific Northwest (which has a climate relatively like Germany), warm heavy beer is just fine.
Having grown up in the PNW (& had plenty of beer there), we’ll have to agree to disagree.
“Warm” doesn’t mean “lukewarm”; it means “shelf temperature (in a cool climate, or basement / cold room)”.
Yeah. My Bavarian and Austrian cousins keep the local beers in the unheated portion of their cellars, a part of the house too many places in America decided we should do without.
I wonder if the difference between the local version of beer in Europe and the export version is the temperature at which you should serve it. Certainly American “macrobrewed” beers taste terrible above about 40 – 45 degrees.
“It all depends on where you live.”
No, it just depends on what your own *personal* taste happens to be.
The first time I sampled an English ale was not in England, it was in Norfolk Virginia. How did that happen, you ask. Well, this was in the seventies and it just so happened that the Brit carrier HMS Ark Royal had pulled into port in Norfolk along with several of her entourage vessels. I met several of her majesty’s sailors from HMS Geraint on the base and invited them to dinner. They reciprocated by inviting me aboard their ship to play darts and sample the brews in their onboard pub. I can’t remember what the brews were named, but I liked them all. I had a good time and was sad to see them go.
The Brits have learned to drink warm beer because of refrigeration by Lucas.
I have avoided American beers for 40 years. Sam Adams is the only exception. Being a northerner, I have access to Canadian beers, so Labatts has been my go to beer for a long time. Often it’s cheaper than Bud. Molson Golden is at the top of my list for Canadian beer. Personally, I’d rather have a few good beers than a 12 pack of watered down American beer. YMMV
I lived in Montreal for a year in the ’70s. Molson used to sponsor a nicely appointed bus for blood drives. It would go to various corporate, urban, and college locations, park, and you got on and gave a pint. You got a pint, too. Fluid replacement, you know.
Being a pint low really increases the buzz.
I had some serious health problems about a year ago and almost didn’t make it out of the recovery room. I had to climb on the abstinence wagon for about a year while I was taking diuretics, blood thinners, and a handful of blood pressure pills. My blood pressure is back to the high side of normal and I’m off the diuretics and thinners. My doc said that I could enjoy an occasional drink so I picked up some Shiner Bock on the way home and found that it just didn’t taste good. I’ve been a beer drinker since I was about 16 – I started on Rolling Rock out behind Goody’s Hamburgers (anybody remember those?) back in the 60s. Anyway like a lot of the guys here, right now I’d have to be held at gun point to finish an American style lager. Even the darker beers that I used to enjoy just don’t go well. So I’ll have a glass of wine with dinner if we go out to eat and I’ve had maybe a half dozen shots of good bourbon since my surgery last year. Lots cheaper that way.
Used to love beer, but it does not love me back (been low to no carb for two years for health reasons). Beer bloats the hell out of me, and causes inflammation in my joints. Bah.
I agree totally about the craft beer industry: their idea of a good beer is “How much hops can we possibly shove into a single bottle” with a few notable exceptions (The Scottish Ale from Carlyle brewery here in Rockford, Il is lovely. Unlike everything else to do with Rockford and, by extension, anything in the poxy fucking state of Illinois in general).
As of late, my go to bottle of brown liquor has been a blended whisky from Kim’s neck of the woods: TX Blended from Firestone and Robertson distillery in Ft. Worth. I keep finding myself pouring a dram or nine from that bottle over my far pricier bottles of Glenmorangie, McCallan, Lagavulin, and Laphroaig. (Sells for about 40 a bottle, and I’ve found it as low as 33).
Good neat, but great with a rock or two to open up the vanilla and pear.
Mid 40s. For my credentials, at the local (East Dallas) pub for lunch last week, I said, “it’s too early to drink, I’ll just have Guinness.”
My tastes in beer have been changing. I’m not inclined to drink less of it (except when I have a physical coming up, which is in a couple of weeks) but I’m drinking it differently. I’m going less and less for the super hoppy bitter beer I went for all the time, and I’m going for more and more yellow beer. I’m really enjoying the cleaner German beers I can get on tap, and I absolutely hate the sour beers that are currently polluting the craft beer scene (to the point that now they don’t even point out that the shit is fucking sour in the descriptions sometimes.)
You may have a ray of hope. Community Brewing (local, they are off Industrial here in Dallas) have a seasonal ale called (amazingly) Public Ale. You might be able to find a tall boy in your local grocery, but you might have to find a pub or pay $11 for a sixer to try it.
https://communitybeer.com/beers/public-ale/
My old Dad always used to say: “Never drink on an empty stomach. Always have a couple beers first.”
And he was right.
I’m probably the biggest beer drinker I know. That said, I’m not very discriminatory. I do like to drink local when I’m traveling, but I can usually find something I like wherever I go, even amongst beers I’ve never sampled before.
I think that is a function of the quantity that I drink. If I only drank a few beers in an evening, I’d probably be looking for the best beers I can find. But I drink so much that I’m not afraid of getting a bad one because there’s another one soon to follow.
I also try not to drink what I call “Froo Froo” beer that costs $9-12 each. No thanks. At the volumes I imbibe, it very quickly becomes unaffordable. In those situations I might sample one, but then switch to a more “staple” beer that I can consume the rest of the evening without breaking the bank.
I have weird taste-buds.
One roommate was a creative bartender, and she could make any booze taste great.
Unfortunately for me, a tiny sip and I handed it back to her with an appreciation… but I could taste the alcohol, and that is unpleasant to me.
Fast forward a decade.
A chum mentioned she wanted to taste Glenfiddich whisky.
Yesterday, after leaving HarborFreight, I went next door to the liquor store.
(In Oregon, booze goes to a warehouse operated by the government agents, then it is parceled to stores. This’s not my idea of efficiency…)
Behind the register was a display of about four dozen air-porters, the midget samplers for popular spirits.
I acquired a Jameson and a GlenFiddich.
Glenfiddich neat for a tiny sip, then with a few drops of water — OK.
Ten minutes later…
Jameson neat for a sip, then with a few drops of water — flat.
This afternoon, we will experiment in the reverse order.
I will let you know the results.
*****
For ten years, I owned a restaurant business in Chico, California, an agricultural university town.
I sold in 1989, just as Sierra Nevada brewery was getting going.
Some of my cow-orkers couldn’t stand the new owner of my old business [During his orientation, he shouted that line from the Cool Hand Luke movie-script “I can be the easiest boss, or I can be the hardest boss. You choose!”. Psychopath douche-bag.], so they moved over to the new brew-pub.
About that time, my bud opened SudWerk in another university town, Davies, California.
He immediately saw the need to expand, so I stopped by to see his operation.
He poured me four half-glasses of his pride-n-joy.
I took a tiny sip from each, wished him well, and spent the next week with gut cramps and the fizzy-toots.
I generally stick to water.
*****
We operate a small organic teaching farm near the outskirts of Eugene Oregon.
Eugene has Cider Works brew-pub.
Although it is available only a few weeks a year, I enjoy their cider made from nettles (the stinging weeds).
I will be 69 in a few weeks.
These days, besides water, I have some kombucha a couple-three times a month.
*****
A billboard at the Arroyo restaurant in Austin, Texas offered this sentiment:
* One minute, you are young and wild. The next, you are into air-fryers.
My tastes in beers have moved to the heavier, more chewable brews. I really like double bocks and Scottish ales, so the current trend for way over-hopped IPAs makes the selection at the local stores fairly limited for me. I do still have one bottle left of a four-pack of Thomas Hardy’s ale that I bought over 25 years ago. I drank the third bottle about ten years ago and it was really good, so I hope the same will be true when I finally finish off the last one.
There is a seasonal beer in Mexico, “Noche Buena”, that is pretty good. Apparently it started out as the beer the German brewers who moved to Mexico would make for themselves at Christmas time, so it’s a German lager made in the old style.
My only experience with English ales is from the bottle or can. I’ve enjoyed them, and would like some day to try them in England. I did find a brewpub in Boston about thirty years ago that had a really good stout. Good enough that I ran into a couple of UK folks in town for a bell-ringing contest (or maybe concert) who were drinking it with approval. As one of them said, “This is mother’s milk to me.”
Sam Adams used to make a “Scotch Ale” which was my staple for many years, but I think they’ve stopped brewing it; or if they haven’t, we don’t get it here in Cuidad Tejas. Too bad.
I had the same experience with Modelo Negra a couple years ago. When having dinner with visitors at a local restaurant, I had a pint of Modelo Negra which was starchy/pasty, had low bitterness and was (this is my worst epithet) totally “uninteresting.” I followed it with a pint of locally brewed amber ale that was clean and crisp on the tongue and aromatic with a nice bitterness. Same look, totally different taste.
Like you’ve noticed, it’s hard to get English bitters/pale ales as well as the German Pilseners that I favor. By the time the imports reach my home state of New Mexico, they’re completely out of date and yucky. In addition, the state liquor laws and taxes discourage the distributors from bringing in items that have limited appeal.
Back in the 90’s, I was into beer and brewed my own. Then kids came along, and that hobby got shelved until being resurrected this year. In the meantime, I drank more wine and developed an appreciation for bourbon and Scotch. Now I’m back into home brewing. Yes, the brewpubs and microbreweries make excellent stuff, but as others have noted, there’s a lot of weird beers, very strong or super bitter beers, artsy fruit/spice/sour fermented/Brettanomyces fermented beers, and so forth. It looks like these breweries are catering to neophiles. So… long story short, I’ll just brew my own Bitters and Pilseners from now on, thank you very much. I just wish I could lay my hands on a bottle of Wadworth 6X for comparison purposes.
Up until about a decade ago, one could easily buy a six-pack of Newcastle Ale, or order the same from the bar at an Outback Steakhouse.
16oz. bottles, a true pint, from actually, Newcastle, England.
Then, something changed. The bottles became 12 ouncers. And a careful reading of the label revealed, that the “Newcastle Ale” was now a Molson product, out of Canada.
The taste remained “close, but not quite”. It’s adequate as an alternative to mainline U.S. brewed pisswater with a steak, but it’s NOT the Real Thing.
They did it also with the superb Sapporo Lager out of Japan. Again. Molson’s. Canada. Don’t EVEN bother, they didn’t come anywhere near the “close but not quite” mark, there.
Being in Texas, you should be able to find a good spread of various Czech brews in the locker at Spec’s Finer Foods and Spirits. You think the Czech bakeries are good, well, so are the beers.
That’s a good measure, by the way. I’ve never found Mexican baked goods or pastries to be very much more than “dough, cooked”. And most of their beers are of a similar, unremarkable category. Negra Modelo IS good, but not great.
Find a country with a beautiful bakery culture, and the odds are their beers will also excel.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Yeah, I noticed when they ruined Sapporo. It used to be my go to when eating at a hibachi joint. Bah.
Sadly, I’ve gone teatotal. I have the genetic predisposition to gout, and I found alcohol one of the easier things to give up.
*shrug*
I can’t honestly say my tastes were all that refined anyway.
Kim, you need a new hobby. Find a mate who home brews and start making your version of London Pride or whatever.
When I were a yewt, our across the street neighbor made his own beer. Which we knew nothing about until we heard a loud bang from the residence. Whatever he’d done wrong resulted in an ominous sounding explosion. Resulting in my dad venturing onto the property with his .357 joined by our next door neighbor & his 12 gauge & mom keeping an eagle eye from the deck with her .38.
My Grandfather used to make his own beer in the twenties and thirties, using malt extract syrup, something for hops, unless it came in the malt syrup can, and (I suspect) bread yeast. He did not have a hygrometer, or beer bottles, so whenever he decided it was time, he poured it from the crock to the pickle jars, and it was by guess and by golly. My mother said that they could be upstairs in bed at night and hear the pickle jars popping off, sometimes one after another, and her father cursing in German each time another jar burst.
I liked Kirin Beer in Japan – understatement of the century, I could buy a car with what I spent on it over my time there – and loved it. This is the pre Kirin Ichiban/Ice/other gimmick days and it was my favorite beer. Anyway, my brother in law bought a case (the 500 ml bottles, not the little ones) last time we were over there and it tasted just as good as I remembered it to be.
I had a can that said it was Kirin Beer on the plane on the way home, and it didn’t taste remotely like the same stuff. At best, it was a watered down version of the real thing. I had just had enough to remember the taste well. All this was before they even started the “brewed in Canada under close supervision” forgery. Maybe they keep the good stuff for domestic consumption.
Planes can often change things up with carbonated beverages; something about C02 releasing more easily in the lower air pressure of the cabin. I was told by a stewardess I once dated that diet coke is the worst offender, but that it holds true for anything bubbly.
Funny you should mention that, Kim. I am 63, and find the same thing happening. I can get Fuller’s loony on tap but also need to watch the driving. I often open a beer and leave it in the fridge to “de-carbonate”. I also have found myself gravitating to higher alcohol beers like high end malt liquor. I make my own beer which is preferable, and can control the taste, alcohol content and carbonation. This may be the way for us old pharghts. But there is always gin!
Kim,
I’m in the process of swearing off beer. I’m switching to Malört. Be a sport … drink Malört !!!
(/runs for cover !!)
I grew up drinking Budweiser as a teenager, then ended up in Berlin, courtesy of Uncle Sam, just a couple of years after the Wall came down. The German beer was incredible. I drank it like it was the nectar of the gods. I also discovered Czech beer, including the original Budweiser from Budvar, Czech Republic. On my return flight home to the States, I ordered a beer with my lunch. It was an American Budweiser, not the Czech original. I literally gagged. Destroyed my taste for cheap American beer.
I’m within an hour of Boulder, CO. Can I get Wadworth 6X there?
I used to try the craft beer at breweries in the area and even traveling to neighboring states to try different offerings at craft breweries.
Several years ago I moved to bourbon. I think I have had may be 12 beers in the last year. I prefer a good bourbon now. I’ve tried Irish whiskeys and scotches but I prefer bourbon. I find that scotch typically is distilled to a proof that is too high. I do like Islay scotches from time to time though.
Top Bourbons for me include 1792, EH Taylor, Eagle Rare, Rare Breed, Kentucky Spirit, George T Stagg, mostly the higher proof, non chill filtered offerings.
JQ