Monday, February 9, 2009

But I don't even like beer ...

.... and you don't have to. Like a few other things in life (asparagus, horseradish, sauerkraut) beer is an acquired taste. Unless you had a friend or family member who liked to drink different styles of beer your first beer was probably an "American Style Lager" - Coors, Budweiser, Miller and all of their light beer variations (just to name a few) - the most common type of beer to be found in fridges throughout America. The nature of this type of beer is to have a simple or mild taste, especially the light beer variations. When consumed at a cold temperature, as suggested by the manufacturers, the resulting reaction to your first drink of beer might have been "this tastes like watered down ... urine". At least that's the reaction I had. As well as a number of my friends.

For many people, unfortunately, the first beer they drank also happened to be one of the beers with the least amount of flavor. Think about it, what if the first time you went to a football game you could only see half of the field? What if your first birthday cake had no frosting? What if your first video game control was missing some buttons? You would probably vow to never watch a football game again, insist on eating vegetables on your birthday instead of a cake and trade in your XBox for a violin .... or something like that .... you would have given up all of these great things because your first experience with them was limited.

There is nothing wrong with American Style Lagers, the simple taste they offer is the aim of their beer and they do it well. But if your first experience with beer was limited to these American Style Lagers, and you didn't like it, keep in mind that there are many other styles of beer out there, all offering unique experiences. So the next time you're out with some friends and feel adventurous, try a different beer. Try something with a fun name or a weird name. Or try something with a cool looking tap handle. Try a bock. Try a stout. Try an amber ale. But not in one night of course. If you try a handful of beers and decide that the last one you had was just as bad as the first one, then you've given it a fair shot. More than likely though, you will find at least one beer that will make you glad you tried a something different.

7 comments:

Geoff (jefepwnzer) said...

asada

Steph said...

testin 1 2 3

Joe Wood said...

Geoff, really like the pop up window. It has a good feel to it if you ask me! I like the atmosphere of your blog. The colors are nice and your set background is great and works fantastically. Your headlines are catchy and i think it is a good topic which can have a lot of information about. I like your comparisons in the "but i don't even like beer blog". It is a long post but is an easy read. English beer is extremely different to American beer. I had never heard of "light beer" before i came to the states but i think it's ok. im looking forward to finding more things out!

Le Samourai said...

I like the stab at American style lagers, but what about Fat Tire or UFO beer?

for the love of frank said...

wow buddie, me likey!
i love beer. and i love your layout! the neon is grrrreat! i'm so excited just to be here! can you tell by all my exclamation points?! seriously, you've chosen a fantastic subject that i think is going to be a magnificent learning experience for your audience--and probably for you too. plus, what great research!

you know, kelly's brew pub is a great place to feature on your blog and i'm sure you could get some pertinent info or even an interview with the brewers or the owners. in fact, i work there and could easily arrange it for you. their beer is mmm-mmm good too. especially the scottish, brown, oatmeal, black bitter, ipa, etc... :)

i'm really impressed with your beginnings here. keep up the good work. you've got a great voice for the subject.

for the love of frank said...

and by the way,
the pop up window, i think, is marvelous. i'd like to do that with mine. i wonder, too, if you can add any embellishments to it... a picture or something. the pop up window that is.

Jeff said...

Sometimes it takes a while to find the right tasting beer. I know that the first few times that I drank beer, I didn't like it at all. Sometimes people think they all taste the same at first too but after a while you realize that some definitely taste better than others!