for those who are in or around sane

Thursday, June 16

Mmmmm.... Beeeeeeer

so, i'm on par here with my good pal Lo's blog (please use the link on the side bar). i'm contemplating beer. well, it started off with all alcohol, but when you talk about hard liquor, there's only a few good brand names, and quite a few concoctions within that realm. its like discussing bragging rights - what gets you drunker, what have you thrown up blah blah blah. and with wine, you get what you pay for. i'm usually a thrifty buyer, but damn, i do love me a terribly expensive Pinot Noir. Wine's for a more sophisticated blog.

so we have beer. i remember the exact day i started to like beer. i came into it late in the game, mind you. i was at a Green Day show at the Roy Wilkin's theater. i think i was 20. So my older friend runs up to me and thrusts his big ol' Miller Lite into my hands and jumps out into the pit. i know he'll be out there for quite a while. and i know that he totally wont remember how much beer was in the plastic cup to begin with. so i have a sip. i've sipped beer before. i've tried my darndest to like it, or at least stomach it, to no avail. but on this glorious day, lo and behold, i enjoyed the cool, golden, malty goodness. the rest is history.

my weakness is an amber ale, like Murphy's. it's got the smoothness of a dark beer, the crispness of a light beer and a wonderful aftertaste all it's own. i also like Anchor Steam, but it's got more of a bite to it.

i also love a hafeweisen (spelling??) like Paulaner. there is something satisfying about going to the Gasthaus (or Gastof's) and having a 32oz halfe while doing the polka with a guy my grandpa's age! and then the morning after you "hafe" bit of a headache and a bruise in between your thumb and first finger from the damn heavy stein. Summit claims they make a good hafe, but i do not agree. i really only like it out of a keg.

i dont usually purchase IPA's b/c they get skunked easily. and i think Heinekin is icky, but will drink it in a pinch. Leinie's is a wonderful addition to the midwest. and, i will forever mourn the loss of the old recipe of Grain Belt Premium. What do my readers prefer? What have you tried from other places in the world?

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Seattle has this little pub called "The Stumbling Monk" where they serve all Belgian-style ales. It's aptly named; several of the beers have an alcohol content around 9 or 10 percent.
LP

7:24 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

my roommate and I brewed our own hefeweizen (that's how it's spelled incidentally) in college. It turned out extremely well, too.

Ever since i toured the Heinekin factory in Amsterdam, where I got smashed for two bucks, I have a soft place in my heaart (liver?) for them. Still, I have to say, when the mood is right I do enjoy a nice guiness.

Like my women, I like my beer stout and bitter.

7:14 AM

 
Blogger Becky P. said...

Summit Extra Pale Ale tastes like pennies and is my least favorite beer EVER. Most darker beers are simply too much for me.

I don't mind skunky beer at all; actually, I rather like it. Heineken is among my favorites.

All-time winner is Leinie's Honeyweiss (no lemon).

7:26 AM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ok so I admit I don't normally read your blog but then again you weren't actually writing in it so I feel a little justified.. anyways what I find interesting about this entry is that of all things that you remember from that Green day concert its the beer.

I guess its intersting how we all remember events differently. For example the past event in discussion seems to have gone a little differently for me..
Me for example being I believe at the same concert however not being the aforementioned friend remember absolutly nothing about beer.. I do remember lossing my glasses in the pit and not being able to find my way out because I couldn't see at all.. Then not being able to find anyone because in case you all didn't know its hard to find people when you can not see anything. The lession I learned what not about beer, but rather that if your only 5 feet tall you probably shouldn't be in a pit with glasses on.

Maybe though you went to a different green day concert at the roy wilkens when you were 20 but that is how I remember the event.

I do enjoy a good beer though the darker the better for me, well at least until morning as I will no doubt wake up with one hell of a headache no matter how little I drink..

4:36 PM

 
Blogger dr gonzo said...

ok, yes it was the same show. this entry is not about how tragic it is to love punk music and be only 5 feet tall. this entry is about beer. beer. not brandi. altho, they have some of the same letters in them... ;o)

to do this all justice:

so i was at a show with my good friend, Brandi, who is blind as a bat and only 5 feet tall. the band played some kick ass music, and brandi, being the little dancing miget she is, threw her beer cup at me and proceeded to kick some arse in the pit. you know, elbows flying, croud surfing etc etc. after the show is over, and people are dispersing, i'm getting a bit worried cuz she hasnt come back yet. (mind you, i'm a bit intoxicated at this point - please refer to the actual POST). i start looking around for her, and i find her wandering around, crouched like a monkey, looking for something on the floor. it takes me a few minutes to regain her trust, as she cannot clearly identify me (and, there was beer on my breath, a new smell for all my friends to get used to). but, after a bit she calms down and we search the entire pit area for her glasses. if i remember correctly, we actually found about 3 pairs of glasses and various other goods. and yes, we found her pair too. happy ending for all! (even though my buzz wore off by this point...)

so, i hope we're satisfied. cuz i sure am. :o)

5:16 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hahaha, ahhhh shows what we all remember. I don't think that I knew that was the first time Dr Gonzo tried beer - but I do remember Brandi's glasses. Good times.

Coindicently (it's monday and I can't spell) my current guy friend loves hefeweizen, actually that's about all he drinks. I, on the other hand, don't enjoy beer all that much.

Has anybody introduced rhett to bran? Because while she isn't stout she is, as mentioned before, short. And she can lay the smack down. And occasionally she can be bitter about things and beat someone's ass. You know it's true bran.... too bad you are dating someone else and rhett is in NY... ;-)

10lees

1:09 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

To bring the conversation back to beer, I would like to reccommend Blue Moon with an orange wedge. Also good is a belgium beer that I can't remember or spell. Goose Island Hex Nut Brown Ale is also good. I also liked Lienie's (?) Bigg Butt from this winter's OC mini-tour. Mostly, I like any kind of Mai Bock as well.

Lo

7:43 AM

 

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