Most manufactured American beers are better used poured back into the horse they came out of. Small–and a few mid-sized–American brewers often make some very, very good beers. Boulevard Brewing, Sam Adams and others make some beers that are oh so very drinkable. But, cruising through my fav package store the other day, I saw a “craft beer” collection offered by Michelob and thought to give it a try. After all, Michelob makes one of the less bad manufactured American beers, so giving it a fair drinking on its proferred “craft beer” selection seemed a fair thing to do.
So far, the stout is… almost. On the lower end of drinkable, but still drinkable. The lager in the collection? Not as good as Grolsch or others, but not poured straight out of a horse, either. The pale ale offering? Not bad at all. Nice and hopsy, drinkable. Not anywhere near good enough to make the top 25 drinkable beers I have tried, but again, not poured straight from the horse.
I doubt I’ll try any of these again, but the money wasn’t totally wasted, either. I got some nice bottles to save for bottling the “hobo wine” I have started in my lil “kitty litter” fermenter. 🙂 Oh, yes, that does mean that if I’m not using some of my collection of Grolsch swingtops I’ll have to buy a bottle capper. Oh, dear? Another brewing tool? How awful! *heh*
It used to be that I couldn’t stand to drink beer. That was before I discovered that the reason for it was that most American beer and even imported beer marketed for American tastes was so pathetically bad compared to “real” beer.
Sam Adams is good. So are some of the smaller brewery’s offerings. I like a good Shakespeare Stout from the Rogue Ales Brewery. A little chewy and a nice flavor.
Sort of like your blog!
“A little chewy and a nice flavor.
Sort of like your blog!”
That’s either a fair compliment or damning with faint praise, and the Voices in My Head are having quite a discussion about that, right now…
😉
BTW, I too found beer distasteful until the evening back in 1979 when I tasted some Dutch craft beer at a restaurant that themed itself as “The Monestary” (cos it was housed in a building that once had been one). Nice beer. Got me wondering about the crappy stuff I’d tried in the past and…
It’s meant as a compliment David. Yours is one of the few blogs that I always come back to because you have interesting insights and seem to really think about what you have to say.
Hell Fire & Damnation: Davido, did you actually writ that above?
I understand ya gotta make the best ya can on that side of “Big Muddy” BUT. . . . . . .
What ever happened with you & good ol’ sour mash sippin’ whiskey???
[Ain’t talking ’bout no “Indian Likker” — with tobacco & who knows what else is in it.]
I’m talking ’bout *GOOD* shine. Kinda think it was George Jones who made it popular again with his “White Litenin” song.
Davido, I have a cousin up in the woods who still has access to *—* . I’d rather go visit him than visit some of the MICRO brewers.
Hugh,
Nothing against hard liquor, it’s just not often to my taste. I don’t much like wine, either. Making some “hobo wine” right now for fun, and I’m going to start some hard apple cider fermenting in a bit, but of alcoholic beverages, beer is king, IMO. Well, and it’s generally balanced just about right. one ounce of “hard likker” or six ounces of most wines has about to net alcohol content of one 12-oz. beer (varies, of course). And one to two beers are both enjoyable and about optimum in healthful impact for me–including being juuuuust about the right alcohol content per day for stimulating brain cell growth (who cares if they’re alcoholic brain cells? :-)), not to speak of just about right on hopsy benefits, etc.
Distilled liquors have taste and “drunkability” going for them. I can do without both (tried getting drunk once. Didn’t enjoy being stupid and uncoordinated. If I want a lobotomy, I’ll just stick a needle in my frontal lobe, thankyouverymuch ;-)).
David,
I don’t know how long we want to carry this. I enjoy the reportee (sp?).
I’ve never seen you, nor have you ever seen me — to my knowledge. Still me thinks we be kindred spirits!
In the last year I’ve lost 85-90 # on my way to less than 200#. When I see some of the folks here in the UpState who knew me at 280-290# & they ask me how I did it. My response is (if I know them to be baptist, especially SBC), it’s my “water & vodka” diet! 😉
The “real” story will come later, if interested!
Having looked again, I kinda think there was supposed to be an “a” rather than an “o” — correct?
“A”? Exactamundo, Hugh. 😉
Yeh, when I lost about 45# a few years ago, folks were a bit weirded out by it.