Respect for Beer

As a promoter of Beer I always try to encourage others to increase their respect for Beer. (Yes, I am a frequently a bore at parties when this topic comes up.) What does that entail you ask? Well it is hard to articulate precisely, but, a now deceased Supreme Court Justice once remarked on another topic: “I know it when I see it.” I can however give you some examples of disrespect that range from the mundane to the insane. You can connect the dots from there.

Example One - Drinking beer from the can or bottle. This is not a snobbery issue it is a genuine issue of proper treatment. Beer benefits from proper serving. Just as wines and spirits are best enjoyed from a proper glass, at an appropriate temperature and paired with the proper foods. Drinking a beer from a glass allows you to enjoy its color, clarity, head formation, aroma and liberates you from any hint of metallic taste imparted by touching the can as you sip from it.

Cans v. Bottles – Can beer tastes different. Beer from cans and beer from bottles are no different. They are the same recipe and given today’s advances in coating technology no aluminum taste is transferred to the beer. Even though cans chill faster, do not break, are lighter in weight, protect their contents from damaging light exposure, use fewer natural resources, recycle easier and take up less space in the cooler they are still less popular with the average beer drinker. Why is that? Long-standing myths that can beers taste metallic. Don’t trust me? Try a blind taste test. Buy a beer you know that comes in both cans and bottles, make sure they are close in freshness dates and invite your friends over. Pour side by side samples into two beer clean glasses for each guest and let me know what the consensus is. E-mail me at beerman@ahherald.com. Next time I see you on Sandy Hook you had better be toting cans and a polycarbonate tumbler or there is no beer for you today!

Boilermakers, Depth Charges – and similar mixed media efforts at intoxication. This weekend I was treated to the visual spectacle of a drink called an “Irish Car Bomb.” I did not drink one I assure you. Political annoyances aside, this struck me as alcohol abuse pure and simple. Curious? You take a pint of a fine Dry Stout like Guinness and a shot glass containing a shot of that respectable Irish Whisky, Bushmill’s and a splash of the famously overpriced Bailey’s Irish Cream. You drop the Bailey’s/Bushmill’s shot into the Guinness then chug this concoction for presumably explosive effect. Drinks such as this clearly demonstrate that with alcohol, as with food, a recipe does not always equal the sum of its parts. Guinness, Bailey’s and Bushmill’s on their own can be sipped, savored and enjoyed. Mixing them and the chugging them will get you drunk quickly, but any enjoyment you derive from this experience will be fleeting, though the ensuing hangover and the chance to drive the porcelain bus may last some time.

Beer Bongs – Shot-Gunning Beers. These are one and the same; the goal is to get the most beer into your stomach as quickly as possible. No taste, no smell, no savoring, just - whoosh and “get me another dude that was awesome.” How anyone could consider this respectful of beer or even enjoyable evades me. I consider this a recipe for disaster. There was a lad in Australia that took this a step further and linked a reservoir and tube to a power drill to automate the process. He punctured his esophagus and made headlines. Enough said.