So Many Choices ...

There was a time when there were not many convenient choices when it came to beer. There was the Anheuser Busch family of adjunct lagers... Bud, Busch, Micelob... There was Miller, The Champagne of Beers, an adjunct lager in a snazzy clear bottle, Schmidt's, Schlitz, Pabst, Piels and Colt 45(Remember the Shark advert and that catchy whistled theme?)... Yup, more adjunct lagers. Then came light beer, woo hoo another adjunct lager, albeit a light one, and there was even generic beer in a black and white can ... yes a generic adjunct lager (best enjoyed with generic high or low tar smokes, which no doubt gave you generic ailments.) There was also Billy Beer ... remember that one? Can Y'all say "presidential adjunct? Oh and and there was Miller's version of Lowenbrau an adjunct lager in a green bottle for the big shots (Yet another catchy theme). There was also Meisterbrau and Carling's Black Label if you were on a budget and needed a really cheap adjunct lager. Then there were the Canadian adjunct lagers - Labatts, Molson and Moosehead. The pickings were indeed slim, unless you liked adjunct lagers in which case you were in cereal grain heaven. For those special times when Champale wouldn't do, there were also some imported lagers, the usual suspects: Becks, Heineken and Fosters. There was a lone hold-out that brewed the only widely available domestic "Ale" that I can recall - Ballantine. Some fortunate folks had access to local or regional beers like Henry Weinhard's, Rolling Rock, Yuengling or the holy grail of Adjuncts ... Rocky Mountain Brewed Coors. (Tales of trunk loads of this "rare" brew being smuggled from Colorado to the forbidden territory East of the Mississipi used to be commonplace). Alas, not all was rice and corn in the United States, some local brewers had an all-malt product or had an ale in their line-up but they were relatively unknown and of limited availability.

Somewhere along the way there was a change. Brewpubs became popular, craft brewing pioneers like Fritz Maytag and (Anchor Brewing), Bert Grant and Yakima Brewing and Jim Koch and Sam Adam's/ Boston Beer Company started brewing products that appealed to peoples palates as opposed to their wallets. The tide was turning and the quality starved, advertizing driven beer market was in for a change. Fast forward 15 years and now the choices abound, perhaps the "beer tide" is in flood mode. Today when you go to a well-stocked store you may have sensory overload. To compensate for the number of products available craft brewers have employed an abundance bright colors, flashy packaging, cheeky and clever names to lure the beer buyer to load up their cart...with their product!

You have the "gonzo artwork" of Steadman selling Flying Dog's Brews...You have beers impishly named "Bad Elf", a "Seriously Bad Elf" and for the really ill mannered "Extremely Bad Elf"... For the naughty we have "Lump of Coal Christmas Stout" for the feeble minded we have "Blithering Idiot" there is "Old Horizontal" for that nightcap and there is "Arrogant Bastard" a brew that was no doubt named for some of my fellow commuters...Decisions, Decisions Decisions...In the Seventies an ad campaign for peanut butter asked the question "What's a mother to choose?" and answered it with "choosy mothers choose _ _ _ !" Well that was easy it was peanut butter but with so many different choices what beer should I try next? Sadly, many resort to buying what they already know is drinkable, if unexciting, lest they have to suffer through a sixer of a funky brew they do not like.

For those of you that are willing to take a chance the rewards are there. What should you buy? Well that depends on what you like. (short answer, long answer follows) When you buy wine or spirts you are seeking a certain flavor profile. So too with beer. As we move into 2006 resolve to buy beer not by the packaging or the advertizing but by the style and the taste. Learn about the various beer styles and read some product reviews. You can find good info on the web. For starters look at BeerAdvocate.Com and read what others have said about a beer. Read the section about the different beer styles and how to taste beer. A fat Cabernet is not the same as a spicy Syriah? Likewise a Crisp Pilsner is not at all like a Hoppy Pale Ale. Learn the styles, learn how to taste and experiment until you find your preferences. Pick beers that suit your mood...sippers, refreshers or for food pairing. Keep a variety of styles on hand to suit your mood. Lastly, do not be afraid to try a new beer every once and a while.