28 years old. It was a little late, by anyone’s standard, to be partaking in the sacred first beer ritual. But for better or worse, it is where I found myself a few years ago, staring down the gauntlet of a planned trip to Munich for Oktoberfest festivities with absolutely no beer experience under my belt.
“You can’t drink liquor at Oktoberfest,” they said. “It’s expensive. It’s crap. It’s just wrong.”
So, I broke with my standard whiskey-straight regimen and ordered the first of what was to be many, many beers in my lifetime.
And this sweet little story is all by way of pointing out that I skipped a crucial step in what is perceived to be the normal progression of a person’s alcohol intake maturity. I never drank Natty Lite at 16. I never choked down multiple Miller Lites pumped from a foamy keg in college. I never took more than a single sip of The Husband’s beers over the years without following it up with a sarcastic comment and a sour face.
I started with the good stuff. It’s all I know and all I love. I am a creature of craft. My taste buds for hops were fostered at a relatively late age, when my cynical tendencies were already firmly solidified within my personality, and my taste for bullshit had long since past.
My taste for beer was born in Texas and with any luck, it will die here too. I can taste a St. Arnold’s wannabe from a mile away. I can spin a metaphor about how a brew makes you feel before you can murmur “yummy.” I’m the opinion that’s lingering just beneath the bubbly surface of your favorite Texas craft beers, here on occasion to tell you why you should (or should not) say “cheers” to what’s on your next bar tab.
With Shade TX Tim’s compliments and apologies, I’ll be checking in from time to time. To fume, to ferment, and to find craft beers along with the rest of you.
Current Favorites
(List is subject to change at any moment, according to my whims and musings. Try to keep up.)
Best Cold Weather Beer: Bound & Determined Chile Stout, by Fetching Lab
Best Beach Beer: Alt-eration, by Hops & Grain
Best Sports-Watching Beer: Garden of Eden, by Chimera
Most Pleasantly Surprising Beer: Mad Meg, by Jester King