I did manage to get through the two weeks without strangling one of the bastards. Didn’t even come close. The reverse probably isn’t true. They did look like they wanted to physically attack me a couple of times when I was being “annoying” as they claimed.
All unscarred physically. And only slightly mentally. I’ll call that a win.
I was a bit disappointed with the beer choice in most taprooms. These were the options mostly: IPA, Sludge IPA, Sour, Sludge IPA with fruit, Sour with fruit, Sludge IPA with fruit and shit, sour with fruit and shit, Pilsner. Other than a couple of Porters, almost no dark beers of any description.
According to my Lager consultant (Andrew), North American brewers are getting better at brewing Pilsner. He says a couple even tasted like German ones. Though there were still quite a few well wide of the mark.
On a personal level, great to meet some old friends and to make some new ones. That’s what these trips are all about: blagging free beer for me and the kids. We may have succeeded too well, if you see the bruises on Andrew’s arms from carrying a box of (very nice) beer.
“It’s a price worth paying for that beer, Andrew.”
“You’re not the one fucking paying it, Dad.”
“That’s a bit selfish.”
“Just fuck right off, or carry it yourself.”
“You’re making such a good job of it.”
“Fuck off with your bullshit.”
Aah. The happy banter. How much fun was it?
“Not as much as you think, Dad.”
“Did I . ..
“Yes, Dad. You did say that out loud. Now shut up.”
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2 comments:
I'm sorry how narrow the beer options were -- I swear there are brewers doing more than muddy IPAs and saltwater sours here.
I'm guessing part of the problem is pricing. Beer in the US tends to settle into much too narrow of a range, and that tends to encourage $9 16 ounce IPAs instead of $4 8 ounce Kolschs.
You are not wrong. These IPAs that look like the sludge poured out of the bottom of sombody’s fermenter have taken over here in the US. To make matters worse, canning machines have gotten cheaper so every mom and pop brewery owns one now. They put all this stuff in cans now, you can’t see whats in the can, and there are no labelling standards so you can’t even tell what the IPA you’re buying is. Sours seem to be another big recent fad everywhere and I never understood why people want to drink sour beer. Thats a fault that you can fix.
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