I'm not a regular beer drinker.
But on occasion, I have been known to lust after an ice cold one. And on those occasions, I am quite picky about what I will and will not drink.
I would sooner eat dirt than drink, for example, Budweiser. Why? Why waste the calories and the taste buds on something so disturbingly bland?
For this reason (and many others) I love living in the Bay Area - there is no shortage of hand-crafted, micro-brewed beers of distinction.
Last night, in honor of G's real bday (his "observed" bday is tonight), a few of us gathered at the 21st Amendment for a few beers. 21-A has one of my favorite beers for summer, Watermelon Wheat. As the name implies, it's a weizen made with watermelon. Delightful*.
Well, of course, as it's late September, they were well out of the WW. I had instead their 563 Stout, which is a lovely dark, dark beer served on nitrogen, resulting in a deliciously creamy head. On first whiff, this stuff smells like a perfectly pulled shot of espresso. It's soooo good.
Stupidly, I took a sip of C's South Park Blonde after drinking some of my Stout, so couldn't even taste it. But he proclaimed it "very nice and crisp".
*They USED to have a Watermelon Ale which was a pale ale with watermelon. That one tasted like a watermelon jolly rancher. Mmmmmm.