Sunday, February 10, 2008

Discovering Beer

Benjamin Franklin once said that ' Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to prosper'. Now I have always been quite the agnostic but well it certainly made me think twice. Ever since I was introduced to drinking by my 'well wishing' friends I have always been in love with this oldest of alcoholic beverages 'Beer'. It is one of the most widely consumed drinks and I understand why. There's something about its chilled frothy nature that has really gotten to me. A friday night hanging out with a group of friends and chugging down mugs of chilled beer is something I look forward to. However now I have not only come to enjoy the ABV in it but also trying out different varieties and the subtle differences in them.

Recently I got a poster as a gift from a friend with 50 beer brands on it. I had tasted only 10 out of them and I must say it sucked. I was amazed at the amount of variety that beer had to offer. Beer has been around since a long long time. European countries have been the leaders in beer production in terms of both variety and number. Apart from the very basic differences viz. between ale and lager beer there are so many varieties based on their flavors, preparation technique, storage and method of dispensing. Reading about all this kind of compelled me to go out there and try different beers.

So next thing I know I visited the Otto's Pub and Brewery, voted one of the 50 top places to have a pint in USA and highly recommended on a number of blogs, in my town and I had the most amazing experience at trying out new flavors of beer. There was apple based beer, apricot based beer and a number of other flavors as well as a a collection of pale ales and stout beer. In short it is a beer lovers paradise. Now for someone like me who has been a beer lover from the word go it was quite a bit intimidating but also exciting at the same time, not to say intoxicating.

However a word of caution if you are starting out try to find someone who can guide you well. The taste for beer is an acquired one and if you start with the wrong one then you could end up not trying another one ever.

So now I am on a mission to try out as many beers as it is possible and I hope to share each and every flavor with you. So if you haven't as yet had the chilled crisp swig of this wonderful drink then hit the nearest pub because you are missing out on one hell of an experience.