I drink a fair amount of beer, so I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised when I find beers I just don’t like.
For the most part, I am pretty easy. If it’s well-made and tastes decent, I drink it, make a brief comment and move on.
Then there’s “BeerFail.”
I have had two beers, from a couple of my favorite breweries that I just don’t want to taste again. (I will, to make sure it was not a single-bottle issue, but I do not want to).
The first was a couple of weeks ago, the Cherry Saison from Southern Tier. I guess I expected it to be a little less sour and taste a little more like a saison. Hey, I love a lot of their other stuff, so I figure this is going to happen on occasion.
Today’s was more perplexing.
It was laundry day, and in the Liamverse, that means beer shopping. (Yes, there’s a lot of beer shopping in the Liamverse, and there would be more if I had a better income).
There’s a Vermont liquor store next to one of my favorite laundromats (beer store, bookstore, Shaw’s grocery, a good farmers’ market on the way, and I can buy the Boston Globe over there.
Anyway, this place sells singles, so I plunked down the $3 for an Oak-Aged Arrogant Bastard, from Stone Brewing in California. My friend Jason swears by the stuff, and Stone is, well, one of the best breweries in America.
My idea was: This stuff is $17.99 a six-pack and my readers oughta know if there’s a six-pack worth close to a $20 bill with tax and deposit.
Not this one. Not today.
Not nearly as good as the regular Arrogant Bastard. No oak that I could taste. No alcohol I could taste. Just bitter. I am gonna give it one more shot sometime.
Now to cleanse my palate with a Fuel Café coffee flavored stout from Lakefront Brewery in Milwaukee.
-
