This summer, we're getting a kegerator for the new bar. I need to learn more about beer but it isn't easy. It's not often you find flights of beer or varietal beer tastings. Snooze offered to take me to a gastropub where we might be able to find beer I liked. At least I could try a few because this place has 40 beers on tap. The only thing I know is that I like Blue Moon (it comes with an orange slice, yum) and that's a wheat beer. I'm really a novice.
So, we went to The Union, in Tucson, for happy hour. They made three suggestions and I chose one. It tasted okay, not great but it did come with a lemon. By the bottom of the glass I was done with beer seminar. It was bitter. I could've tried another but the bitterness was just yucky. About that time the manager walked over and said, "I'm so sorry, but we changed out the keg on Sierra Nevada but didn't change the tap handle so your server didn't know she was giving you an IPA not a Hefeweizen, like you asked." Arrghhh! An IPA with a lemon. Even I know this is not done. They replaced my beer with a real Hefeweizen and I liked it just fine.
As a result of today's experiences, this is what I have learned:
1. I don't like IPA's. That stands for India Pale Ale.
2. IPA's have a lot of hops. That's what causes the bitterness.
3. IPA's are especially bad with a lemon slice.
3. Wheat beers and Hefeweizens are both pretty good. Some are Belgian. Some are German.
Update: Just read about a new Belgian-style beer I'd like to try. It's made by Sam Adams and it's called, oddly, "White Lantern." (Snooze thinks it sounds more like a super-hero but it's named for the lanterns on the 17th century ships that carried spices to Belgium from the far east.) In case you're a Blue Moon lover, here's the link to a review of "White Lantern" in the Milwaukee newspaper.
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20130403/GPG0504/304030520/Beer-Man-Samuel-Adams-White-Lantern-witbier-bite?nclick_check=1
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