It's remarkable how much drinking any given beer in its native habitat improves the experience. The first time I went to Asia (Hong Kong and then Thailand) and experienced the sticky, humid heat of early summer, I found light, sightly sweet brews like Singah and Tsingtao to be absolute life savers.
So glad you found New Glaurs Brewing Co. It’s a quality Wisconsin brewed beer that has made the intentional decision to not sell outside WI (they don’t want to be bigger). They strongly enforce that decision, including prosecuting Minnesota gas stations that try to sell it under the radar (google it for an entertaining quick read). That said, next step for you is a trip to New Glarus, WI for a visit to their facilities (when such travel is permissible again). It’s a beautiful facility.
Here's a potential sixth category that I've been trying to solve for years: Airplane Beer.
It's almost always awful, even if it's what you'd call an OK beer down on the ground. Maybe something happens to it once you're at 30,000 feet in a pressurized tube.
I almost always end up just going for whiskey instead. But if anyone knows of a good one, help a guy out. Not that I'm flying anywhere anytime soon.
Coming up in WNY we looked down on Genny and held in high esteem those fancier imports from across the falls, Labatt Blue and Molson's. Genny cream ale pounders were what we stole from dads and lax convenience store clerks in a pinch. Now I would much rather have a Genny and will pass on the Blue.
Then came the craft beer craze... I was all in. When I moved to the West Coast I drank so much Pliny the Elder and have tasted the rarified nectar that is Pliny the Younger on more than one occasion. But to be honest, I don't really care for them or much beer at all anymore. Except ice cold Miller High Life in a bottle. That always sounds good.
Love the local beer bit! I lived in London for a few months last year and chatting about local recommendations was always a fun and easy way to meet the people at the local pubs.
I'm as shocked as Jim that you've spent so much time in Wisconsin without imbibing the sacred cow. As a Minnesotan, I'm sure to grab a case of Spotted Cow and bag of cheese curds whenever I happen to cross the state line in search of Driftless water.
What a lovely read on a hot summer's day... Made me crave long forgotten bottles of Bintang, Tusker and Hinano. Of course in the before times, tall drafts of Spotted Cow on the way out of MKE were essential accompaniments to Packers games viewed while endlessly delayed back to LGA. Cheers!
Local beer highlight: Yanggakdo International hotel in Pyongyang where they had their own micro brewery producing German style weizenbier. Great evenings in a strange place.
Thanks David for this article. I subscribed basically so I could comment on this. Tells you a lot about me ;)
I have done a lot of travel and a lot of beer drinking in my days and I completely agree with the "deliberately local beer". TsingTao in Shenzhen, Taiwan Beer in Taipei, Asahi in Osaka, etc. There are a couple of local beers that need special mention. First, I totally agree with you about Heineken in Amsterdam. It's a totally different beer in Holland than it is from the grocery store here in the US. I also wanted to mention how amazing Budvar beer in Prague is. Buy it on the streets in the little plastic cups and it is spectacular (this is coming from a big IPA drinking kind of guy).
Once when I was in Barcelona, my (ex) wife wanted to go into the textile museum. I was hot, tired and recovering from dysentery (that's a different story). I found this little cellar pub to sit down in. She happily went to the museum without me. The pub served San Miguel in big frosty earthen steins. It was amazing, crisp and creamy. The most refreshing beer ever. I easily put away four glasses and was in a great mood when my wife got back a couple of hours later.
Whenever I have had San Miguel since then, it has never been the same.
An Irish friend of mine said that Guinness gets better the closer you get to Ireland. Logical and something that has proven to be true. Guinness in the US always leaves me a bit flat, but it is nectar from the gods in an Irish pub.
I had the most amazing Trappist beer in a beer bar in Brugge. I've loved Belgian beer ever since, but it has never been as good as that one special brew in Brugge.
I could go on and on about this (Birra Moretti while hiking the Cinque Terra), but I'll stop. The one country where I have not found a special beer is France. But you should be drinking wine in France anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter...
One additional category to consider is the "Seasonal Beer" - maybe its a hybrid of the Nostalgic and the Situational beer. I love a good winter ale during the holiday season - strong, sweet and dark. Perfect in front of the fire with cookies. I might also put Oktoberfest Beer in this category. Once fall begins to settle in, I can't get enough of it. It seems to be made for drinking large quantities to help you put back on your winter weight. Of course this leads to one of my most hated styles of beer...the dreaded pumpkin spiced ales that come out in the fall. Please make it stop!
I'm more of a wine person. First and foremost as a matter of taste, but also due to its complexity and cultural significance. Having said that, beer absolutely has that too. Beer is good, but I never figured out how to have 5-6 of them on a single night. Hah!
It's remarkable how much drinking any given beer in its native habitat improves the experience. The first time I went to Asia (Hong Kong and then Thailand) and experienced the sticky, humid heat of early summer, I found light, sightly sweet brews like Singah and Tsingtao to be absolute life savers.
So glad you found New Glaurs Brewing Co. It’s a quality Wisconsin brewed beer that has made the intentional decision to not sell outside WI (they don’t want to be bigger). They strongly enforce that decision, including prosecuting Minnesota gas stations that try to sell it under the radar (google it for an entertaining quick read). That said, next step for you is a trip to New Glarus, WI for a visit to their facilities (when such travel is permissible again). It’s a beautiful facility.
Here's a potential sixth category that I've been trying to solve for years: Airplane Beer.
It's almost always awful, even if it's what you'd call an OK beer down on the ground. Maybe something happens to it once you're at 30,000 feet in a pressurized tube.
I almost always end up just going for whiskey instead. But if anyone knows of a good one, help a guy out. Not that I'm flying anywhere anytime soon.
Coming up in WNY we looked down on Genny and held in high esteem those fancier imports from across the falls, Labatt Blue and Molson's. Genny cream ale pounders were what we stole from dads and lax convenience store clerks in a pinch. Now I would much rather have a Genny and will pass on the Blue.
Then came the craft beer craze... I was all in. When I moved to the West Coast I drank so much Pliny the Elder and have tasted the rarified nectar that is Pliny the Younger on more than one occasion. But to be honest, I don't really care for them or much beer at all anymore. Except ice cold Miller High Life in a bottle. That always sounds good.
Love the local beer bit! I lived in London for a few months last year and chatting about local recommendations was always a fun and easy way to meet the people at the local pubs.
I'm as shocked as Jim that you've spent so much time in Wisconsin without imbibing the sacred cow. As a Minnesotan, I'm sure to grab a case of Spotted Cow and bag of cheese curds whenever I happen to cross the state line in search of Driftless water.
OK - now I need a Great Lakes Dortmunder
What a lovely read on a hot summer's day... Made me crave long forgotten bottles of Bintang, Tusker and Hinano. Of course in the before times, tall drafts of Spotted Cow on the way out of MKE were essential accompaniments to Packers games viewed while endlessly delayed back to LGA. Cheers!
Local beer highlight: Yanggakdo International hotel in Pyongyang where they had their own micro brewery producing German style weizenbier. Great evenings in a strange place.
Thanks David for this article. I subscribed basically so I could comment on this. Tells you a lot about me ;)
I have done a lot of travel and a lot of beer drinking in my days and I completely agree with the "deliberately local beer". TsingTao in Shenzhen, Taiwan Beer in Taipei, Asahi in Osaka, etc. There are a couple of local beers that need special mention. First, I totally agree with you about Heineken in Amsterdam. It's a totally different beer in Holland than it is from the grocery store here in the US. I also wanted to mention how amazing Budvar beer in Prague is. Buy it on the streets in the little plastic cups and it is spectacular (this is coming from a big IPA drinking kind of guy).
Once when I was in Barcelona, my (ex) wife wanted to go into the textile museum. I was hot, tired and recovering from dysentery (that's a different story). I found this little cellar pub to sit down in. She happily went to the museum without me. The pub served San Miguel in big frosty earthen steins. It was amazing, crisp and creamy. The most refreshing beer ever. I easily put away four glasses and was in a great mood when my wife got back a couple of hours later.
Whenever I have had San Miguel since then, it has never been the same.
An Irish friend of mine said that Guinness gets better the closer you get to Ireland. Logical and something that has proven to be true. Guinness in the US always leaves me a bit flat, but it is nectar from the gods in an Irish pub.
I had the most amazing Trappist beer in a beer bar in Brugge. I've loved Belgian beer ever since, but it has never been as good as that one special brew in Brugge.
I could go on and on about this (Birra Moretti while hiking the Cinque Terra), but I'll stop. The one country where I have not found a special beer is France. But you should be drinking wine in France anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter...
One additional category to consider is the "Seasonal Beer" - maybe its a hybrid of the Nostalgic and the Situational beer. I love a good winter ale during the holiday season - strong, sweet and dark. Perfect in front of the fire with cookies. I might also put Oktoberfest Beer in this category. Once fall begins to settle in, I can't get enough of it. It seems to be made for drinking large quantities to help you put back on your winter weight. Of course this leads to one of my most hated styles of beer...the dreaded pumpkin spiced ales that come out in the fall. Please make it stop!
I'm more of a wine person. First and foremost as a matter of taste, but also due to its complexity and cultural significance. Having said that, beer absolutely has that too. Beer is good, but I never figured out how to have 5-6 of them on a single night. Hah!