Elanso

Hopfen and Malz, this time with a more secular theme.

So this is a little bit of a digression for me… a column with no theology. Yet what I witnessed this past Saturday night left me so appalled that I had to write about it. I had been out at a black-tie fundraising gala at the behest of my wife (she ran the event). Now when it was all wrapped up she took her staff out for a drink (she is a great boss as well as a great wife). We walked across Broad Street to the swanky Capital Grill. The six of us carved out some space at the bar and ordered (in case you care I order Oban 14, neat). Now not being terribly interested in the group’s conversation, I began to people watch. The bar was filled with good-looking women but what really caught my eye was a group of ex-frat boys who looked to be in the mid to late 20’s. Now before you begin to speculate, let me state that this had nothing to do with my sexual preferences but everything to do with what was clutched in their hands… bottles of Miller Lite. I do not get it, not even a little bit. Why, would anyone, who had the taste to come into such a nice place, choose to drink that when so many better option were available?

Now just a few weeks before I had a conversation with a friend of mine who is the Philly area rep for Hook and Ladder. I was trying their beer called “Lighter” which is their answer to the “Lite” beer craze that seems to rule most young beer drinkers. Now while “light lager” is not my favorite style of beer, the H&L Lighter had a lot more taste and complexity to it than the mass-produced crappola. And so I asked the rep, why if his beer was available, would people still choose to drink Coors, Miller or Bud? He said that it had little to do with taste and everything to do with price. I suppose that made sense to me… a 22 year old wants to get as much beer as possible for their dollar because they don’t have that many dollars to spend. When I was in college we bought and drank “Old Swill” because it was $20 a keg (yes I am dating myself).
BUT- while finances may excuse the 21-25 year old set, it in no way could be used to justify the blue labeled horror that was clutched just ten feet away. If you can afford to go into the Capital Grill for anything other than to use the bathroom, then you can afford to drink real beer. Moreover, you should know to drink your beer out of a glass and not straight from the bottle, especially in a high-class restaurant. What should we, the knowledgeable beer drinking public, do in response? How do we help people come to understand that they are, by choice, drinking chilled piss?

To such a question, I have no answer, other than to lead by example and, one by one, introduce our friends to the joy of real beer.

The Friar

Share This