This weekend my Dad and I talked a little about Ordinary/Standard bitters, and other low gravity - low alcohol beers. I really enjoy an English Bitter beer, and particularly like the lower alcohol content for those weekday nights. Some evenings you really want to enjoy that second or third pint, but can't afford the 'slightly off' morning that sometimes follows three pints of Double IPA (does this make me officially old?). I usually have a Bitter or
English Mild on tap for this very purpose, however it's somehow fallen out of my recent lineup. It's summertime and I'm primed for
Pilsners, Wits, and Cream Ales....just maybe I'll sneak a bitter in there somewhere.
A few weeks ago I spent some time with old friends who were serving a well known Mexican beer. Now I'm no beer snob and have no issues drinking most any beer, but this whole fruit business I find disturbing. There are two places one should never see fruit: on pizza or in beer. The pizza thing requires little discussion. Meat, cheese, vegetables...fruit is simply inappropriate under any circumstances. The fruit in beer question is a little more interesting. Wheat beer and Mexican lagers are the most common offenders, that being lime in Mexican beers and lemon or orange in wheat. To my knowledge you won't find a lemon served in any wheat beer in Germany, and asking for one is clearly indicates "ugly American". So why do we need them here? Mexican beers are often the choice for hot summer days (and not a bad one), but have you ever had the last few sips of a luke warm Corona that tastes mostly sour with a bit a pulp clogging your teeth? Modelo is a perfectly acceptable beer on its own merit, so why ruin it with citrus? Next time you're served a beer with fruit cocktail, try removing it and see if you don't actually find it more enjoyable.
