Beer...

I'm a big fan of good beer, something that this country has begun to produce in the last few years. Anyone similarly interested who wants to give me pointers based on my comments below should get in touch with me. Anyone who is similarly a fan of Budvar Budweiser from the Czech Republic (you know, the place that invented the name Bud which Anheiser-water-Busch copied to add "dignity" to their beverage), well, enjoy the next one you have.

Finally, years late, I'm posting my Acadmeic Beer Year list from 1993 to 1994. Maybe to 1995, I don't know (it's almost 99 by now). The Academic Beer Year always starts September 1, roughly at the beginning of the school year. I'm just a fan of beer, and so I drink new types of beer that come my way. 

Two comments are worth mentioning here: 

1) American beer used to royally suck, but the microbrew movement has made great strides. Still, nothing compares to a Budvar Budweiser (Czech gold, pure heaven... not related to Anheiser-Busch's travesty in the least, thank you very much) or a Kärtner Hirter while eating a Jause...., 
2) American microbrews may be working on good taste, but they don't always succeed. Just cuz it's micro, don't mean it's good. 

There seems to be an inability to create a decent, flavorful Pils or lighter Märzen beer: flavor, body, aftertaste. Come on, folks, not everyone always wants to drink dark beers, though they're good. Then again, I have to admit say that India Pale Ales are a fine thing to have....I suppose it's like with wine a few years ago, all these exotic flavors and attempts at cool new styles, before folks realized that a few excellent wines are good enough. Rather than trying for the new and exotic, make a few GOOD beers consistently. The breweries I know in Germany and Austria (all local, excepting a few) do business that way, and I like that. That's the biggest problem: microbrews aren't necessarily good, they're just better than the Big Three.

Anyway, the beer logbook gives a barebones list of some that I've had, without telling which I actually like. I used to only have a beer once, savor it, and try another, but those days are long past. I'll write a few comments about the favorites someday. Until then, drink more beer...