The "Discount Liquor" Trap

We've all done it. Driven by naivete, idealism, or just sheer laziness, at some point we have all fallen into the "Discount Liquor" trap.

Today, it happened to me.

I was driving home from a school after a long day of studying (yes, when you are in law school you actually have to study for final exams), and decided to pick up some beer. I was on my way to my favorite liquor store near school and hit a fair amount of traffic. This was the last thing I needed. A line of cars was standing between me and a much needed beer. 

Then I saw it. The neon lights and promises of low prices drew me in. Even the name, "Liquor Warehouse," screamed "great selection!" I was sold. I diverted from my original path and stepped into the warehouse. Much to my dismay, this "warehouse" was little more than a closet filled with Natural Light and Traveler's Club vodka. I found myself eye to eye once again with the very products which once lay hidden under my bed from my parents in high school. Overcome with disappointment, frustration, and anger, a mere 20 seconds later I stormed out the front door and back to my car.

Thus, I continued on my journey. Inching through traffic, closer and closer by the second, I thought to myself, maybe I should have just sucked it up at the other store. This moment of weakness quickly subsided, however, when I finally arrived. Like a kid in a candy store, no, like I just walked through the gates of heaven - I could have sworn I saw a bright light surrounding the sign that read, "Micro-Brews."

Finally.

Thirty dollars later, I was was walking out the door with a pack of Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA, and two of Dogfish's larger bottles that I had never tried before - Theobroma and Namaste. Well, this night just got interesting.

Dogfish Head beers never disappoint. Everyone that I've tried so far has been flavorful, complex, and most importantly - strong. Each of these brews has an ABV of around 9% (except for Namaste, which was a mere 5%). I'll post a full review of each of these beers at some point in the future, but that is not my goal here.

No, here I attempt to impart one simple message. The passion, quality ingredients, and dedication that go into a quality craft beer all go to waste if you don't know where to look.

Like most of you, in college I reveled in the ability to walk to the corner liquor store and grab a 30 of [insert generic cheap beer here]. And now, living in a city on a graduate student's budget, I won't deny that the allure of this convenience has not completely escaped me. But for those nights when you just feel like sitting on the couch and enjoying, actually enjoying, the beer you're drinking, do me and yourself a favor: put your big boy (or girl) pants on and drive to a real liquor store.

What the hell are we talking about?

Starting a blog with my friends has been a whirlwind of new experiences. The technology, the beer, and even the vernacular are all new to me. I decided that the best way to keep up with my friends would be to do some research into some of the new terminology that I keep hearing from them.

www.brewersassociation.org

It occurred to me, that perhaps our readers are also learning some of these things for the first time as well. So, why not share what I’ve learned? Here are a few things that I hope can help my fellow beer newbies become more knowledgeable beer drinkers:

First, what separates a craft beer from other beers? According to Brewers Association “an American Craft brewer is small, independent, and traditional.” See the chart from Brewers Association for more information on what this means. In relation to craft beer production, a microbrewery is a brewery that produces less than 15,000 barrels of beer each year, 75% or more of which is sold (definition from craftbeer.com)

There are also different types of beer. The first is ale, which is brewed by rapid fermentation (merriam-webster.com). According to realbeer.com, ales are made using top-fermenting yeast and are best served cool (around 50 degrees F) producing a robust and complex taste. Examples of ales are stouts, porters, whitbier, hefeweizen, Indian Pale Ale (IPA), etc. Lagers are brewed by slow fermentation (merriam-webster.com), are made using bottom-fermenting yeast, are best served cold (38-49 degrees F), and are less fruity than ales (realbeer.com). Examples are red lagers, pilsner, schwarzbier, etc.

There are a few standard ingredients of beer. Hops are flowers from a perennial vine used to flavor beer. It also prevents the growth of bacteria in beer. Malt is processed barley that has been steeped in water and yeast converts the malt sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. (craftbeer.com)

Pat and me, reviewing our beers.
Photo courtesy of our IT guy, Mark.

When evaluating a beer, there are 5 standard categories – appearance, smell, taste, mouthfeel, and overall (beeradvocate.com): 

appearance – color, carbonation, head
smell – malts (sweet, smoky, nutty, chocolaty, etc), hops (herbal, spicy, floral, piney, citrusy, etc), yeast (fruity, flowery ales or clean lagers)
taste -  flavors or interpretations of flavors, will be similar to smell
mouthfeel – how the beer feels (light, heavy, watery, smooth, flat, carbonated)
overall – your overall impression

When reading a review there are a few words other words that you may come across frequently. Alcohol by Volume (ABV) is the alcohol content (volume of alcohol per volume of beer) measured as a percentage. Lace is the pattern of the foam sticking to the side of the glass as you’re drinking your beer. Head is the foam of the beer, and head retention is how long the head lasts (craftbeer.com)

I hope this has been helpful. Please comment and let me know if there is anything else you would like defined or explained in more detail. Happy reading and reviewing!