I like beer. I like it the way I remember it, foamy, beer smelling and cold. I remember tasting it for the first time with my slightly older Uncles in a dry county in North Carolina. It was shockingly not like root beer. This was almost 60 years ago and I believe we were drinking Budweiser opened with a “church key”; beer that was hidden in a mountain spring to keep it cool. It was just a fun kid thing to do in the summer as young teenagers. I really never drank alcohol as a persistent habit, I like beer with pizza and chicken wings, two things I no longer eat. I’ve drank beer with co-workers after work to be sociable, I’ve drank beer while listening to troubled friends and to celebrate with friends. I usually “nursed” my one beer during these times, but I did join in. I was working for a very German company and while out after work with my very German co-workers I was asked what I was having to drink? “I guess a Budweiser” I replied, my German friend says no and orders me a Warsteiner. “See the sign for Budweiser” my friend points to, ” It says King of Beers”. Look at your Warsteiner it says “Eine Königin unter den Bieren,” a Queen among beers. My friend asks,” would you rather put your lips on the King, or on the Queen? I fully stressed my druthers for the Queen right there.
These days, I just like to get a PBR, plain old watery foamy American beer. I am not impressed by IPA, hoppy, wheat or craft beer, pricey nonsense. I want it cold like it has been hiding in a cold mountain spring during summer vacation, and to taste and smell like old memories squeaking in a styrofoam cooler.
