Ah, Beer!

Why is it that light beer has taken over the US beer market? I didn't see ANY light beers while in London (3 months) or in Austria (1 month). And, they drank a hell of a lot more of it. Then, I was watching a rerun of Cheers from back in the eighties in which two guys came in and ordered light beers. They were made fun of for ordering such unmanly beer. What happened!?! Why did beer turn in to grass water? Can this shift in taste be reversed?

In comes the modern microbrewery. Micros seem to be picking up more and more of a market. Here in Indiana, Upland Brewery has seen robust growth. There are similar stories elsewhere. I certainly hope a Starbucks sort of thing happens with beer... I would love to be able to get a pint of oatmeal stout at every Applebees... or really, just a beer than isn't served frozen solid would be nice.

In beer news... all of my homebrew is officially gone. The last batch was an intense IPA/IIPA/Strong Ale. We never got the official alchohol content, but it had to top 8%. Took us a while to finish all five gallons off, needless to say.

Also, I had a second bottle of Stone Ruination. Whoah. That is a hoppy freakin' brew. I still think ours was hoppier, but not as balanced. Good stuff. I Love Beer!