I’ve been there before. Actually, I was there as recently as last night.
It’s getting later in the evening and I can only have one more beer. There are two on the menu that I’d like to have, and I’m torn as to which one I’d rather have. I can look them up on Untappd … I can research on BeerAdvocate, but my tastes don’t always line up with other folks’. I don’t want to order one and then wind up regretting the decision later. Yes … this is basically a matter of life & death.
Two recent experiences color this point. I was at my local watering hole and had heard the buzz (see what I did there?) about a new beer. Said watering hole had said beer on tap, and so I ordered a pint. The beer was New Belgium’s Hemperor. It’s an IPA that’s been infused with hemp. I wasn’t sure that I would like it or not, but I was so intrigued by the concept that I had to try it.
To say it was awful is unfair to beers that are merely awful. This was new levels of awful. Imagine rolling into Animal House the night after Bluto, Otter, Flounder, and the boys went on an all-night bender. You stumble across a still-smoldering bong and decide to take a sip of the bong water. What you find is that someone spilled some of their cousin’s overly-hopped homebrew into the bong water resulting in a vile concoction that isn’t fit for human consumption. Maybe I’m being unfair, but you get the point. Curiosity, in this case, almost killed the cat.
Fast-forward to last night. I’m at the Fred (I refuse to call it the Georgia Chapter Room. Hardcore, old-school Taco Mac fans will side with me on this one) with a friend and am torn between two beers. On the one hand, I have a Kasteel Chocolate Quad, and on the other is Boulevard Barrel-Aged Quad. What to do, what to do. Words that should have left my mouth before the hemp-IPA bomb returned to me … five words that can save you at times like these.
“May I try a sample?”
The five words saved me!!
I’ll have a taste please…of all of your beers. 😉
Ha! Need to get a share together soon.