beer!
I went to the beer festival down on fountain square last night, which ended up being pretty awesome. $10 got you ten tickets, and while it was four tickets for an entire 12oz cup, it was only one ticket for a sample, which was supposed to be 3oz but depending upon who was pouring could end up being closer to twice that. Yeah, I ended up giving away my last two tickets because there was just no way I'd be able to use them and then drive myself home.
But anyways, there was a really good selection of local and regional microbreweries/small breweries. I've never been able to figure out what exactly the difference is, but I'm pretty sure Rogue and Magic Hat are widely available, whereas I've never been able to find Christian Moreline anywhere outside of Cincinnati, but it's in every grocery store, vs breweries like Rock Bottom that you can only get in a couple of places. If anyone knows if there's a specific cutoff point for calling something a microbrew, let me know because I've been wondering this for a while.
Anyways, while I was trying to go for beer that I didn't immediately recognize, I wasn't going out of my way to leave my comfort zone the way a couple of the people I was with were. Then again, generally as long as it's an ale that the word citrus is in no way used to describe I'm pretty safe, and the only type of beer that I don't like no matter what is wheat beer. Some of the highlights included everything by Mount Carmel Brewing Company (though I've gotten their IPA before, so this wasn't a surprise), Three Philosophers by Ommegang (it really did taste like chocolate), Trois Pistoles by Unibroue (OMG delicious, but I don't think I could drink an entire bottle by myself, because it's extremely strong, and note the APV), and Saranac's pumpkin ale (My favorite, very drinkable, and I need to go buy a case).
This is why it makes me irritated when I'm watching or reading something and the character goes up to the bar and orders a beer, as in, explicitly says something like "Barkeep, I'd like a beer". You just can't do that, ever. Even dive bars will generally have the option between Bud and Miller. It's particularly bad in fanfic when the author doesn't have the excuse of having to avoid product placement (though can't they make something up?), and I can only assume that they've never ordered beer in a bar before.
But anyways, there was a really good selection of local and regional microbreweries/small breweries. I've never been able to figure out what exactly the difference is, but I'm pretty sure Rogue and Magic Hat are widely available, whereas I've never been able to find Christian Moreline anywhere outside of Cincinnati, but it's in every grocery store, vs breweries like Rock Bottom that you can only get in a couple of places. If anyone knows if there's a specific cutoff point for calling something a microbrew, let me know because I've been wondering this for a while.
Anyways, while I was trying to go for beer that I didn't immediately recognize, I wasn't going out of my way to leave my comfort zone the way a couple of the people I was with were. Then again, generally as long as it's an ale that the word citrus is in no way used to describe I'm pretty safe, and the only type of beer that I don't like no matter what is wheat beer. Some of the highlights included everything by Mount Carmel Brewing Company (though I've gotten their IPA before, so this wasn't a surprise), Three Philosophers by Ommegang (it really did taste like chocolate), Trois Pistoles by Unibroue (OMG delicious, but I don't think I could drink an entire bottle by myself, because it's extremely strong, and note the APV), and Saranac's pumpkin ale (My favorite, very drinkable, and I need to go buy a case).
This is why it makes me irritated when I'm watching or reading something and the character goes up to the bar and orders a beer, as in, explicitly says something like "Barkeep, I'd like a beer". You just can't do that, ever. Even dive bars will generally have the option between Bud and Miller. It's particularly bad in fanfic when the author doesn't have the excuse of having to avoid product placement (though can't they make something up?), and I can only assume that they've never ordered beer in a bar before.