At the aforementioned cancer benefit, I bid, in the silent auction, on a pail of twenty-four "exotic" beers. Someone bid over me after we left, but, thanks to the vigilance of my father-in-law, I prevailed. My plan was to write a post on each beer as I progressed through the pail, but I'm now three beers in and I can't remember anything about the first two. Oh, wait, that is not quite true. One was some species of a Summit, and I was reminded, drinking it, of my high-school classmate, Pat Borchardt, who, while drinking a Miller in a bar, was harangued on the attributes of Summit by a patron wearing loafers and no socks. Pat heard him out, then said, Yes, that was all probably true, but if you're going to drink a million of them--"and I am"--then (holding up his HIgh Life) you want this one. If it weren't for the husky African-American fellow clearing the High Lifes out of the luxury suite, Pat would be the world's best advertisement for that particular product of the Miller Brewing Company.
The other one was brewed by James Page. Perusing their website, I think it was the Burly Brown, which is "distinguished by a deep brown color and creamy smooth taste." There can be no disputing the brown color. My mother-in-law was over that night and she said it tasted "a little different," by which I think she meant to indicate she wouldn't want a million of them. I thought it was fine but can't think now what to say about it. When it comes to beer, I remind myself of what the writer Flannery O'Connor said about her qualifications as a music critic: "To me, all classical music sounds alike, and everything else sounds like the Beatles."
Tonight I enjoyed with my evening meal a Schell's Firebrick. According to the Schell's website, Firebrick "has been described by Ted Marti as having a 'subtle maltiness combined with a hint of hoppy taste that creates a mild, pleasantly drinkable beer.'" I'm plainly not qualified to disagree with that. Still, if you want to have a million of something they brew, may I suggest the Grain Belt Premium?
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