BEER BELLY, BEER BARREL, THEN WHAT

I’m working on a beer belly reduction plan, which means what?

Drink less beer, what else?

I was lamenting my loss after meeting a new guy who fixed broken guitar amps in his garage.

Me: I think the signs are lining up to loose my gut.

The guy was maybe fifty, an electrical engineer working at home for a company in San Jose.

From talking together I figure he was from someplace else.

Turns out he was born and raised in the Czech Republic.

 

Guy: What does that mean?

Me: Less beer.

Guy: That’s too bad because I’ve just found my new favorite beer.

Me: My favorite used to be Beck’s, then the places that carried it stopped. So I found my new favorite, Stella.

 

I figured a guy from Central Europe knew beer, and he did.

 

Guy: My new favorite reminds me of what I grew up with.

 

I drank my favorite beer in Bruges Belgium at the Halve Maan Brewery.

Stella is a nice reminder of the time.

 

 

It’s been around long enough.

 

 

From the brewery guide in Bruges:

“The pipeline is three kilometers long, and there is one place where it is near the surface. We’ve been worried about people trying to tap the pipeline, but it’s a problem for them, too.

“You see, instead of one big pipe, we have several smaller pipes in one big pipe. One brings water into the brewery, one takes beer out. When we switch beers in the pipe, we need to clean it with special soap.

“If a beer hijacker makes the mistake of tapping the pipe during a cleaning phase, they get that solution instead of beer.

Around here, we call that Heineken.”

 

The New Favorite?

I was certain my new Czech pal said he liked the Deschutes Pilsner so I stopped at New Seasons on the way home and bought a six pack for $14.00 give or take.

While I’m strongly against paying that much for a six pack, it was the cost of research.

I bought two six packs, one for ‘research’ and one to take him when I picked up my amp.

Turns out my certainty was not that accurate.

 Guy: I was telling you about Kirkland Lager from Costco. It’s made by the same company.

He went into the house and brought back a can of his fave.

 

Guy: This is the one, but thank you for bringing the other.

 

It hasn’t been around too long, but it lived up to its reviews.

 

• Pretty much a Pilsner guy for the past dozen years or so. I will venture our to the lighter lagers as well. Pilsner Urquel, Stella Artois, Grolsch, Icicle Creek Pilsner, Bitburger. I was amazed at the taste of the Kirkland Lager. Just enough crispness, great flavor all-around. Yes- it is in a can, but I always pour mine in a referidgerated glass anyway. Price/performance- 10/10.

Passing Grade?

On the way back home I bought another six of King Crispy for comparison.

Kirkland won in a close call.

My next Costco run included three boxes, three half-racks, at $12.00 each.

The math was intriguing.

$12 for twelve beers, or $14 for six beers.

The winner was Kirkland Lager, the loser was my beer gut.

 

PS:

What to do?

Make a plan: keep the boxes out of the fridge and warm to avoid the casual, ‘Well lookie here, a beer.’

And stop hogging down food like I haven’t eaten in a week.

 

PSS:

If a beer is on the schedule, put one in the fridge for later.

What’s your plan after stacking a few boxes?

Learning about the lager took me back to the dock sales at the Portland Brewery in NW where mislabeled cases of twenty-four beers sold for ten dollars each.

My wife after seeing ten boxes stacked in the garage: What is going on here?

Me: Gifts for our friends.

Wife: My friends don’t drink beer.

Me: Mine do.

Wife: You don’t have any friends.

Me: Then I’ll make some. Cheers, honey.