There are generally three kinds of beer drinkers. First there are the people who say they drink beer, but rarely do, and only do so when the conditions are just right for them to be in the mood for a bottle or pint.
Then there are beer drinkers who are defined because they usually have a favorite "go to" beer and generally drink for the same reasons every time: socially to party and/or get hammered, such as at the ball game or some other event, or they just like to drink beer and do so regularly anytime and anywhere. Some of these people might even be considered alcoholics, but who am I to judge? They are still my fellow beer drinkers! Anyway, these are the "masses", or people who drink the mainstream commercial swill I call "mass produced, watered down fizzy yellow excuse for a lager". You know, the stuff by AB or Miller and to a lesser extent, other names such as Corona, Rolling Rock, etc. come to mind. There are quite a few, but they are all generally the same.
For many years I fell into that second category. After all, my "go to" beer used to be Coors Light Silver Bullets in the 15-pack cans. But as I got older and my tastes began to change I wanted to cry out... "there's got to be more than this!" I eventually felt like I was in the grip of the big beer conglomerates and a slave to lackluster fizzy yellow beer. But at the same time I knew the "craft beer movement" was just getting into full swing, yet I was afraid to try anything new (again, those damn "mega breweries"). Just like most other people who were slaves to the onslaught of TV commercials during football games, billboards, magazine ads and the like, not to mention the peer pressure that this was what everyone else was drinking. So in essence, I essentially stopped drinking beer after I got married. It wasn't until a few years ago that a very close friend of mine introduced me to a brave new world and I have never looked back. FREEDOM! For a while I felt guilty as if I were sneaking around behind the backs of "Big Beer", but I digress...
Finally, there are those people who hold beer in a certain light. People who simply see beer as a part of "life itself". An elixir of life -one of the great pleasures God has bestowed upon man. He gave man the ingredients, means, and inspiration to create and enjoy what he has created. And just as important, share that creation with others to experience. These are people who consider beer as sacred and to be respected. Why? Because like people, good beer has personality and character. This manifests itself in the qualities, or attributes of the beer's style. And what's interesting about that last statement is the fact that within a style there is an almost unlimited number of differences in each beer.
With that said about the third type of beer drinker, the universe is wide open to try new beers and expand one's horizons to the unconventional mind set that "I can have more than just ONE favorite beer." In fact, I have close to a dozen beers that fit that description, and that in turn fuels my desire to try new beers when and where I can. It could end there, but I also have developed a further zealousness to find and categorize those beers which I consider the "Holy Grail" of all the beers I have yet tasted to date.
These beers are the "best" of the best. To describe that in a nutshell: Beers that simple have all of the characteristics of what I like, but are amplified to a level where I simply sit back after a sip and say, "wow"! That's what its' all about. Right there in that glass. Personifying liquid perfection. Beer that I would have again, and again. Not because it's cheap or "easy to drink", but because that beer touched my senses in a way that other lesser beers simply can't. Can those beers still be enjoyed? Of course, and I do drink them -either intentionally or it might have been something during a tasting that I hadn't tried before and thought "it's not bad, but it's not a... or a..." But they just don't give me butterflies when I am anticipating drinking them as do certain beers such as Stone 10th Anniversary, Hair of the Dog's Doggie Claws, Avery's Maharajah, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Left Coast's Hop Juice, or Harmon Rajah's Royal IPA, to name a few.
And then there's aged beer. Yes, that's right. "Wine people" see that statement and cannot fathom that just like their fine wines, certain beer can be aged. And when aged properly, can truly become something different and better than it was when it was brewed. This can be illustrated by a recent tasting I attended in Washington with a couple of like minded buddies. Part of the reason we did this particular tasting was due to the fact that I came accross an extremely rare opportunity to purchase some select ancient Stone beers. For example, considering that this is 2008, we sampled several aged beers dating back to 1999. A standout was a 2003 Stone Double Bastard that was an experience nothing short of existential.
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