House Beer

I spent Sunday afternoon pretty much neck deep in a pool. Occasionally I’d get out, drink a little beer (stay hydrated, kids) and then get back in the water. For the most part, I don’t drink beer that often. I like beer. Buried in the basement is some homebrew equipment. I made several homemade cases back in the day. Some were good, some ended up being over carbonated and turned into what I would call a “beer flavored spritzer.” Some beers are delicious. Plus, hot weather and beer go together very well. Unfortunately for me, over time I have kind of aged out of beer. Some beers make me very sleepy sometimes followed by a headache and others go straight for the headache. It’s kind of like being hungover from one beer about 3 hours after I drank it. The curling club has Stella on tap – it’s a decent beer (on tap), but a guaranteed headache for me. I spaced Sunday’s beer drinking well enough to avoid any headache. I was a little sleepy around 7, but that might not have been the beer’s fault.

Even though I don’t drink beer regularly, that doesn’t stop me from having some strong opinions. For example, I’m opposed to fruit in beer. if a beer requires a piece of fruit to be added to it to make it drinkable, it’s a crappy beer in my book. Corona and Blue Moon fall in this category for me. And I don’t get the current sour beer trend. I still like to keep at least a six pack around the house in case a guest would enjoy a beer . I needed a beer that:

1. I thought tasted good

2. Doesn’t give me an instant headache

3. Goes well with pizza

4. Is able to be enjoyed by people that are kind of into beer but

5. Not intimidating to someone that just wanted a decent beer – nothing fancy.

 

After some trial and error, I have settled on what I call my House Beer. My House Beer is Bass Pale Ale. It’s a 12 pack I can get in a supermarket. It’s good enough for people that are into beer to enjoy, and it’s not a flavor bomb so people that mostly buy Bud or Coors enjoy a bottle of it too.

Anyone else crazy enough to overthink the 12 pack in their basement fridge? If so, I’d like to know what it is. The right beer probably will not bump the long reigning House Beer, but the it might expand my extremely limited beer list.