I guess I’m just a queer beer lover. Queer as in unconventional.

Over time I’ve found that I like beer that neighborhood bars don’t carry. I’ll find one in a restaurant that some distributor has left as a promotion to see if it will sell. They have the table covered with ads, so I’ll give it a go. I’ve found some that I like very much, but when I try to get one at the club, they look at me like I have three heads. Bud, Coors, Miller, and all their variations are what most people order. I get “the look” when I order a Heiniken. Yeah, the look like I’m queer – the other kind of queer.

Everything started with beer. Even good whiskey has to be beer sometime. I have lots of whiskey. But I don’t even keep beer at home. I like to have a beer or two when I’m out, like Grandad…

So if you are in the West, and you see a lone figure dressed in oilskins from head to toe [with a pipe sticking out from under the hat brim] supping a pint in the pouring rain – that’s me.

But when I’m home, it’s one less thing to add to my gut.

I’ve also found that I’m allergic to something in the darker heavier beers. Like the dark Sam Adams? Forget it, stuffy nose, itchy eyes, now that’s fun after a couple beers.

Obviously, I’m not a beer afficiando. I know what I like. Oh, I’ll drink the others if you’re buying, but if I’m out someplace where I won’t get the look, I’ll buy these:

Tequiza – pale beer flavored with aguave.

Miller Chiller – just had my first and second last night. Like Tequiza, supposedly with a taste of lime and salt.

Hop’s Pale Ale – local brew pub that’s out of business made this.

LeCheval Blanc – Quebec City, haven’t had one since.

Red Stripe – Negril, Jamaica, but available locally.

The first beer babe:
(Update: once again I am cursed by the lost image files!)

PS: I’m the same way about wine. Our favorite is Oliver Red. At least it has a cork, but it wouldn’t bother me if it didn’t, actually I’d prefer it that way so we wouldn’t have to drink the whole bottle at one sitting.

UPDATE: Well lookie here, a beer that will lower your cholesterol.

The secret to Heart Start beer lies in two parts: plant sterol and barley beta glucan. The FDA states that the plant sterol reduces overall and LDL cholesterol numbers.

So now we gots milk and beer that will lower cholestrol. Modern medicine and marketing never ceases to amaze and amuse me.

DIGRESSION: I once got in trouble in high school English class for quoting Ogden Nash: Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker.

UPDATE 2: Kid’s beer in Japan.

UPDATE 3: I now have a six pack Miller Chiller bottles at home.  Only because my wife decided she likes it.  Great, now I like CHICK queer beer.