I’m going to offer a counterpoint to Marty’s take on the warm beer experiment. Like Marty, I experimented with real ales for several days at the start of the trip. But I’ve got a different view, one that came about a few days ago.
My malt beverage epiphany occurred at a pub in Cheltenham. After a long day of walking 19 miles in the rain and wind, we went into a pub after a spicy Thai dinner. Warm beer just wasn’t going to cut it. So I asked the barmaid for a Guinness. She looked at me, smiled warmly, and replied with a phrase that I will not soon forget:
“Do you want a Guinness Extra Cold?”
My reply: “One for each hand, please.”
And then came the epiphany.
Guinness, probably the most savvy beer marketing company in the world, was putting as much marketing distance between their product and warm beers as they possibly could. Not only can you get a cold Guinness, you can get a Guinness Extra Cold.
You see, Guinness has figured out the nasty little secret about warm beer:
Nobody REALLY likes warm beer.
Don’t get me wrong. The ales are fascinating. It’s neat that they’re mostly from really local breweries. It’s brilliant the way they they’re part of the pub culture. And the best of them taste wonderful. The whole cachet around them is neat.
So, there’s nothing wrong with drinking a warm beer. I’m sure warm beer drinkers enjoy drinking them. But do they really like it?
I guess I’m thinking that drinking warm beer is a little like owning a Prius. There are a lot of good reasons to own a Prius. Besides the gas mileage, there’s the whole cachet thing. You get invited to some great parties. You get the best parking spots at Whole Foods, the knowing smiles from other Prius owners while sitting ever so quietly at a stoplight, and you can get NPR on every button on the radio (even those marked AM.) The cars do what they do very, very well. I know Prius owners (including my wife) love their cars. But like the question for warm beer drinkers, do you think Prius owners REALLY like driving them?
See what I’m saying?
As for me, I’m concluding that what I really like is my Guinness Extra Cold.
And Porsches.
Glad you figured that out. I think we already knew about the warm beer. We'll test your theory thursday - moved golf out because of rain. Does a prius run on warm beer? Maybe it will all work out in the long run.... By the way, the security on this blog has qualified me to be a TSA inspector. Seeya at the airport when you get home.
ReplyDeleteYou going to run the X ray machines? How did that interview go?
DeleteGood point, but a REAL beer drinker has room for both... and a couple after that.
ReplyDeleteSure Al can get real cutesy with the Prius analogies, and sounds like a typical American consumer, -" give me what they tell me i want". - But he actually has an unspoken secret passion for "warm beer". - Even though it was a bit colder than usual, he had two with me (out of the bottle - Bath Ales,) when we went to dinner at the Farm restaurant, - THEN HE TOOK ANOTHER ONE HOME WITH US TO DRINK AT OUT B&B THAT NIGHT. - HE IS AFRAID OF BEING CALLED AN INDIVIDUAL!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, we have finished the hike in bath, which is a really neat Roman inspired town, and have checked out the local pubs, and actually visited one for more "education" on real Ales. - After dinner tonight, i will continue my Experiment with a whole new round of Bitters.
The relevant part of this comment is that the beer was "a bit colder than usual." That is, it came out of a cooler! Not warm. Not close. And Marty loved it.
DeleteAlan
ReplyDeleteI understand exactly what you are saying about a Prius and warm beer. I like my beer ice cold and Deb and I went to look at and test drive a Mini over the weekend. Didn't get it, but it was really fun to drive. Still looking. Bath is an amazing city, get me some good pictures of the architecture.
John, you need to go back and get the Mini. Life's too short.
ReplyDelete