Published April 23, 2014 at 10:00 a.m.
I like Budweiser. There, I said it. And while that statement might get me banned from the roughly 4,583 craft breweries here in the People's Republic of Beer Snobs, I confess I do feel unburdened. Blasphemy is fun! So let's try this on: While I think the Alchemist's Heady Topper is a decent beer, I don't get the frothing fever it provokes in many local drinkers. Nor did I totally understand the Switchback craze a few years back. I've always found Long Trail to be overrated. And Magic Hat Brewing Company's #9, on my palate, simply sucks.
Man, I shoulda done this years ago.
Now, before righteous beer geeks start brewing up outraged letters to the editor, seething over why the paper's music editor is editorializing about suds, let me say this: I love beer. And I love craft beer. I worked as a bartender at a beer bar in Boston in my early twenties. More recently, I worked for several years in various capacities at a Vermont brewery. And I'm still close with several of my brewing pals from those days, many of whom now brew for, or own, some of the hot, new Vermont brew houses. In other words, some of my best friends are black IPA brewers.
If you open the beer fridge in my house, you'll typically find it stocked with local microbrews or offerings from the likes of Stone Brewing Company, Lagunitas and Founders. But you know what else you'll find? Bud. And PBR. And, especially if my dad is coming over to watch the Sox, Miller High Life.
You know what that says? I might have a drinking problem. It also says that, while your bar should absolutely "proudly not serve Anheuser-Busch products," don' t look at me like I just dropped a racial slur if I miss that sign and ask for a Bud Light. It says that, while your 120 IBU, bourbon-cask-aged Imperial Rye IPA looks lovely in that chalice and is probably a beautiful complement to locally raised rabbit roulade, sometimes I just want a regular ole beer in a pint glass with my burger.
Most importantly, it says that, while the explosion of craft beer in Vermont is a blessing, there is still a shelf for straightforward "shitty" beer in our collective beer fridge.
To expand on that thesis, I offer a six-pack of familiar beers that for various reasons have become unfashionable, bordering on sacrilegious, to drink in the presence of craft-beer fanatics. I'm going to tell you why you hate them, and why you maybe shouldn't. Bottoms up!
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