My First Taste of Cheap Beer and What It Really Meant
Posted by Roger the Beerist at 10/3/2008 2:15 PM 
Categories: Gray Hunter,The Session,life,Don't Rightly Know/Not Sure
Categories: Gray Hunter,The Session,life,Don't Rightly Know/Not Sure
Herein lies Bottled Llama Brewing's contribution to The Session. For details on this month's topic, see the Bathtub Brewery. To learn more about the Session, click here.
After searching for my first memory of tasting beer, I decided it must have been when I was about twelve, maybe thirteen. (No one panic, this is not advocating underage drinking). I was with my dad at the house of a family friend. I vaguely remember being outside on a porch. There was a big Igloo-like picnic cooler nearby. It was full of ... wait for it ... Old Milwaukee.
Our family had moved to the Four Corners region of New Mexico circa 1981. My dad had a janitorial business and followed the work to a little town called Aztec. It was about twenty minutes away from Farmington, which was the 'big' town. It had a mall, you know; that's also where all the cleaning jobs were. I was in second grade. It was also a place full of cowboys - and their hats and their boots and their cheap beer. I'm glad I was not contaminated by those proclivities.
But many people were so contaminated and we even befriended them. One was the family friend mentioned at the outset. He had a double-wide mobile home situated on a good sized tract of land and, of course, horses. He always tried to be a friend to me, so I guess I won't complain much about his bucolic character.
Old Milwaukee was the beer he drank. My dad is not really fond of beer. He just drank it that day to be polite. Or maybe because he just doesn't know how to say no. He's not the most socially savvy person, eh. Anyway, that day on the porch he ended up with an open can and he and Joe thought I might want to try it. So I did.
Now this was some twenty-five years ago; I do not remember exactly what I thought the beer tasted like (I only know what I think of it now). I do remember that I didn't like it much. I think I must have made an odd face when I took a sip because I vaguely remember them laughing - you know, that adult laugh when a kid does something cute. That same laugh I use on my kids now, that innocuous chuckle that says, 'I wish you'd stay a kid longer; soon you'll be grown up and we'll be sharing a beer and talking about adult life and that's just not right.' That's a lot to say in a little laugh.
I don't remember what we were talking about or what time of year it was or the time of day or anything. I just know that I didn't really like that fuzzy beer stuff, but it was cool to be allowed to drink it and hang out with the men.
Hi, this is dondon of mustlovebeer.com a social network for beer lovers to chat and share knowledge about their favorite Beers.
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