As you may know, it is Brew Week here in Athens. Ordinarily, that little tidbit would just float right on over my head, as I am not one to imbibe. However, it was due to my lack of interest in beer that I was the perfect candidate to attend the Ladies Night at the Oak Room where they held the perfectly named event for me, So you think you don't like beer?.
Walking into the event, my answer was Yes
I honestly do think I don't like beer. When I was an undergraduate, I was an RA for a couple years and I assisted plenty of underage residents in dumping their stashes of cheap beer down the drain and all I remember is that beer smelled like urine. Why would I want to drink something that smelled like that? Granted, higher quality beer probably smells (and tastes) better, but on a limited income, I chose to spend my money on movie tickets rather than alcohol.
When I got to the Oak Room and saw the other people, I got a little nervous. I decided I was going to give beer a chance - at least I knew I wasn't going to be sampling cheap beer, so I had more of an open mind. I was actually looking forward to trying beers from microbreweries here in Ohio. That counts as supporting the local economy, right?
Because I had never been to a beer tasting before, I felt a bit out of place. All but one of the other participants were already fans of beer. Over the course of the event, we were given three beers to sample: Raspberry Wheat and Bombshell Blonde from Barley's Brewing Company and Lawnmower Lime Lite from Elevator Brewing Company.
As much as I wanted to like all the beers, I was really only a fan of the Lawnmower Lime Lite. It's not that I completely disliked the other beers; they just had a stronger, more bitter aftertaste - the main reason why I'm not a fan of beer in the first place.
I walked away with a better understanding of beer. The emcee of the evening, Fermented Chef Jim Leverentz, shared some good background information about the different beers, such as how the amount of hops affects the bitterness and that a beer that has more wheat in it is often lighter (not in calories, but in color). He also told us, There's no excuse to drink a beer because it's there. I'm going to take that sentiment to heart - there is no reason to drink crappy beer if there are better quality beers to be had.
I'm still on the fence about whether I like beer, but I think I will be more open-minded about trying different kinds in the future. Bottoms up!
kl811202@ohiou.edu 3
Culture
Katie Labovitz
