Okay.
A quick story. As you all know, THHGs is out here in Vegas these days and soon will be pulling stakes for the Great Colorado Beer Tour and other places east. We’ve spent a lot of time seeking out new things here, and have happened upon a chain restaurant / bar whose big hook is the loud Classic Rock (yeah!) and many beers on tap. At any one time, they have 130 - 160 different offerings On The Line, as it were. (Know what chain I’m talking about? See pic above for name. Get it right? You win another tour of the THHGs website!)
They also have 2 Happy Hours per day, one during afternoon hours, and another that starts at 11PM, with half price on most pints and most (very large, very tasty) appetizers. Now, you know that we’re not big on chains here at The Happy Hour Guys, but there is definitely a deal to be had here. Can you stand Very Loud Music? A somewhat Fratty atmosphere? Okay then - after 11, the beer is affordable, so is the food, and both taste extremely good.
But the substance of this entry is not about the place itself, but what I witnessed there the other night. As I stood there, mouth watering, trying to decide between a Deschutes Black Butte Porter and a Rogue Shakespeare Stout, a person sauntered up to the bar, glanced briefly at the huge menu of different well-crafted beers, looked at the bartender, and ordered a Bud Lite.
(Deep breath. Count to ten. Neither one working.)
WTF? Would you go to Baskin Robbins and order Vanilla Ice Cream?
Now we understand that a huge list of beers you may never have heard of can be incredibly daunting. But it can also be (try this one out, folks) incredibly exciting!
Variety is the spice of life: There is a reason that hackneyed phrase holds up over the years. But variety in booze always seems to be something that people are scared of. We find over and over in the booze industry that once one selects a particular brand as being “theirs”, they stay with it... for life. And that’s just sad. With all these people out there creating incredible beers, wines, and distilled products one after another, why not walk a new path for a moment? There’s nothing scary or distasteful here - if you don’t like it, turn around and go back to the old familiar way; but trust us, these new tastes are not to be missed.
Become a Declaimer of Drink. A Singer of Sauce. A Poet of Pub Culture. Build your repertoire of tastes, stories, and phrases. It is truly an honorable path to walk, easy to start upon, and as in any great philosophy, it is all about the journey.
To that person who ordered the Macro-macro Brew: We here at THHGs forgive you, just this once. But it is so easy to amend your ways: Try something new! You will not, will not, will not regret it. Cheers!