Greetings, beer lovers! Happy last Friday of 2022, and once more, for the final time this year, 'tis chingchongchinaman as your semi-friendly guest FNBB host, with esquimaux taking a well-earned break from blogging duties. Since this is the end of the year (well, duh), it's that time of year for newspapers, magazines, etc. to compile "Top 10", "Best of" or "Year in review of (fill in your topic of interest here)" lists on subjects like new restaurants, highlights in sports, or even best new wines or beers (!) for the year. Somewhat (well, OK, barely) related to this idea, self the loser did find a very high-level, "year in review"-ish "industry" video off YT, from the Brewers Association.
BTW, pointless sidebar [among many from 3CM]: this bit from the video sounded curious.
"...in general, distributed sales are slow, with distribution increasingly competitive and challenging. That competition is extended to government affairs, with certain liquor products seeking changes to longstanding tax and regulatory structures. The BA has joined a coalition against these changes, which would put further pressure on craft shelf space."
I didn't know what this meant, until going to teh interwebz and doing what seemed like a reasonable search with this string of terms:
lobbying craft beer shipping distribution 2022 tax structure
One particular hit came up from the Brewing Industry Guide page, with this passage:
“Opposition to Spirits-Based RTD Tax Equivalency
Distilled spirits are generally taxed at a higher rate than beer at the federal and local levels, even when it comes to products of equal alcohol content. Thus, the spirits industry is pushing for what it calls “tax equivalency”—arguing, for example, that the excise taxes should be the same for a 5 percent ABV hard seltzer produced by a brewery and a 5 percent ABV spirit-based canned cocktail produced by a distillery. The BA is united with other beer trade groups, such as the Beer Institute and the National Beer Wholesalers Association, in opposing this tax equivalency at all levels.”
This could make for a separate FNBB in of itself, except that the brain power required to parse this situation to a reasonable degree would probably drain my brain cells unduly. So anyway…
Returning from the digression: since 3CM is King Loser Supreme on DK, he has no such list of his own about "top 10 (or whatever #) beers tried in 2022" to offer for this edition, for very privileged First World reasons possibly to be mentioned later.
Instead, this is more for random musing in how I choose, or don't choose, beers to try out. Certainly compared to all the regulars here, I learned about craft beer quite late in the game. In that context, I'm fairly open-minded enough to try almost anything once. Or in more practical terms, if I feel like buying beer, either at a restaurant or a store, on a whim (which is most of the time), my first thought is to ask "what haven't I tried yet here?". So, for example, on a recent get-together at this STL establishment (don't freak out at the name - said family does have a relatively non-wingnut side to it, and the brewing establishment is one manifestation of said side), I tried these flavors that I hadn't had before:
* Coconut Coffee Stout
* Fruited Sour Oak
Normally, I'm not a sours or a stouts kind of fellow, but again, I'll try almost any beer once. They were both good, in their way, although I would rank the Fruited Sour Oak a bit higher. Having food with each helped, of course, as I'm enough of a rationalist imbiber to know not to get tanked on an empty stomach (at least most of the time).
So tonight's featured beer isn't quite the one I had in mind, which is back at the ranch (and which I do plan to feature in a future FNBB, should I do another guest-blog down the line), but instead, as you can all see from the above picture, a “Business Casual” from
Well Crafted Beer Company. This was a holiday gift from my brother, who admitted after I got teh beerz that he wasn’t sure what I liked. In the event, this was a good choice, as I could also share it with my dad, who is not into craft beer in the slightest at all. “Business Casual” is a pilsner, and has a slight tinge of bitterness that goes with authentic pilsner, vs. the more mellowed out American variety (at least from what I understand).
FWIW, and getting to the First World mention earlier: if things go to improvised plan, self the loser is on the road at the time of this diary’s posting, as opposed to back home a few days back. (No prizes for guessing why.) If the interwebz gods are not totally displeased with me, I might be able to follow up in semi-real time, depending on internet access in transit. But if that doesn’t work out, then I’ll follow up with very belated comments. So it goes.
With that, time to turn it over one last time for 2022 to you folks. What are you sipping tonight? Anyone brewing their own? Any outstanding beers for your personal “Top 10” list for 2022, or recommendations for other folks? Happy New Year early, and best (Democratic) wishes for 2023, as we're all going to need them (on our side, of course)....