And since we’re all naming our favs, I’ll go ahead and throw in a few of my own: VB (Victoria Bitter) – the REAL Aussie beer; Fischer Blonde (yes, even the French can make a good beer); Pilsner Urquell (can’t beat the original – brewed in Plzen, Czech Rep.); La Gazelle (it may not be as tasty, but it’s cheap & cold, which is a very good thing in Senegal), Chimay (the best Belgian beer I’ve ever had); and Sam Adams, which is by far the best American-brewed beer.

Boring isn’t necessarily bad. In my more adventurous days, I was at a Chicago restaurant that had an extensive collection of imports. Thought I’d try a German Rauchbier; smoked over a hickory fire.

Tasted like bacon grease.

I do enjoy it when in Rome.

I’d rather be almost anything from the New Belgium Brewery… most especially 1554.

And next door in Louisville the old Falls City and Oertel’s 92 beers hit the dust in the late 60s-early 70s as well–always was partial to Oertel’s. When I arrived in Louisville in late 76 the local liquor-store guy near where we lived had secretly stock-piled some for himself in anticipation of the day. Thanks to my Louisvillian ex-college roommate who was a friend of his, he let us buy from his pvt stock and we drank it for a solid year after brewery closed.

I always chuckle at the memory of those “Hey Mabel-Black Label” TV commercials. Carling used to have a promotional life-sized card-board cut-out of Mabel holding that tray and single beer bottle for liquor store displays. Well, the Cuban Missile Crisis hit during our homecoming week at LSU and the DEKEs, instead of building House decs, built a bomb-shelter instead made out of old beer cases, with the sign “To Hell with Homecoming-We’re Building a Bombshelter!” on top. Standing in the doorway entrance beckoning you in was a full-sized Mabel cut-out–tray and all. Typical “Animal House” DEKEs–which they were…but smart animals tho…LOL! (Memories)