Beer.

It’s a beverage just about every sailor has consumed. Liberty or those beer rations perhaps, old and skanky or fresh from the tap, it’s all but synonymous with squids.

Growing up in the home of Budweiser and Falstaff, your idea beer gets a bit skewed. Heck, even in Great Lakes the primary beer was Bud Light.

Sailing to foreign countries and along the Eastern seaboard opened my eyes to lots of new things. Beer varieties were no small part of that. Who knew about Moose Head, Guinness, and more existed?

A truly novel experience for me was my first taste of Guinness stout. Sure man, you’re a six pack drinker in a night. That’s about one Guinness. It’s a good thing I could walk back to the boat.

Few things compare to watching the head settle on a tall pint of Guinness the first time. Dark, rich, and heady, it hits the mouth hard. The stomach harder.

Taste romping didn’t stop there.  I sampled local brews wherever we landed. Usually a bottle was all I could afford; sometimes that was plenty.  The big exception came in Belgium. Someone should have warned me Brussels has a brewhouse on every corner, and sometimes two.

Our couple of days in Brussels, we sample exquisite pastries and chocolates, bought teddy bears from one of the oldest manufactures in the world. The locals made us welcome at shops and restaurants but one group was especially welcoming, the tavern owners.

Two days, over a dozen beers, and only my second hangover ever.  It was a rough recovery but I was amazed. The idea of microbrews was still unheard of back home, yet I’d found more varieties of beer in one section of this town than I’d had in a dozen port calls or nights out on the town in St. Louis.

Post Navy

After that began my lifestyle of moderation and sampling. Opening my eyes to beer those many years back has kept me on the lookout for that perfect sip of beer.  Not just one either, but one for a thick steak, one for nachos, and one for sipping at a cafe in the hot sun.

With a glass here and there, I’m proud most of my most recent experience, a beer pairing.  It’s about finding the right beer for different food tastes. Good stuff for another post at my main blog.

What about your tastes?

What’s your most eye opening food, beer or whatever dining experience? Did you first eat seafood while away? Have your first pig’s Spill the beans!

(* the picture is of my wife and yet another beer)