Beer!

Well any visit to another country of course requires a visit to the bars and a sampling of the beers. I myself was looking forward to drinking Bass and Harp from the source since they are English and Irish brews respectively. So I took myself, and some others of course, to the local pubs to sample the beers. The first thing that struck me was that the different beers were all of different alcohol content. Never before have I ever had to factor in how much alcohol was in my beer when making a selection. They seem to be a fan of bitters here, which as the name suggests are not so great in flavor. I did have some that were ok, but I kept looking for Harp and Bass only to never find them. Now Guiness you can find at pretty much every bar in the country, so the lack of Harp was a puzzle since they are made by the same folks. The American beers were interesting as well. They have Budweiser in a bottle at most pubs, and even Corona, but no Miller except Ultra, and none of the Light beers except Coors. And the Coors I only saw at a gay bar which makes no sense since its the most un-gay friendly beer company ever. Apparently they arent socially concious consumers here. So then I went out with a local and I asked him why I never see Harp anywhere, and almost had to slap every Brit I saw the rest of the day. He told me that Harp is not served very many places because it is a lager, and they already have lagers like Fosters. Fosters! As if that was an adequate substitute. Apparently having selection isn't very important. And talk about no national unity when you support an Australian so-so beer over a really good Irish beer. The British beer IQ further came into focus for me when he informed me that Bud Light and Miller Light had been introduced in the UK once before, but people thought the light meant that they had less alcohol in them instead of fewer calories. So really there is no such thing as light beer here. Now I shouldnt say that all pubs have no selection. I did go to one called the PorterHouse that had tons, including Quilmes, the rare Argentinian beer I was introduced to by Rob & Co. at Bar Absinthe in Houston. But if you want something on tap, its very often microbrewery stuff. So I think this country needs a beer reeducation. They make some great beers, and then dont serve them to their own citizens. Its a crime.