I’m a creature of habit. Anyone who knows me knows this, to their great exasperation. But every now and then, to keep people on their toes, I change my habits.
As people who know me also know, I like beer and the beer I’ve been drinking for ages is Stella Artois. Don’t ask me why. Back when I tried it, it clicked. And I’ve been drinking it ever since. However …
For some time now, I’ve been thinking I should change, not because I had lost my Stella fixation but because another aspect of my personality – let’s call it the joiner – has been trying to persuade me to go another route. That route is “local.”
Like many people, I like the idea of local – local food, local news, local … beer.
Here in New Brunswick, we have Moosehead out of Saint John. And we have Pump House, out of Moncton. And from Fredericton (where I live), we have Picaroons. Unfortunately, my Stella focus has held me back. But now that has changed.
I was at the Urban Deli in Saint John on Saturday – they’re a restaurant opening on Monday and are owned by a good friend of mine, Liz. One of her goals with her restaurant is to be as local as possible. Part of that has been to go with the local breweries: Moosehead, Pump House and Picaroons. So when I was down at the deli for a “preview evening” prior to their opening on Monday, I went with a local beer: Pump House Cadian.
Today I went to liquor store and bought more. Yes, I liked it! I’m drinking it right now.
Is my Stella on the ropes? Possibly, possibly …
I am not a connoisseur of beer. If you’ll pardon the boorishness of it, I like what I like. I wouldn’t know an ale from a lager from a stout. (Well, actually, I do know a stout. But ales and lager? I dunno.) But I do know I like this Cadian from Pumphouse. They describe it as, “A golden coloured ale lending itself to the wonderful malty aromas layered with just a kiss of spicy hops for a clean, smooth finish …” You can read a bit more here.
Now, I’ve tried Moosehead. Here in New Brunswick they’re fairly ubiquitous. But while I’ve tried some of the Moosehead brews, and generally like them, none has swayed me yet.
As for my local brewery, I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t tried Picaroons yet but it now rests at the top of my list of things to do. I’ll probably start with either their Best Bitter or Blonde Ale. As a general rule, I like beer that tastes like beer (whatever that means). Once again, that’s the boor in me speaking. As with coffee, I like things to stay true to themselves and not add additional flavours to jazz them up (like lime).
Yes, I know that brewing techniques and ingredients affect what the final brew tastes like.
(If this reads as if it ends aburptly, that is because I was interrupted as I was writing it. For what it’s worth, I wrote this yesterday afternoon but didn’t post it till this morning. So, no I’m not drinking beer at 9:00 in the morning. Morning equals coffee in my world.)
Follow Writelife on Twitter