Old Friends

This made me LOL. Good on ya, mate!

 

Thanks, @beertunes, this thread has made me feel old. On the one hand, I remember (and often enjoyed) a number of the retired beers mentioned here. On the other hand, some people are referring to "new" beers like Fresh Squeezed and Red Chair as their "old friends."

Sigh.

 

I'm only 35 but the Red Chair and Fresh Squeezed comments made me feel old.

Another old friend of mine is Alaskan Amber. That was one of my gateways into legal beer drinking.

 

I'll back you up here. I was at a Mariners game about 15 years back or so, not long after Safeco had opened, and ordered my first African Amber. I don't know what the hell happened, but it was one of the fruitiest flavors I had ever experienced from a beer without adjuncts - absolutely blew my mind, as it still had such a solid malt base. I didn't have any slakeless thirst to magnify this taste, and it was before I agreed to let my friend to throw some of that "The Man" sauce on my Dixie's BBQ, before knowing what that was all about.

 

Ya'll some geezers. I can't even participate in the other thread now.

I'll stick with my Red Chairs.

 

Don't listen to that old dotard, @drone. You were right. Senility is definitely starting to creep in around here.

That being said, I'm genuinely beguiled by vicarious nostalgia, and these marvelous tales of drinking days and mythical beers from long ago which have lately been narrated by our elder statesmen. They have tended to encompass times when I was just a kid, back in New England, and the principal thoughts in my head were homework, soccer practice, and my girlfriend (when I had one). I barely knew what beer was then, and many more years would elapse before I became acquainted with it. And many more after that would elapse before, while living here, I finally became acquainted with the good stuff.

As long as the geezers have a few marbles left, they've got so very much to teach us whippersnappers...

 

So what's your excuse?

 

Haven't had an Alaskan Amber in a long time, going to have to pick one up again. It's fun to revisit and learn both how much your tastes have changed and often how many of these still have a solid place in today's beer society.

One of my goals this year is to revisit more classics

 

Yep. That's mainly why I do it, along with giving some exposure to my local beer scene, which tends to go somewhat underreported.

 

Grabbed a Supergoose can for the Hawks game tomorrow. Oh yeah.

 

Black Butte porter is simultaneously the best porter for an entry level beer drinker and just the best readily available porter in the country, IMHO. Always like to have some on hand if I can.

Used to love Ninkasi beers, particularly Tricerahops, around 2009/2010, but then as someone previously mentioned their overall quality really took a dive.

 

Agree wholeheartedly. This is a beer that I will continue to go back to again and again.

 

Yes, that's some good stuff...

Whoa, that takes me back. How could I have forgotten about Alaskan Baltic Porter? That was one of my first "limited release" beer purchases, as I recall. I was really into Alaskan at the time, saw one of these bombers at the grocery while visiting family in SEA, the description sounded awesome, so I bought one bottle on a whim. Mind. Blown.

Stopped by the same grocer on my way home to ID to get a couple more to take back, but all gone. And I wasn't familiar enough at that point with SEA area bottle shops to know where else to look.

When I ran into it again the following year, I did not make the same mistake. But somehow I still manage to make that mistake of only buying one bottle with other releases... "Oof. $19.99. I really only need one." (No, you fool: you will regret it later!)

-- Nathan

 

I found a bunch of the Baltic Porter in a clearance cart at the back of a Safeway once. The Smoked Porter often ends up there, too. Just a heads up.