(Taking place in Seattle Via NC) So I often have to remind myself that when on a trip for work (or in my general everyday life), not not all of my co-workers are BA's, nor will they plan their day around beer. Today I found myself starving to talk beer with anyone that would listen, most of the time falling upon deaf ears. Thankfully I finally found one clerk of a store who was gracious enough to point me in the direction of a place to get Pliny on tap along with other great beers. My post platform is simple; What experiences have you guys had with being the Lone BA in a group of people? Stories about having great Beer Conversations/moments with complete strangers are welcome as well.
I thought your post was going to be about MIA BA's...if anyone has seen or heard from KeefD or KJGAGNE, let them know I'm thirsty. When I go on vacation, I expect what is expected. I'll seek out the 'better' spots, but don't have a problem drinking what's on hand.
I just got back from vacation in Myrtle Beach, and while I wasn't expecting much in the realm of beer variety in South Carolina, I have to say I was blown away by how awful the beer scene is there. We went to New South Brewing, which was good, but only found one restaurant with their beer on tap. A couple bars had 0 beers on tap (I got a bottle of Sierra Nevada at one and asked for a glass and was told the bar doesn't have glasses...wtf?) or had Bud Light or the like and Landshark Lager. Oh well, had to remind myself I was there for the beach, not the beer, and that some places still aren't with the times so to speak. Oh how spoiled I am in Colorado, where there's pretty much great beer anywhere (and someone to talk to about it ) Cheers.
Have to find beer focused places with good food, which is sadly rare. Most beer bars are content with low quality, pedestrian stuff. Frozen & reheated pretzels, the same salsa & chips from the distributor as most restaurants have, etc.
I was in the middle of Georgie, no idea where, and my wife and I pulled into a strip mall liquor store to grab some supplies for our upcoming days. Turns out they had a pretty nice selection of craft. One of the guys working there saw me looking intently at all the selections and weighing my options. He approached me and said "I only do this for people that I can tell are REALLY into beer...." then he walked away. Momenets later he returned with a sixer of Hopslam. Not being able to get Hopslam up my way and knowing how high of a regard it is held in by the BA community I didn't miss the opportunity. That dude working there was badass and I will forever be grateful to him.
I'll go to Seattle and Portland in September with my wife and brother in law (neither one likes beer), hopefully I'll meet a BA who points me in the right direction with local beers
I do my research ahead of time and subliminally plant suggestions of good places to eat, while knowing all along that it has the most taps of anywhere in the city
"I just got back from vacation in Myrtle Beach, and while I wasn't expecting much in the realm of beer variety in South Carolina, I have to say I was blown away by how awful the beer scene is there." You went to the wrong part of SC for craft beer. Myrtle Beach caters to the adjunct lager tourist crowd, the kind of people the Corona beach commercials target. Next time take a 2 hr drive to Charleston. Pretty good emerging craft beer scene there.
Was up in SF for work, had to leave my group of coworkers in search of a good beer solo. Made it over to Toronado where I met some cool guys and of course the tamale lady and ended up sipping on some cable car courtesy of some fine gents there. Worked out well IMO, still have big thanks to Brian for that!
Took the family to Austria following a week in Bamberg with the in-laws. Thought my beer pursuits were over after leaving Bavaria. As luck would have it, not 200 yards from the hotel was an excellent little brewery, Kristall Brauerei, producing a Pils and an unfiltered Zwickelbier. Sometimes you just get lucky.
I'm going back up north for a weekend in a couple of months to visit family, and not only am I going to check an empty suitcase to haul back a ton of goodies I can't get in the area, my aunt's girlfriend is apparently a bit of a beer geek, and we're going to go on a nice NYC pub crawl, and I'm not driving! It'll be a good weekend for sure.
