Expanding Your Libation Horizons Beyond Ball Park Beer

With sports and the viewing thereof is the accompanying libations and repasts. While much could be written on the merits of ballpark nachos or hot dogs (Fenway Franks, Dodger Dogs, etc.) this article focuses strictly on enhancing your sporting diet from the world of adult beverages, specifically your choice of beers.

...First let me preface this with the disclaimer that I am not advocating drinking to excess. You need to exercise personal responsibility and if you're not of legal drinking age, you need to wait until you are. Where I've linked to brewery sites, I've directed only to their homepage without circumventing any "over 21" messages...

Now, onto my scheduled conversation... Yes, this important beverage, libation if you will, is an integral part of a balanced sporting diet. No sporting event is complete without one. Yet, so few have actually progressed beyond the ball park $6 Coors Light or Budwieser. My mission here is to expand the discussion. Look, if you're buying 2 ball park beverages, you'll be far ahead buying one simple six pack of each of the following. My dear reader, you shan't go wrong with a bit of experimentation in your life and a bit of love for the most important sporting beverage going.

If you're looking for a Budweiser perspective - perhaps you've got the label memorized - this is not the article for you. Keep going pal. I'm not here to talk about which is better, Coors or Miller. Forget it. No, tonight is connoisseur's night.

Regional Favorites: If you're a New England type, you should be able to find these brands near you, although, perhaps with a bit of driving.

Wachusett Brewery Blueberry Ale Light, refreshing. A nice wheat flavor with a hint of blueberry. Not overly fruity. Very nice served from the tap, particularly if your local publick house serves it up with some fruit in the pint. If you're looking for a brewery tour, Wachusett does have them. They're located in Westminster, MA along Route 140. Pick yourself up a refillable growler - none better than straight from the brewery. The Beer Advocate doesn't think very highly of this, my all time fave, but does give it an "83" worth a try.

Belfast Bay Lobster Ale A very yummy red ale, not dissimilar to George Killians, with the exception that it's probably a little more robust and a little less smooth. The Bowdoin College website says it's a little bitter, and I do have to agree there, although that author doesn't particularly like reds and this one does. Belfast Bay does not currently have a website.

Magic Hat #9 This, to coin a phrase, is one yummy beer. Magic Hat Brewery is located in Burlington, VT. #9 is an apricot/peachy tasting beer. Very light. Again, The Beer Advocate gives one of my all time faves a metza metz review at 83. If you like "fruity" beers, you should give this one a try. Magic Hat is also a lot more widely available than the other two - Wachusett really only serves Massachusetts, Belfast Bay serves Maine, New Hampshire and quite frankly I'm not sure where else.

National Labels & Imports: These are the brews that round out my favorites, in no particular order.

Anchor Steam Beer San Francisco's Anchor Brewing serves up this wonderful, orange color, lightly hoppy beer. It has a strong citrus flavor, but not bitter. The Beer Advocate gives it an 85 or recommended.

Lone Star Beer of Pabst Brewing no less. God forbid I suggest the consumption of Pabst, but Lone Star is a nice light beer. Goes nicely with Tex/Mex. My Life is Beer.com seems to give it a general thumbs up. I can't suggest this is the highest quality stuff available, but it is not "Pabst."

Negra Modelo A dark, but light tasting beer from south of the border. Groupo Modelo's the company bringing us Corona - another quality, but very common beer that I won't discuss but will recommend - dark offering. Knowing it comes from South of the Border, you can't read too much into the darkness as I can't imagine too many folks living in subtropical climates are too interested in heavy beer. A very good beer for Mexican, Tex/Mex type grub (say your platter of nachos). The Beer Advocate gives it an 81 - worth a try.

Worth mentioning Worthy of note are of course the higher quality national and import brands that you can get anywhere worth their salt. Sam Adams Boston Lager, a dark and heavy beer wonderful for those cold tailgating nights at Gillette; Corona Extra, perfect for any parrothead looking for a little touch of summer; and of course Molson Golden.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my thoughts on this most important of elixers. I do trust this excursion into the finer points of chosing a quality beverage to have on hand for those "break your heart" moments like, I don't know, being swept in 5 games by the Yankees in your own stadium, or those celebratory moments such as oh say a last second kick to win a super bowl has been helpful.

Happy libating!