If I had to choose between enlightenment, success, fulfillment or a tall glass of beer, I’d probably choose the beer thinking it a shorter path to the first three items.

To say that beer plays a large part in my life and my enjoyment of same is an understatement. I’m an avid enthusiast, regular drinker and sometimes brewer of the stuff, so it’s almost always on my mind or in my hands.

This state of being would explain why I’ve been paying such close attention to the recent spate of television ads touting Anheuser-Busch’s latest malt beverage (I hasten to encourage them by calling it “beer”) Bud Light Golden Wheat. Maybe you’ve seen the ads too. If not, soak up the sudsy subtlety of sex between a shock of wheat and an anthropomorphised Bud Light bottle.

I’m not really sure what to think about Bud Light Golden Wheat, especially considering AB also markets Shock Top Golden Wheat (aggressively on tap, without indication that it’s an AB beer, but some kind of faux craft beer), Michelob Bavarian Style Wheat, Michelob Honey Wheat & Hop Hound Amber Wheat (another faux craft beer).

I understand that AB is threatened by the craft beer movement and is eager to bring Bud/Bud Light drinkers some tastier options and wheat beer is a pretty good on-ramp to some fairly tasty destinations. Good for Spring and Summer drinking; refreshing but with some spicy and flavorful varieties; smooth like other lagers and not too bitter (so as not to offend those who fear hard water and floral hops). It makes good business sense for them, if not the best beer for drinkers.

To fight back against the mainstreaming of wheat beers by watered-down brews/breweries (pun intended) I’ve been drinking some very traditional brews recently and I’m happy (and blog bound) to share the results.

The first (and best) beer on the list is Schneider-Weisse Hefe Weizen, a fantastic, dark wheat beer that has all the thirst-quenching power and spicy accents I love about wheat beers (German AND Belgian). You could do far worse (see AB beers above) than Schneider-Weisse, the originator of this style and the kind of folks who have sections on their site called “How to take good care of the beer” and a Wheat beer lexicon. Heady stuff (Pun AND double entendre intended. I’m on a ROLL today!).

Before drinking their Hefe Weizen, I don’t think I’d actually drunk one of their beers before and if that beer is any indication, I’m very sorry I haven’t. It looked beautiful in the glass and was even better to drink. You’ll just have to believe me when I say I got the perfect pour on the first try. ;-)

[Bonus links for those that enjoy the more science-oriented pleasures of beer-drinking, some videos about pouring wheat beers: Wheat Beer Pouring Ritual, How to Pour a Wheat Beer, Joe Sixpack Beer Minute - Pouring Hefe and the aptly titled "crazy german guy shows how do they pour a wheat beer". ]

Back to the beers at hand. Last weekend saw us drink another German Hefe, Ayinger Bräu-Weisse. After years of hounding my father-in-law with crazy microbrews, hoppy excursions and everything in between, I think I’ve found his beer tooth and it involves the bananas, cloves & coriander one expects in wheat beers. He even seemed to like the Schneider-Weisse more than the Ayinger, which is surprising since the former is much more flavorful and assertive (though equally smooth) than the latter.

I’d gladly purchase & imbibe either Schneider or Ayinger beers again and, actually, Ayinger’s Marzen is a personal favorite of both Jenn & Myself. I stock up on it every September for football season.

On tap (actually in bottles, but I’m doing the whole double-meaning thing again) for this weekend is an assortment of other wheat beer. Notable additions include:

• Paulaner Hefe-Weissbier
• New Belgium Mothership Wit
• Schneider-Brooklyner Hopfen-Weisse
• Dogfish Head Festina Peche

I also have some Red Brick Blonde, Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout and a bottle of Terrapin Side Project Volume 10: Capt’n Krunkles in the beer fridge, but I doubt we’ll get to those (unless the storms really roll in on Saturday).

Overall, I’m happy for the opportunity that Spring affords me to drink these great wheat beers. While they’re not my absolute favorite styles, I do enjoy the seasonality and taste of Hefeweizen and Wit alike.

My Dad & brother (and now my Father-in-Law) will gladly drink them with me, which isn’t true of all the beers I bring home (see Founder’s KBS above). And I suppose since I’m being generous that I hope Bud Light Golden Wheat opens up the beer horizons of those that try it. Any step away from Bud Light and towards anything else is encouraged from where I sit, drink in hand.

In between all this beer drinking (and pontificating) we’ve got Raelyn’s 7th birthday party (Roller skating!) and a trip to Zoo Atlanta planned. Wish me luck. Pictures to follow.

Have a great weekend!

Since Jenn’s purse was stolen, I don’t have a credit card with which to renew my Flickr Pro account. For this reason, all the weekend recapping photos are brought to you by TwitPic.

I started the weekend out right, having a Terrapin 30 Strong at Taco Mac Austell on Friday, the day it was launched. Brilliant.

I followed this up with a Victory Hop Devil. Equally enjoyable.

We spent the entire day on Saturday at Zoo Atlanta – and I have a ton of great pictures to share – but the view of our clan relaxing with our afternoon refreshment is one of the best.

Started Sunday – Mother’s Day – with my awesome wife, the mother of our 2 great kids, at J. Cristopher’s for brunch. Good food but great company.

Ended the day on our back porch drinking a few beers together, amomng them a shared bottle of Terrapin Side Project Volume 5: Monk’s Revenge.

All in all a fantastic weekend with folk I love dearly and beers I drank heartily.

I was lucky enough to spend the better part of my weekend (read: all) nursing one of four of your better craft beers:

• Stevens Point White Beer

A Wisconsin brewery most famous for being name-checked by Weezer and drunk by John Candy in The Great Outdoors.

• Flying Dog Woody Creek White

A really excellent Belgian White.

• Samuel Adams Imperial White

A great beer to sip and savor.

• Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron

As complex, flavorful and, frankly, alcoholic as any beer I’ve ever had.

All of this is merely a formality so I can share this awesome “I Am A Craft Brewer” video:

I Am A Craft Brewer from I Am A Craft Brewer on Vimeo.

The beer and the video really just fire me up to try the one beer that didn’t make it out of the fridge/bottle over the weekend: Terrapin Side Project #5: Monk’s Revenge

Here’s a review from the fine folks at Beer America TV:

While I’m on the topic of craft brew beer, should Monday Night Brewery decide they’re going to actively brew beer this year, I’m honor-bound to put in an appearance.

Anything else?

What are you drinking?
Enjoying?
Hating?

Leave a comment/recommendation.

I really look forward to my infrequent meals at Taco Mac and other establishments with large and varied beer selections since I’m something of a creature of habit. Sure, I try to branch out beyond some of the normal beers, brewers and styles I always drink but it’s hard to jusitify a potentially bad experience when a tried-and-true standby is waiting in a refrigerated case nearby.

On Easter Sunday I tried a few brews – courtesy of my Dad- that I hadn’t had before: Blue Moon’s Rising Moon and Flying Dog’s Tire Bite. I’m pretty sure I’ve had Tire Bite, but I don’t recall it and it didn’t make much of an impression this time. Spring Moon was a little better, actually, though it could have been the pre-dinner/post-pollen effecting my judgement. Either way, some nice, Spring beer styles I wouldn’t normally seek out (I prefer wheat beers – Belgian Wits or German Hefeweizens).

Granted neither choice – especially the Coors-owned Rising Moon – was too far off the beaten path, but at least it wasn’t High Life Light (a Miller family favorite/staple). Both beers were accessible and, dare I say it, “drinkable” to steal from the fine folks in St. Louis.

During a rare weeknight outing I had both a Full Sail Session Lager in its Red Stripe-esque bottle and a few Lakefront Organic ESBs.

The Session Lager was really excellent and lived up to its name. I could have made a long session out of that beer.

The Lakefront Organic ESB may have passed muster on the organic but it certainly wasn’t an ESB. Still, it looked good, smelled better and tasted just fine.

Finally, in my dining tonight, I opted for Terrapin’s latest, Sun Ray and RedHook’s light ale, Sllim Chance.

Two themes emerged this week:

1. Less hoppy IPAs and malty Stouts
2. More fruity ales and wheat beers and mild lagers

Part of me is quite happy that I’m expanding my personal beer horizons both in new beers and oft-ignored styles. The other part of me wonders if it’s good for craft and micro beer to play to the palettes (and here I’m being really snobby) of the “average” beer drinker.

I’ve spent the better part of the last decade or so cultivating my taste for aggressive, hoppy ales and malty porters and stouts. Don’t get me wrong; I like a good, cloudy wheat beer in Spring or an Oktoberfest in Fall, but even during the Summer months I’d usually rather drink Sweetwater 420 or Terrapin RyePA both to support my local brewer and feed my hop jones.

But what really surprised me this week, and it really shouldn’t have, is that the lager styles by these craft brewers were so much better, more complex and, yes, more refreshing and “drinkable” than their macro counterparts.

I honestly believe that if more craft brewers made accessible “yellow beer” for the masses then maybe it could persuade some of these drinkers to try even better, crazier beers like Dogfish Head. [That's a link to the awesome, local Monday Night Brewery].

Since this is a lazy Friday night post, I’ll sum up:

• I’m proud of ME for drinking something different (or drinking something different than the different stuff I would normally choose)
• I think that the great thing about craft beer is that even when it plays in styles that are more mainstream, it still does it better than those popular beer brands

Hope you enjoy the lovely weather, good beer and some friendship/fellowship this weekend.

Cheers!

I <3 beer.
Which is to say I love beer.
Would marry it if that didn’t violate my current nuptial status.
Seriously.
Srsly.

I’ve even just had a nice jolt of dopamine by hitting the “save draft” button while editing this very entry.

Clearly, I’m in desperate need of Mmmm, Beer [hear Homer say it: mp3].

What got my beer tooth tingling was a particularly tasty cask ale – Saint Arnold Elissa IPA – that I drank at Ginger Man in Austin, TX during SXSWi. The beer got me thinking about cask ales and drinking good beers regularly (apart from the all-too-seldom Monday Night and the stash in the beer fridge) at places local, knowledgeable, inviting and well-stocked.

My normal haunts have rotating selections – places like Taco Mac, Varner’s and Smyrna World of Beverages – but I feel like I’m doing a disservice to beer-drinking by not branching out enough.

So after checking out the cask situation in the local two things happened:

1. I did the whole 5 Favorite Beers on Facebook
2. Garrett emailed me about the grand opening of Hop City Craft Beer & Wine at the new 5 Season Westside this Thursday, April 2.

So now I have a conundrum. Go drink some free beer and eat some free food at a beer establishment on Thursday (and hang out with some very cool, like-minded folks) or do I go the Social Media Club Atlanta meeting at Manuel’s and do the same thing in a different venue with different folks?

I know, I know. Rough life, huh?

I think I’m leaning heavily towards the grand opening, only because I saw some of the Social Media Club folks in Austin and I’d like to sample the new wares/digs over Manuel’s (which I already know/love).

And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some new sites and tools I’m using in my beer quest:

• Beer Counter for iPhone

Worked like a charm @ SXSWi and I managed my (over)indulgences.

• 97 Bottles

A beer rating social network that ties in nicely to OpenID and my other social accounts. I’ve been looking to jump ship from RateBeer to BeerAdvocate for some time (damn you, locked-in ratings!) but I’m giving this the old college try.

• BJCP Styles for iPhone

No self-respecting beer snob should leave home without a copy of the rules.

Since I’m cobbling together a big beer post, it’d be great if folks wanted to vote in the AJC/Evening Edge’s 2009 Beer Bracket Final Four for the best IPA. It’s down to the Final Four and Atlanta’s own Sweetwater IPA is in the running, having already captured the judges’ votes and looking for a win amongst readers.

And if you’ve got a few seconds more in your day to devote to beer-related clicking, take Monday Night Brewery’s survey [via JohnMcNicholas].

Until Thursday, drink a beer for me.