I was at my usual alcohol retailer today and noticed one of Stone Brewings boxes sitting on the shelf.  “Our beer isn’t too expensive…” and then it cut off around the box’s edge.  I had to pause and think about this for a second, beer being too expensive, the bottle on the shelf was only $4.99.  Then it hit me, that’s a lot of money for some people, especially for something as standard and interchangable as beer. I mean, I know people who are happy paying $14 for a 30 pack and thats that.

But corn water isn’t something I want to pay $14 for.

If I can make it out of a store with a $50 case of beer, I consider myself super lucky, because that means I got exactly what I want. This beer isn’t going to be consumed one after another until I’m happy, I’ll probably drink one or two a night for a fortnight.  What beer it is really depends on what I feel like the previous day.  I mean, right now I’m drinking a Goose Island Nut Brown Ale, even though I have half full cases of River Horse Pumpkin and Dogfish Head Aprihop, choices.

Good beer is worth paying for to me because I love beer, I love the hard to pick out flavors that appear and dissapear at different temperatures.  For less calories than a bottle of soda, I can enjoy something one, for $7-8 dollar, and never have to taste the same beer again if I want. With so many different beers in this country, I really should make an effort to branch out a little more, try some of those rarer beers, those expensive beers that Stone talks about, and enjoy something for the first and last time because I move on to something new and different.