Not to solidify some kind of girly stereotype, but when it comes to drinking, beer is not generally my first choice. Let’s be serious, I am fresh out of college and drinking casually was just not something that happened. My ultimate goal was to find the cheapest, least filling way to turn me into a confident individual with blurry vision (in my defense, I actually have bad night vision without Burnett’s tossing in its opinion). The generally watery taste of Miller Lite is actually something I have become quite accustomed to, and did not realize was mildly embarrassing until I was lectured by a random attendant of the Raleigh Times Bar.
Through this guy’s rambling about IPAs, local craft beers, and being mesmerized by his messy-but-put-together hipster hairdo, I felt like I was really missing something. Raleigh beer connoisseurs are loyal with a capital L, and in an effort to be a real localite it’s about time I have “A” beer. Clearly, I’ve never had “A” beer…that one beer that you are so loyal to…and sound really cool and local saying. I want to be able to go to Brewgaloo and know what I am doing for pete’s sake. I might be in this for the wrong reasons, but I am determined to find a beer I genuinely like and feel adult ordering. Although there might not be too much hope in dark and heavy beers after I tried to drink an Irish Car Bomb on St. Patty’s day to be like the cool kids….needless to say none of the cool kids spit it out all over their mint green pants and spent the rest of the day looking like their adult diaper had leaked.
Enough grossing you out… So, my first shot at being a beer drinker was a recent wedding I went to where I enjoyed Lonerider’s Shotgun Betty. After doing some research, I discovered Shotgun Betty is a “Hefeweizen.” Good luck if that means anything to you, but it was pretty good to me. For avid beer drinkers this is a warning that my review here is about to be SO unofficial because I do not even know what “hops” are and how to describe beer-y things, but hey at least you are hearing a completely uneducated opinion. AM I RITE? So here is the review according to the Beer Advocate’s rating system:
Taste: Not light like Bud Light, but not too heavy. The flavor was yeasty, maybe? And really made me want French fries! I feel like I could drink this with someNatty Greene’s Big Nasty nachos (which btw are my favorite snack in the entire world in case you want to buy me presents…or take me on a date…whichever). Overall, the first few sips were something to get used to, but it really grew on me.
Look: Light? I don’t know. Like beer…that’s…light? Oh my. Like Orange-y yellow?
Smell: Uhh… it smelled like beer smell. I don’t want to spray my furniture with it, but it wasn’t like a particularly smelly beer. What does this mean?
Feel: Is this how I felt after 5 of them? Because I know how I was feeling, but I don’t know if the world needs to know…let’s just say the best man was looking reallllll good.
Overall: Okay, I can do this one. Overall, I would be interested to see what other beers Lonerider has, but I would enjoy a cold glass of Shotgun Betty with some cheese fries on Sunday Funday or a pint of candy apple bacon from Brewmaster’s Bar and Grill with $3 NC pint night on Monday’s.
So the moral is, if you have any local beers you think I should try (no, PBR does NOT count as local), contact me at postgrad@shoplocalraleigh.org, or leave a comment here!
