GHBWNY
Well-Known Member
A friend was having guests from PA last weekend and said they might enjoy a few of my homebrews. So, I took over a sampling of 4 different beers I brewed and left. Apparently, they loved them and left me some PA faire, one of which was one of their local company's "Black Cherry Ale". Yesterday was hot and summery here and a long hard day of work. So, later in the evening, I was ready for a cold one. I opened the Black Cherry Ale expecting nothing short of great things (since they traded this in obvious appreciation for my exclusive homebrew), and poured it in a glass. Looked OK. Smelled OK. I guess.
But the purpose of beer is to taste good. Or so I thought. At first sip, the "black cherry" was, eh... interesting. But at least it was cold. And wet. And I was thirsty. Next sip, in spite of its thirst-slaking potential, I began asking myself, "Why --- and HOW --- am I drinking this?!" The journey into the realm of refreshment had suddenly escalated into a desperate --- albeit, losing --- battle to mentally detach myself from the overwhelming essence of artificial black-ish cherry-ness while the cold and wet had become superfluous entities in my throat. Was the basic beer so bad that they had to add something to short circuit your taste buds while your brain works at spitefully assimilating the response? It wasn't working. It was simply bad beer, bad black, bad cherry, bad flavor. Doesn't someone at the end of the production line taste this before they put it on the market?!
If nothing else, an experience like this makes me that much more appreciative of the continuing quest for better brew. I went into my homebrew closet and repented of my transgressions and asked to be forgiven. And I will be forgiven --- as I forgive others for their bad beer.
But the purpose of beer is to taste good. Or so I thought. At first sip, the "black cherry" was, eh... interesting. But at least it was cold. And wet. And I was thirsty. Next sip, in spite of its thirst-slaking potential, I began asking myself, "Why --- and HOW --- am I drinking this?!" The journey into the realm of refreshment had suddenly escalated into a desperate --- albeit, losing --- battle to mentally detach myself from the overwhelming essence of artificial black-ish cherry-ness while the cold and wet had become superfluous entities in my throat. Was the basic beer so bad that they had to add something to short circuit your taste buds while your brain works at spitefully assimilating the response? It wasn't working. It was simply bad beer, bad black, bad cherry, bad flavor. Doesn't someone at the end of the production line taste this before they put it on the market?!
If nothing else, an experience like this makes me that much more appreciative of the continuing quest for better brew. I went into my homebrew closet and repented of my transgressions and asked to be forgiven. And I will be forgiven --- as I forgive others for their bad beer.