That First Wretched Taste

As I said before. Beer…I love it.

But I didn’t always love it. In fact I detested it. Vile, bitter, gassy, vomit inducing muck is probably more apt to what I thought. Didn’t really think it smelt any better going in as it did coming out. Though to be fair it is an acquired taste, and everyone starts out disliking beer. I’m pretty sure that’s a birth right.

Assuming beer was never put in my bottle to stop me crying as a baby, my first experience with the amber fluid was as a child in Tassie. Like most kids no doubt, I would sneak over and suck the white frothy head off Dad’s beer on a hot summer’s day. Luckily it wasn’t hot in Tassie too often as the froth didn’t taste as good as it looked.

From then on beer was dead to me. Even when I turned 18 and left home for Uni and relocated to the bright lights of Hobart, I disliked it. Sorry; I detested it.

I thought back then that beer wasn’t much more than an older person’s drink, or something central (along with cigarettes) to footy and cricket advertising. Boonie or Border was rarely seen on TV in those days without a can in their hand…unless they were actually batting. Or such fond memories I had of Sticks Kernahan pouring a pot of beer over his impressive mullet the day after the 1987 Grand Final win! It looked mighty cool (even at 12), but I just didn’t like it. Couldn’t understand why people did.

I detested it.

To be fair I thought alcohol in general tasted like the depths of kitty litter. Couldn’t stand beer, didn’t like wine, didn’t really know what else there was to drink. That’s a serious issue when living in a share house and attending Uni.

Then something happened. Standing in the Uni Bar one Friday someone handed me a Midori and lemonade thinking I might at least like that. It was such a pretty colour! And it tasted, ummm sweet! Then I spied my mate across the bar holding a can of Cascade Pale Ale. I was in shock. He hated beer as much as I did! Once I finished the Midori and had my manhood back intact, I approached him. He said it was ‘delicious and tasted like apples!’ Apparently someone told him that you have to have 4 or 5 of them in a row, and then you suddenly like beer! Just like that.

It took a few weeks before I had the nerve to try 4 or 5 in a row…but my god they were right! Beer rocked. Or at least the last 4 or 5 glasses of VB I drank sure did rock! Whooo I liked beer!

With my beer virginity gone, there was so much to learn about drinking beer in the coming months, including:

·         Beer and ice cream can (and will) make you vomit.

·         Cheap beer and chocolate leaves a rather slimy bitter taste in your mouth.

·         Beer and exercise don’t go well together. Especially if you have the beer first.

·         Beer and the Hobart Show is not a match made in heaven. Wouldn’t wanna sit behind me on that ride.

Just like cheap meals and boring lectures at Uni, beer and the potential for vomiting seemed to go together in the early days. Yet there was still something unique and attractive about beer! At least on the way in…

I guess you have to start somewhere. Whilst Midori is probably not the place to start, I am pleased to say I have not had one since, but have had more than just a few beers.

I even stopped throwing up. Eventually…

Stay tuned folks. Next time I will be exploring the sporting like culture of beer. That is, the fierce rivalries involved in drinking particular brands of beer!

Till then,

Cheers!…Prost!...Salute!...Kampai!