Beer Association

I believe that Bud Light was the first beer I ever put to my lips, on the swing set of Cove School in Beverly, MA with my two best friends. It was summer after sophomore year of high school and I have absolutely no idea where we got this six-pack, but I'm fairly certain it came from the basement fridge at 9 Ray...also known as Chez French...also known as Mon Pere's stash. On a side note here, if I were to replace the booze that I siphoned from the handles in my parents' liquor cabinet throughout high school and some of college, I think it would be absolutely appalling. It bears zero significance now, but it does warrant some sort of apology and thankfully this post will befall the eyes of the aforementioned bestower of booze...my father. Sorry Dad. In fairness though, you provided me with a sort of baptism of booze and beer and thus, I now enjoy the very same libations that you do. So when I stock your fridge this summer, it will be a joyous occasion for both father and son. Cheers to that, eh?

My love of PBR, aka 'the Ribbon', stems directly from my father. This was most recently manifested through my father's day gift of two years ago, which consisted of a sixer of PBR and a Mach3 razor delivered in a brown paper bag. Loose cans, mind you. Good stuff there. Anyway, I suppose I'll always associate PBR with my beer adolescence and thus my dad's beer fridge. I also associate with La and I's trips to Tamworth, NH and the family's cabin. You can get a sixer of PBR for $3 at the corner store. Perhaps one of my most fond memories since being alive is of hurling tennis balls to La and watching her pelt them all over the property up there in the country. By the way, having a girlfriend who also happens to be a professional hitter is a huge plus...but having a girlfriend who can go opposite on my hardest fastball is simply otherworldly and it makes my heart a-flutter.

Continuing along the lines of La, I developed my current affection for Stella directly from her. I had my first Stella with her, per her recommendation, and it was a match from then on. I'll also continue to associate Stella with Bowen's ritual of presenting Lauren with a 12 of Stella upon landing a new job. And the last time this happened, I was lucky enough to see him stroll into our pad with not one, but two 12's in tow. I hope you realize that you'll have to hop a plane to keep this ritual intact, my friend.

Coors Light is a beer that I hold a very specific association with. A few years ago this November, mon pere and I embarked on a journey to the sunshine state in his motorhome...destination Port St. Lucie and ultimately the RV park where the rig resides when it's winter in New England. One night we boarded bicycles and pedaled over to the Ruby Tuesday down there...I on my mom's and him on his. We happened upon happy hour at the Roob, which resulted in a deal of buy-one-get-one free Coors Lights in frosty mugs. I can't express how much a frosty mug can enhance a beer experience, and this time was no variation. We slurped frosties for a while then rode back to the rig on the bikes...nothing like a half-drunken ride on a girl's bike from the local Roob in a retirement community. Great stuff.

There are a select few beers that I've had just a few times if not only once...Molson XXX is one of those beers. I bought them for La and I up at the cabin one time and it didn't go over too well. But my first experience with these bad riders happened up in Montreal during my freshman year of college. The mentionables on this trip are myself and Ponch and the XXX up there was cheaper than a peep show in Manila. As I recall, my night took a turn for the worse when I decided to inhale a cheap cigar. Somewhere along the line I accepted a Burger King cheeseburger out of some random's pocket (it was wrapped, yes.) as well. Yikes.

I'm gonna stop there.