Beer and Sports

I like watching sports. I like watching sports and drinking beer. I like watching sports and drinking beer when the team I'm rooting for wins. And while it's sometimes a necessity, I do NOT like drinking beer in sorrow when my team loses. As such, I LOVE being from Boston. Yes, it's a disappointment when my teams lose (oh, Celtics, what happened?), but the good times are worth it. Definitely.

Watching the Bruins win earlier this month, I cracked open a Czech pilsner in honor of David Krejčí (I'm definitely not going to drink Canadian during the series, no sir), and I was immediately pleased that I had.

There are diacritical marks on this beer's name that I can't produce.

Normally, I like beers that are darker, and as you can see, Žatec is a pretty light amber at best.n But surprisingly, that's what I liked best about it - it was refreshing without blowing out my taste buds and flavorful without being cloying. It had a nice grainy flavor on the tongue, and the carbonation wasn't overpowering. I rather enjoyed drinking it with a handful (or several) of corn chips, as the saltiness really brought something out of the beer while the plain toasted flavor of the corn accentuated the beer's sweetness. I also enjoyed drinking it while watching the Bruins win the Stanley Cup, as it made me happy.

And only the week before, I had traveled to Boston on Amtrak, and one of the best things about Amtrak is getting to drink on the train. Case in point, the following photograph:

Beer makes travel better as long as one is not doing the driving.

I spent a summer in Alaska and I learned that I really enjoyed drinking during the day. The light through the train window above proves that this is definitely still the case. And I truly do enjoy drinking while I travel, and Amtrak is quite a comfortable way to get from New York to Boston, without the hassle of the airports and definitely without the sketchiness of Greyhound busses. That's the Samuel Adams Boston Lager I'm drinking there. It's not the best Sam Adams offering (hello, Summer Ale, among others), but I do enjoy it a great deal. Unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as good as the Žatec above, but we'll give it extra marks for making my transit easier.

That weekend, I also made my first trip to Fenway Park this year. My brother managed to score amazing seats right behind the bullpen, and my girlfriend and I didn't have a row of seats in front of us, meaning that we could just get up and walk out of the stadium for beer or food whenever we wanted. Amazing.

Date night in Boston: Couple of Beers at Fenway.

We had a couple of Sam Adams Summer Ales, which I've already touted as deliciousness. But there's really something about enjoying a Fenway Frank while watching a thorough drubbing of the Oakland A's in delightful sunshine that makes that Summer Ale even more special. That nice herbal note from the grains of paradise and the outfield grass, the citrus twang against that generous smear of spicy mustard... All of these add up to a perfect outing.

I leave with this thought of Boston sports. Yes, we're smug. We're insufferable. We also won. So suck it.