Well to someone who thinks Shiner Bock is top shelf doesn't see appeal of Stella whatever and still has to stop and think what ipa is I am actually learning things from you. For instance don't drink Coors Lite anymore.
Baby steps, my friend. If you moved up from Coors Lite, that means you notice a difference in beer and can tell good from bad. That's 90 percent of the battle.
Personally, I grew up very privileged on beer. When I was a little kid, my parents were broke, so they could only afford crappy beer, but they knew the good stuff. (My dad sometimes drank Löwenbräu in college.) When I was a teenager in the early '90s, he kept pretty good stuff around - some German beer and some smaller breweries back then (like Sam Adams, Celis, and Pete's Wicked Ale). Though he never encouraged me to be a drunk, he didn't mind if I had a beer. His main priority was that I not go out and drink or drink too much, not that I don't drink at all. So by the time I left home, I was a pretty well-polished beer drinker. I'd go to parties in law school, and there'd be cases of Keystone. I wouldn't touch them, but I'd bring a 6-pack of Bitburger or Bass Ale. It has just developed ever since.
As for you, just push the limits a little - not in terms of alcohol consumption but in terms of taste and flavour. Shiner is a significant step up from Coors Lite. Just keep taking steps up. If you like a darker beer like Shiner, try a Köstritzer. It's a darker lager with just a little more flavour and colour. If you want a lighter beer like Coors with more flavour, try a German lager like Paulaner, Spaten, or Hacker-Pschorr or a Czech pilsner like Czechvar or Pilsner Urquell. That's what Coors is imitating anyway. And you just move on from there until you're trying fancy ales made by Belgian monks that are 11 percent alcohol. I still drink German lagers a lot as my go-to beer, but those are what I go to when I want something really special.
It looks like France has done a good job of presenting history. Are the visitors mostly Americans and Brits?
There is a vid showing a chartered flight of DDay vets landing in Paris getting a heartfelt welcome from the French. I am so happy for those Vets to see they are appreciated
My impression of the French people has really taken a step up this week. They have been so gracious and kind not only to the veterans but to us Americans in general - in shops, restaurants, and even just strangers. The stereotype of the America-hating, pretentious tool is a Paris thing. It's not the norm here and wasn't in the Alsace either. These are some of the most pro-American Europeans I've come across. I think it's because they saw our sacrifice first hand and saw it at a time when it wasn't a certainty.
Most of the visitors are Americans and Brits, but I see a ton of French people at the museums and memorials paying their respects. They're probably half of them. I've even seen some Germans. They're fairly quiet, but I recognize the language.
One other thing that's cool, there are a ton of US military personnel from Italy and Germany here as well as civilians in old Army uniforms. Furthermore, there are literally hundreds of WWII Army vehicles driving around. It's like going back in time.
