Drinking to Forget

If I’m not careful, I find myself apt to skip over drinks I’ve tried and been “meh” about even though I am very strongly of the opinion that judging a beer, wine or whisky based on a single sample borders on the ridiculous.  I’ve written about this several times, and am not going to rehash it here.  I know that there are lots of drinks in the marketplace, and constantly retasting them would lead to an endless circle of revisiting disappointing beverages, and that’s not what I’m advocating.  There are some drinks that you just know are never, ever, even if you had to face a three day life insurance seminar sober otherwise, going to work for you.  But, sometimes when we “forget” about a drink due to a relatively small prior sample, we make a mistake.   I find that this is particularly true for bevvies that prompted a “so-so” reaction, and especially ones that should otherwise be in the wheelhouse of one’s taste.  It is these drinks that merit another chance.

Today’s lesson takes the form of Founder’s Red’s Rye.  I first had Red’s Rye four or five years ago (going with 4 for the rest of this post to make it less cumbersome), picking it up on a visit to my Mom who lives near Grand Rapids.  After drinking that six pack, I thought the beer was simply too sweet for my tastes, though I could certainly understand the appeal it seemed to hold for many other beer geeks.  Having had a whole 6 pack, over the course of several days and in several circumstances (by itself, with food, etc.) I held my belief relatively firmly, despite the relatively small sample.

I never bothered to return to Red’s Rye, even when it showed up on local shelves last year, based on my recollection of my one and only six pack four years ago.  That changed on my first visit to The Good Pie about a month ago.  The Good Pie had Red’s Rye on draft and I thought that touch of sweetness I remembered might make itself useful when it came to matching with pizzas Liz and I were ordering.  What I tasted that night was not what I remembered.  Instead, there was a much higher hop presence in the nose, and more than enough bitterness to balance the malt.

This pint led to a craving that built until last Friday when I picked up a six pack (bottled in November, 2009 – even fresher examples have come into the market since) from The Wine & Cheese Place.  I found this even more compelling than the pint at The Good Pie, and 5 of the 6 bottles didn’t survive the weekend, though they certainly contributed to its quality.

Now, I’m not remotely egocentric enough (really!) to believe that I have an accurate recollection of those bottles of Red’s Rye I had four years ago.  I have no idea whether, in order of decreasing likelihood: (1) my memory of Red’s Rye was inaccurate and/or morphed over time; (2) my palate has changed; (3) the Red’s I had four years was old and/or somehow abused; and/or (4) the Red’s recipe has been consciously tweaked, or came out a bit differently due to changing hop/malt crops.  And, I honestly don’t care.

It’s fine to ruminate about the cause, but what matters is that I now really enjoy the beer.  If I hadn’t bothered to revisit a beer I had not really liked after the first six pack, I’d be missing out on something it turns out I like quite a bit, and only runs $8.50 a six pack.  Instead, I’ve found something that’s going to make it into my regular rotation.  Well done, Founder’s, and my apologies for not giving it another shot sooner.  I know better than that.