Where it all began
I guess if I were to go back in my mind, I would have to say that I got my taste for good beer from the Winking Lizard Tavern. they probably have the best gimmick for getting people to drink different beers that I have seen.
The Winking Lizard World Tour is one of the greatest ideas around. Drink 100 beers in a 365 days. Easy you might think, HA!! Nobody said that they were all going to be good. The grand prize… A tour jacket with the Winking Lizard logo “embroidered” on it not just some t-shirt with a silk screen. These were anywhere from a denim jacket to a windbreaker to a wool baseball jacket to a fleece jacket.
This year I unfortunately decided against the tour, I have done it the last 12 years, that’s a few jackets…and a lot of money, but lots of fun. In those early years the bad beers were most of them for me, but beers like Cave Creek Chili beer just did me in. A beer with a hot pepper floating in it just wasn’t for me. The last couple of years it got a little tiresome for me. I think that I had drank so many different beers that they were having a hard time getting ones that I hadn’t already had. It is good for “newbies” who haven’t stepped out of their “icedrydraftlight” world and now they have to drink porters, stouts, IPA’s, barley wines and monastery beers with alcohol contents of 8%+.
Eventhough I am no longer doing the tours I will always go back to a Winking Lizard Tavern just for the food. They have the best food around NE Ohio that I have found. Great wings, sandwiches and pizzas.
If you ever find yourself in NE Ohio, anywhere from Canton , Ohio to Cleveland and two in Columbus, find a Winking Lizard and enjoy yourself.
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Hey Tim,
Spreading the love of the Winking Lizard! Good times, good times.
The Winking Lizard is like a schoolroom for anyone who wants to widen there beer tastes. That first tour we did was difficult because we didn’t know how to drink good beer.
The first thing you must learn is how to drink certain beers.
My tip to a “newbie” (I know because I once was one and someone gave me this tip) you don’t guzzle down a strong flavored beer. You savor it and look for all the different flavors. Micro beers have a lot going on! You look for chocolate, caramel and coffee flavors in dark beers. Citrus and other fruits along with caramel flavors in other beers. That is just the beginning, as your tastes advance you will identify hops, malt and different grains. It is great fun to try so many different beers. It is hard to believe so many beers can be so different!
Maybe we will do a tour next year!
Great post!
Christy