James Squire Golden Ale

I eye the bottle warily. When was the last time I drank beer?

It was my first week of uni, wasn’t it? I was trying to make friends with the others at my residential college. We had nothing in common, which was why it was my first true trip to a pub and my first bottle of beer. It was the cheapest they had, what everyone else was drinking. I had one mouthful and detested it. That one swallow was almost eight years ago.

But if I only try new foods I think I’ll like the point is being lost.

“If I get a glass could you pour me a little?”

My brother-in-law talks it up as he pours it into the espresso cup I’m holding. “It’s not a cheap beer.”

“The Ploughboy likes it,” adds my husband.

“I’m not tough enough for a country beer!”

“He got the taste for it after he moved to the city.”

I swirl it in the dainty china cup and sniff. It smells of yeast, like the horrid beer in my memories, but softer. Little bits of fizz slip up and down the sides.

Take a sip. Ergh… uh, hm. It’s not as horrible as I was preparing myself for, but ‘good’ is too strong a word for it. It reminds me of bad white wine. I don’t like it and I say so.

Another try. The aftermath is the worst. In an odd way it’s a little tasteless in my mouth but then the yeast hangs around.

I don’t know why, but it starts to seem a little like urine.

I’d love to abandon the bit that’s left but… bottoms up!

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Specifics: James Squire Golden Ale