My First Beer
The year was 2012. I was an 18 year old senior at Penn-Trafford High School, and I was hanging out at home watching TV with my dad. I don’t remember what we were watching; probably reruns of Star Trek or Walker Texas Ranger, but I remember asking him if I could have a beer. Being the good Dad that he is, he asked if I had plans to drive or go anywhere that night. I told him no, so he surprisingly said yes…
He told me to go to the fridge and grab two beers, one for him and one for me.
Now if you’re from Western Pennsylvania, I know what you’re thinking...Carl, there’s no way that an 18 year old high school senior hadn’t had a beer before now. I mean there isn’t much to do in Penn-Trafford that doesn’t involve high school football or drinking…
I kid you not, aside from a random sip of my dad’s beer or my mom’s wine, I had never drunk a full beer on my own until this memorable night. I used to go to high school parties and was always the designated driver for my friends, and regardless, I always had a good time!
So, I went to the fridge, grabbed two Corona Extras (sadly we didn’t have limes), popped off the bottle caps, and returned to the living room where my dad was watching TV.
I handed my dad his beer, we clinked the bottles together, and I proceeded to drink my first full beer with my dad. I remember the beer tasting really bitter, and I really didn’t enjoy the taste all that much. Regardless of the taste, the memorable moment that I have from that beer was simply sitting quietly next to my dad and just relaxing with a cold, refreshing beer.
Over nine years later and having tasted and drank thousands of beers since then, remembering how each beer tastes gets to be a challenge. But taste is not as important as the memories that we make sharing a drink with the people closest to us. That’s what really sticks with me…
Quite frankly, I believe that the memories of the people we share a drink with are truly where the beauty of beer and any other alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverage for that matter come from.
The brain is funny because of how it stores our best and worst memories. Similar to how a song can bring back memories of an old relationship or of a sporting event, certain beers stick with me because of the memories associated with them.
Maybe that’s why I enjoy beer so much. Maybe it is because of the memories that certain beers bring back. That is truly where the beauty of beer lies.
Cheers!
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