I’m literally at the airport right now.  Do you know the scene?  Loud and obnoxious people talking on their cell phones right by you instead of removing themselves to the spacious non-people occupied areas.  People that act like being more than five feet away from you would put them in the infamous “dead-zone.”  The same people who talk on the phone until the last possible second and turn that puppy right back on the second they land (“we just landed”…etc).  I think you get the picture.  You begin to think, “At least I can find solace in a good beer.”  But you might be wrong.  

Most of the time you can scrounge up some Guinness, Bass, or possibly Stella Artois (which are good beers), but it is difficult beyond that.  Now if you are in Denver’s or Chicago’s airport, you are actually not in such desperate straits.  One can readily find some Breckenridge or New Belgium selections in Denver and some Goose Island in Chicago.  I readily admit that this is a soap-box article.  But isn’t it singularly odd that in a place where you can buy an ipod from a vending machine, a decent beer is hard to come by?  Think about it: tons of restaurants (some of them very nice) but very few decent beers?  Just a thought.  

Of course, this is more about public demand and less about airport supply.  After all, a business has to make money.  I guess what I’m really trying to point out is that even among Americans who are country (or world) travelers, there is still a large degree of insularity when it comes to beer.  So, drink a good beer for those of us who are stranded in the airport with lackluster beers.  And for the love of all things holy, get someone you know to try a new and good beer.