Disclaimer: This is not directed at anyone in particular. Don’t be self-absorbed and think that I’m talking specifically about you.

I’m always critical of the person who exclusively drinks macro beer. In fact, I can be critical of someone who drinks them with any regularity. Now that I work in a liquor store, I’ve observed a phenomenon. Mr. Regular comes in and buys the same old beer every time. He walks in and grabs Natural Light. He knows exactly where it’s at, how much it costs and has the exact change. “Put it in a bag,” he says. Who can blame him? I would hide it, too. What else can he be doing but hiding the fact that he bought worthless beer for the purpose of inebriation? It can’t be that he really believes that walking out a liquor store won’t be perceived as buying beer, so long as he has it in a bag. This article is not really about that; let people have bags if they want to feel fancy or do it out of habit. All I can say is that if variety is the spice of life, the same beer all the time is parsley.

How did you personally feel when I spoke of “Mr. Regular” a moment ago? I know that I feel critical. I think, “Why can’t you drink something better for something more than the purpose of inebriation?”  Maybe you even said, “Well, I drink Heineken, Corona, or whatever better brand.” I have a question for you: do you know right where the Heineken is, have the exact change, and won’t drink much else? On one level, better beer is better beer, so I don’t criticize someone’s choice of better beer.  Even if it’s something terrific: “Oh! I only drink Chimay.”  On the other hand, how is it any less zombie-like than to walk straight to a chosen beer without thinking about anything else? Have you “found” something and stuck with it come hell or high water?

The reason that I write this is because I’ve seen people doing this and thinking that somehow they are more enlightened than the Bud Light drinker. Maybe there is a sliver of enlightenment with the selection of better beer, but it still represents a narrow view of the beer world. Okay! I’m willing to concede that this person drinks two beers vs. one, but that’s still not so impressive. Is there not some level of inherent illogical approach to beer in this mindset? I think so, especially when the person is making fun of the Bud Light drinker. (Don’t get me wrong, I do my fair share of making fun, too.)

Let me clarify what I’m saying. I am not saying that if you have a “go to” beer, then I’m talking about you. I have a couple of beers that I go to if I don ‘t want have to think about the drink too much. I know the beer well, and it is good, so I enjoy drinking it on occasion. But for the most part, I’m always looking for a new beer. Notice that I didn’t say perfect beer. Perfection seems to me to be a fairly illusory concept, so I normally refrain from speaking about beer in those terms. We’ve said it before, beer is an experience. One that should not cease to be profoundly interesting. Who wants a boring and hackneyed existence? I know that I don’t. How about going out on a limb for something new?

So, here is my encouragement: don’t walk with your hand extended toward the beer that you always drink, no matter what that beer is. You look like a zombie going through the pre-programmed motions. Be a human with a brain that requires some cerebration. Check your zombie at the door and open up a door to a bright and colorful world of beer rather than the drab world of zombiedom.