Admittedly, the last game system I owned was Super Nintendo. I used to kill it on Super Punch-Out. It’s been a long time since I actually sat for any considerable amount of time to play video games. So when I played Mario on Wii, it was quite an experience and change of pace. After I got the notorious “Nintendo Fingers,” I started thinking about simplicity. The simplicity of being a kid again. The beauty of having nothing to do. The nostalgia of re-living the past. No, I’m not going to quit my job in lieu of a gaming career. In fact, the conclusion of my thinking landed firmly in the beer world.
What beers really got me loving craft beer? Which beers were gateways into new worlds of experiences? Are they hyped memories that I need to correct? Is it even fair to consider those beers from my current situation and anachronistically negate previous experience? I don’t know the answer to most of these questions, which is why I’m going to start re-visiting some of my first beers. No Bud or Michelob–not that, but my first good craft or import experiences.
The funny thing about the Nintendo fingers is that they made me take stock of life a bit. About how busy we get and don’t take the time to stop and smell the roses. Instead of drinking a lot of new stuff, I’m going to rehash the old. Going to take stock of how lucky I am to be drinking so many good beers…America is truly blessed with the shear number of brews we have, but sometimes going back to the basics is just as blessed.
I grew up in a no-videogame-home, but I did love Mario. In fact, to date, the only video games I have ever “beaten” are of the Mario series. When I was in KC recently I found Mario on WII. It is awesome to say the least, as it goes back to the basics of the game, just like you are suggesting with beer.
Lately, I have been revisiting “basic” beers with a renewed love. I hit up a bunch of boulevards normal offerings–pivotal in the outset of my beer journey. My last few home brews have been quite basic too, utilizing pretty much just yeast, water, hops, and grain; no crazy spices or ingredients.
Great article Mike!
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Neat post. I think you’re right. There’s a saying about how successful people stand on the shoulders of those who came before them (or some such thing) and I guess its the same deal with beer. There are a lot of tried-and-true classics that get forgotten about because of all the new great beers that are available to us.
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Basic… the last system I had was the original Nintendo. We also had the Atari 2600 prior to that. When it comes to video games, I prefer a joystick and one button, maybe two. Galaga and Moon Patrol come to mind. And on to beer, simplicity gets me through it all. I love complex uber brews, but my session beers are pale ales, hefes, ESB’s etc… Simple, basic beers that satisfy.
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@bigtex: I am on the lookout for an original Atari 2600. I think that would make for a fun evening with friends. Man those games were fun. I didn’t have a system, but would play at my aunts house. I was nuts over a game called “river raid.”
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Basic, everyone my age was buying Playstations, i bought a Sega Genesis. I was never very good at video games anyways.
I am huge on the term Base Beer. My Base is not bad, but it is what the beer should be. My base East Coast IPA is Dogfishhead 60 min. West Coast IPA= Green Flash. Basic Irish Stout= Guinness; etc. I take whatever beer I am drinking and place it against my base beers. It must level up to be considered very good. It may be a good beer, but my base beer is the safe, i know what I am getting beer. I like it, could drink it everyday; but I am looking for that great new beer (always on the lookout). But it is great to know that if I am in a bar, want an IPA, I know what to go to.
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Glad you guys liked it. You never know where the inspiration for a post it going to come from.
@Jason. I’ve got a few base beers but I’m going back to the ones that really captured my attention. For instance, I drank Beelzebuth early on and re-visited it last. I was actually able to appreciate it much more. It was better than ever. I like DFH stuff as a go to now but I’m interested to look back at some of the other beers I tried early on.
@All I’m glad that I’m not alone on this. Sometimes taking stock and going back to the basics is strangely comforting.
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Pole Position 2. Great games. I had Spiderman and Kool-Aid man. I had some good games.
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Your post got me to thinking about the brews that started me off on the craft brew journey Mike. Here are some in no particular order, except the first one, that was my first and will be the beer I credit for opening my eyes to the world of craft brews about 20 years ago.
1) Sam Adams Boston Lager–I didn’t know beer could be so good until I tried one of these on a business trip early in my career.
2)Pilsner Urkel
3)Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
4)Bridgeport IPA
5)George Killians Amber Ale
6)Anchor Steam
7)Bass Pale Ale
8)Mirror Pond Pale Ale
9)McTarnahans Pilsner
10)Sweetgrass IPA
These are really the beers that started it all for me. This was a fun comment to write, because each beer is associated with a memory. Great Post Mike.
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Thanks Don. I think Beelzebuth, Lev Black Lion, Boulevard beers like Nutcracker Ale, Wheat, Bully Porter were among them. Old Rasputin is another. This pizza place called Cousins had all sorts of Belgians, Germans, and US craft that got me on my way. It’s nice to think about that stuff. I’m going to look for some of it soon.
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@Don Pilsner Urquel, Sierra NEvada PA, Killians, and Bass were up there for me in the beginning too.
@Mike…Cousins was cool as heck. I think the location was just bad. As small as Springfield was, there were plenty of great beer bars. It’s even better now than when we lived there.
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that was really nice post.. it seem great game…. that’s great game to play
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Thanks, Peter. I had fun rediscovering Mario. Glad you stopped by and hope to see you some more.
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