Lite Bright

 In the decades since I retired from semi-professional drinking, things have changed a lot. Back in the day, it was a pretty simple operation. For me, anyway. I came up in an age of lite beer. Lite, from Miller, was what I drank more often than not. If you're not familiar with this brew, it could be that it was before your time. My time was the time when less filling was doing battle with great taste. I can tell you from vast and repeated experience that it was less filling. The great taste thing was put in there pretty much so there would be another side for the discussion. I was not drinking it for the taste. I suppose that means that I was drinking it because it was less filling. Which meant that I could drink more. More of that not-so-great-tasting beer. Weekend after weekend. 

This past weekend, my son explained the new economics about going out for beers with his buddies. Fourteen dollars for a six pack of beer? 

"Good beer," he added.

Ouch. I felt that one. Not that I have a horse in this race anymore. I have no idea what an IPA is. The only dark beer I had any experience with was made by Heineken, and at the time I didn't figure I wanted to drink anything that tasted like rye bread. As I mentioned earlier, taste was not the primary motivator for me. I notice that there are still some light beers being made. They don't bother to make any arguments about the flavor, focusing instead on the carbs. I'm not sure I know what carbs were when I was drinking beer. I say this because there were plenty of times that I did not know my own name when I was drinking beer. Lots of cheap beer. 

And now there's seltzer? Alcohol infused seltzer? This White Claw stuff? My good friend and college roommate had a different strategy when it came to buying beer. He would buy whatever had the coolest bottle. I'm guessing he would have been all in on something called White Claw. Tastes like Ruby Grapefruit? My son likes his beer citrus infused. Tastes great, and get your recommended daily allowance of vitamin C. 

Fun fact: The brewery that makes that citrus infused beer is owned by the folks who are still making my old standby Lite, Miller. I hear it tastes great. Less filling? Maybe. But you might want to taste it.