Beer: a drink of the people
Jesse Colautti | Fulcrum Staff
Beer goes by many titles: sweet nectar of the gods, refreshing vacation in a glass, and the bringer together of friends, to name a few. To put it simply, beer is the best.
While hard liquor excites before ultimately smashing you over the head with a sledgehammer and wine lulls you to a red-mouthed sleep, beer keeps you company. It’s there for you during the good times and the bad times, the lonely nights and the ones you’ll never forget, the long sweltering days of summer and the short, freezing days of February.
Unlike wine, beer doesn’t reward the rich over the poor; each glass is full of equality. The price of different pints may vary, and if you’re interested enough there are thousands of incredible gourmet beers to try from all across the globe, but you’ll never feel like you’re getting punished for buying the cheapest beer on the menu. Say what you will about Coors Light, but it will always go down smoother than an awful glass of cheap white wine.
If you’re looking to step it up a notch to the point where you can proudly call yourself a beer enthusiast, then I suggest heading over to Pub Italia and ordering one of the Trappist or Abbey beers from Belgium. Any of those are still made by monks in monasteries, so I guarantee they’ll instantly make you forget about that rum and cola you had the other night.
In Vino Veritas: you should drink more wine
Kimberley Wilson | Fulcrum Contributor
It’s 8 p.m. on a Tuesday. The Beer Store is closed and so is the LCBO. You’re bad at planning. Guess what? There is probably a Wine Rack near you, and it’s probably open. You’re going to be OK.
Not sure what to buy? Nobody’s judging you if you go straight for the $13 house blend. Well, some people are, but they shouldn’t. Blind taste tests have been conducted around the world and the conclusion is that once the label is off, the average person can’t taste the difference between a bargain-basement blend and something fancier.
If you still find the more common options are less than ideal, there’s a magical solution called sangria. If it’s too cold out for a fruity, chilled beverage, add a few cinnamon sticks and other spices, heat it up, and you have mulled wine—a hug in a cup.
You know where you can taste a difference? Spirits. I love whisky, I really do. But good whisky is expensive and the cheap stuff tastes foul. Meanwhile, cheap beer is like a rained-out picnic: damp and unfortunate.
So what’s a girl to drink when she needs something inexpensive and delicious? I think the answer is clear—or it might be red. Your call.
Liquor: hit it hard
Marc Jan | Fulcrum Staff
Hard liquor is the happy medium between the far too varied options of wine and the much too accessible choice of beer. It also has other perks that make it the better choice when it comes to alcohol.
Beer is a drink you can enjoy over time, but it will get you full long before it gets you sensibly drunk. I also find the flavours of beer lack the strength required to properly accompany food.
Wine excels because it has a much fuller body of flavour that goes well with a wide variety of food. However, this limits the valid contexts in which you can drink wine because it must be accompanied by food. It’s also high in sugar content, which makes the morning after a horrid experience.
Freed from the bloating constraints of beer and the sugar-driven flails of wine, hard liquor offers a complete range of flavours to accompany food as well. There’s nothing I ache for more than a 16-year-old charred-cask single-malt scotch that goes by the name of Lagavulin, with its wispy wooden aroma and its smooth delivery.
When you drink hard liquor, you don’t have to worry about pacing yourself because your drink will set the pace for you. It’s just a matter of listening to how your body responds. So, back away from the brew and wish away the wine. Liquor love will always be more fulfilling.
