Sunny day, BBQ in need of tending, only experienced operators need apply. Sounded like a job for a cranky old man. But we know, as per the COMDB Guide to the Fine Art of BBQing (formerly the COMDB Guide to the Manly Art of BBQing), without a beer a BBQ is just a BBQ. Sunny day, sunny disposition, how about a Sunnyside Session IPA. After I poured it I read the fine print. 3.9%! Not only a session IPA but a light beer as well. Extra light. Light as a feather in space*. The stage is set so to speak.
Anybody remember the seltzer bottle? It was the main tool in a running gag in lots of old slapstick comedies, including The Three Stooges. So
meone would always get a seltzer stream in the face and we, the audience, laughed at their surprise and discomfort because it’s funny when it doesn’t happen to you, right? Seltzer bottles use to be a staple of any bar, used to make any drink fizzy.
Seltzer isn’t club soda, or sparkling mineral water. Seltzer is just plain ol’ water, carbonated with added carbon dioxide. Club soda has minerals that give it a slightly saltier taste than seltzer, and sparkling mineral water is made with natural spring or well water, which means it has naturally occurring minerals. This may seem like a digression but it is in fact a segue.
I poured this brew and it looked great, bright and hazy with a full foamy head. A very light hoppy aroma, maybe some fruit in there somewhere. First swig, very mild fruit and hops, no zing but busy and fizzy. As I drank my Sunnyside up (at 3.9% I wasn’t getting fried on any side), it turned into all fizz and no flavour. Fizzy as in an IPA Session Seltzer. Not even club soda fizzy or sparkling water fizzy. Fizzy as in seltzer as in just plain ol’ water, carbonated with CO2. No flavour to savour. It spoiled my otherwise sunny disposition. Let’s put it this way, it didn’t turn my frown upside down.
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