Shiner.
I had a short break until I could get into the dormitory, so I spent a couple of weeks at Dallas, and there it was. Shiner. My 3rd dark beer. First one was at Arrupe Hall (a Jesuit Residence Hall in Ateneo de Manila) and 2nd one was at one of the bars for imported beers near 홍대.
When I first had the chance to drink Shiner, I didn’t bring my ID, so I could not drink.
But before I left Dallas, I finally got a chance to drink (that's what people drank when they were out), and it felt f*cking awesome.
It was one of the most delicate beers I’ve had.
At that time, it had a very smooth taste and bitterness that
goes with the smell. The German Beer at Arrupe had a very good first taste,
but as I took more sips, its flavor got dampened. It was not like Guinness
though. The one I had in Korea, I don’t remember how it tasted like. I
think I got pretty drunk that time. Haha.
Well, since then, I have tried almost all kinda beers that’s
available in different pubs and groceries. More at pubs than groceries, tho.
Until then, I even went to Page Bar at Divisadero (& Page, of course) in San Francisco just to get Shiner.
Since I was back in Texas, I wasn’t going to leave without tasting Shiner. But I’ve never got a chance to until the very last day. I got sick on Friday, and still a little bit sick on Saturday. Before that, I was doing some work and trying to read, and watched some NBA. Since the class ended at 5 PM Central time, I could watch both NBA games on ESPN and TNT from the first game’s tipoff – it never happened.
So, I knew my last chance to drink Shiner was at the airport. I didn’t care. I had to drink it.
As I got to the airport, I was able to head to a pub with Daniel and Todd (whom I was group mates with, although I was not really participating). I had Shiner again.
But sadly, it was not as good as I remembered. The color was right, but everything else was kinda gay. It did not have any bitter taste, it was as smooth as many light beers. Maybe I am too used to Sierra Nevada, but still I don’t drink Sierra that often. I still had 2 pints, but it was a rather disappointing experience. It also kinda sucked because not many places in San Francisco Bay Area have Shiner (I only know that Page does). I will go for some other places, and I will try again in the Bay, but I feel bad that it was not what I was waiting for.
Seriously, as I came to Texas, the only things I wanted were BBQs and Shiner.
I had pretty decent BBQ (for the price paid given the location in downtown), but sigh… What happened to you, Shiner?
