Cold Beer or Bust

I'm a homebrewer -- not just because I'm cheap (though that might be part of it) but because I enjoy the process of crafting a really good beer. So most of my beer drinking is done safely within the bosom the of the family home. Still, every so often, one wants to go out and get a beer at a local haunt -- whether under the guise of "lunch break" on a hard day, or because you want to hang out with the guys, or simply because.

Sadly, we don't live near the great beer shrines of the region, such as The Flying Saucer down in north Austin, whose reason for being is to have over a hundred beers on top. No, we live up in the suburbs, in retail plaza land. You don't get the very best beers at suburban "sports bars" and "family bar and grills", but one hopes to find something that is drinkable.

However, there has been turnover among the beer serving establishments in our immediate neighborhood lately. And the new arrivals do not seem to think that malt, hops, yeast and water are enough to bring the boys in anymore.

So now we have The Tilted Kilt, which informs us that "A cold beer never looked so good."I suppose it's a matter of judgment, but I'm going to say it's an apples to melons comparison. I can see what they're getting at (indeed, it is packaged so as to be rather hard to miss) but when a fellow wants a cold one, staring at a hot one is not necessarily the solution to his need.

Being the rather naive fellow that I am, I didn't realize quite what the scenery was like when our the Tilted Kilt opened -- foolishly imagining it was simply a Scottish-themed bar. So I went there with a group after work not long after it opened and can attest that in addition to the warmer delights on display there it offers a fairly pleasing variety of beers, imports and domestic craft brews.

Just recently another establishment with a similar approach opened, Twin Peaks, which this time I was clever enough to realize was not simply an eatery themed around the early 90s David Lynch television series. Their slogan is "Twice as fun as other restaurants", and the reason is apparently this:What exactly is it about minimalist clothing themed around areas with cold climates?

A couple of other places having closed, the only other beer serving establishment in our immediate vicinity is that well-known haunt of ornithologists:Now perhaps you'll think I'm being a bit of a prude about all this. After all, the association of beer and cleavage is not exactly a new invention.(Is it just me, or do the mugs of beer seem to be rather out on the periphery, away from the central point of interest on a bottle of St. Pauli's?

Still, the best things in life deserve to be savored with a certain degree of concentration. And how exactly is one to pay full attention to this:When this keeps leaning forward and asking if you want a refill?

Just the beer, please, ma'am.