My store in Wesley Chapel is blessed to have a great deal of very passionate beer lovers that shop there.  Many of them are already very knowledgeable about beer, beer styles, seasonals and breweries as we have several excellent craft beer bars nearby where they have gained experience and beerdom.

beer + wisdom = beerdom

However, there are still an even greater number of people who don’t know or care what craft beer is and don’t care to try anything different from whichever macro-brew they have been drinking forever. As the newly titled Certified Beer Consultant, I get the pleasure--and the challenge--of helping both types of guests. Opening the eyes of those who only drink their “old faithful,” showing them the amazingly diverse world of craft beer, and then guiding and watching them turn into craft beer geeks themselves is great fun. The real challenge comes when you have a guest who is in the “100 beer club” at 3 different craft beer bars and finding a beer that will blow them away. It may take a few tries, but be it something new or maybe just something forgotten, we’ll find it for you. I love it when a guest comes back and says, “Dude you were right--that beer is incredible!”

Last week I was talking with one of my regulars who tries new beer here and there but for the most part had settled into pattern of getting the same thing. If you know what you like, that’s awesome. However
this week, when I asked him if he felt like changing it up, he began to tell me about his epic search for a beer even remotely similar to one he and a buddy had in Europe 20 years ago; they had both been  searching for it ever since. So I began to ask some questions, and he continued to describe this beer, and we started to nail down what this mystery beer may have been. All the while, I am racking my brain to think of something in the market that would be similar. 

He described a beer that was deep amber to gold in color, with a balanced malty sweetness and a distinct whiskey flavor. Being that he had this beer in Europe, I began thinking of all the whiskey barrel-aged imports I have had, and it finally clicked! I asked him if he had heard of Innis & Gunn. He had not. I didn’t
think it was the exact beer he had in Europe, but I felt like the Innis & Gunn Original (whiskey barrel-aged) would be the closest thing we had. 

He bought his usual beer as well as a single bottle of the Innis & Gunn just to try it out. He was back within 20 minutes, a huge smile on his face, and told me we had ended his and his buddy’s 20 year search! Of course he had to buy more because he loved it and also because his wife drank half of the single bottle he just left with, and she wanted more too. On his way out of the store, he was on the phone with his buddy in Kansas telling him the search was over.

So what is the point of my story? One, I’m really excited I could help end such a long and epic search.  It could have very easily been a beer that he just enjoyed but did not quite hit the mark, or I could have missed completely. Two, if you yourself are on a quest to find a beer you had 20 years ago or even one you had last night but can’t remember the name and didn’t take a picture of it with your phone, don’t
give up on your quest!  Come on in to your local ABC and ask the beer consultant to help you on your search. And three, there is a community of beer geeks at your service that you can reach on Twitter.  Follow me @ABCBeerCollinE and find my fellow beer consultants by following @ABCBeerCountry.

Collin Engwall, Beer Consultant at ABC Fine Wine & Spirits -- Bruce B Downs Blvd, Wesley Chapel