Beer Summit 2009

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Beer: The Great Unifier

The race politics row that recently engulfed the United States (Gates-Gate?) culminated this past week in the “Beer Summit” held on the White House lawn. Sharing a friendly chat over a couple brews, President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, Sgt. James Crowley and Henry Louis Gates proved what beer-drinkers throughout the world already knew: there is nothing like a good session to smooth over differences and bring people together. Let’s take a look at the brews selected for the Beer Summit and comment briefly on what they say about the respective participants.

Obama → Bud Light

• This beer screams “generic everyman” and really seems to fit Obama’s popular image. While a regular Bud may have been a little too pedestrian for such a cosmopolitan individual, it would have garnered him extra brownie points amongst the Joe-Six Packs of Middle America. It seems this selection was based more on image than on actual taste; I doubt that Obama would otherwise voluntarily imbibe this watered-down excuse of a beer.

Joe Biden → Buckler

• Is this even really a beer? No.
  

Sgt. Crowley → Blue Moon

• Some have pointed out that it is slightly ironic that Sgt. Crowley, one of the principal protagonists of the Gates-Gate race controversy, selected a weissbier at the Beer Summit. It is, perhaps, rather ill advised to select a brew that is known as a “white beer” after having been accused of being a racist. Yet, considering that he drank a Belgian style beer produced in Toronto, Canada, I think it far more interesting that he’d choose such a patently un-American brew.

Henry Louis Gates → Sam Adam Light

• Ding Ding Ding. We have a winner folks. Henry Louis Gates’ selection is a worthy one, and surprisingly astute for an ivory tower academe. Produced by American craft brewery Boston Beer Co., Sam Adams Light is not only a nod to his New England home state, but also a jab at those big-beer fat-cats that are ruining America. Perfect for a left-wing Ivey League scholar! Overall, this is a quality beer made by an excellent brewer, and for this HLG wins the “Best Choice” award for Beer Summit 09’.

The Big Winner

• The folks down at Anheuser-Busch (Bud), MillerCoors (Blue Moon) and Boston Beer Co. (Sam Adams), who can except a nice jump in sales after their brews were featured in the Beer Summit.

So, What’s On Your Mind?

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