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I'd try a nice Saison or maybe a good Belgian Golden.

I've had Utopias and it is very tasty. But not THAT tasty. I think that it is produced for two reasons:

1) to raise the image of what Boston Beer makes in the eyes of hard core craft beer mavens because 90+% of BB beer is aimed at the the casual/beginner craft beer drinker and
2) a general marketing tool so that they can have something to talk about to set them apart from craft brewers who are smaller in size, Boston being the largest craft brewery, but have a greater esteem in the craft beer world.

That said, I enjoyed my Utopias and if I never have a sip of it again that will be just fine. But I can think of two dozen beers that are reasonably priced, say under $25 for a bomber, that I eagerly await my next tasting of.

Oh man yer killin me here! I'm from Flint and Koegel's are easily my favorite dog. Had a lot and I keep coming back to Koegel. Living in Denver now I go so far as to order about 25 pounds of the things every few years and eat them with a smile and tear in my eye until they are gone. Sigh! Gotta place my order now to get the tearing in my heart to stop.

As for the pickled bologna it's fab! With some cheese and crackers it's one of my favorite summertime snacks. Mmm, gotta order some of that too. Yum!

Festina Peche is a Werliner Weisse which is a sour wheat beer. It's pretty tangy and also pretty darned good.

Oh and "horse sweat" is a Brett flavor. Brett doesn't make sourness but does add a lot of complex flavors that you can't get from standard beer/wine yeast. Pleasant sourness comes from either Lactobacillus or Pedococcus bacteria. Bad sourness comes from Acetobacter which makes acetic acid - vinegar, yum!

If you can find it taste some Cerise Cassée from Cambridge Brewing. Unbelievable. Better than Russian River or Lost Abbey. We did a side by side tasting at the last GABF and the Cerise was the easy winner.

We've made this for years and is one of our favorite things ever. However we up the pistachio count to about 1/8th cup and a few more cornichons.

... if unlike everyone else you head straight for the "protein" section of the market first in order to plan your meal.

... if you watch "Iron Chef" and mumble "done it, done it, done it, hmm I should try that tomorrow, done it ..."

... if you go to a major city/vacation destination for a few days and when you come back realize that you didn't see any "sights", you only went to eat.

... when watching TV you silently gasp with delight when you see someone rupture the perfect soft boiled egg that sits on top of their dish. Squee!

Beer, unlike wine, goes well with chocolate. I'll recommend a few more.

1) The Czar, a fine Imperial Stout from Avery Brewing holds up to the darkest bittersweet chocolates. Yum!
2) If you are lucky to live in Wisconsin get one of the sour fruit beers from New Glarus Brewing. Their Raspberry Tart and Belgian Cherry Red are amazing by them selves but go great with fruit truffles.

I tend to make stock a year ahead of time with the carcass of the bird the day after Thanksgiving. If you use Alton's bird process you can roast the bird whole and get breast and legs done at the same time. It works for me.

Not everyone is an epicure and that is fine with me. I don't judge people by their beer but I do judge the beer. If you like mass produced American lager, fine by me but I don't want any. If the beer list is nothing but AB/Coors/Miller then I'll have a Diet Coke. Really. If I'm not enjoying my beer then why am I drinking it? But if you are digging on it, have fun.

If the recipe contains an ingredient or technique that I'm not familiar with I will follow it precisely. If it doesn't fit those criteria then I am very likely to take the recipe as a starting point. Much as a conductor reads a musical score and then puts his personal touch on it.

If you were to order a "cheese sandwich" at a restaurant, they would not likely ask you "do you want ham or roast beef on that?". It's a cheese sandwich. Thus a grilled cheese sandwich fits the same criteria: it's about the cheese. Mayo or mustard would be the sauce for the sandwich - no problem. A thin tomato slice or pickled red onion adds counterpoint to the cheese. But adding a protein, be it bacon to brisket, takes away from the focus on the cheese. Those are good sandwiches but they are not cheese sandwiches.

I was into wine well before I fell in love with beer. Although I do enjoy a good wine 99.9% of the time I'd rather have a beer. You can pair beer with anything including foods that wine falls down on - such as dark chocolate. The range of flavors that comes from: water, malt, hops and yeast goes way beyond anything that wine could imagine. In comparison wine just seems like a very expensive one trick pony.

My wife and I are serious beer hunters. Thus we tend to hang out with similarly inclined folk. We delight in the complexity of our IPA's, Imperial Stouts, Barlywines and wacky Belgium varieties. However some in our midst just don't, uh, get it at all. They would either have a "Lite" beer (why even bother!) or none at all.

Not that long ago the wife didn't care a thing for all the beers that I would swoon over so I worked on her inhibitions. I got her a wheat beer on a summer day. It didn't have the hop bitterness that I, and now she, love so much but rather a slightly fruity and bubbly sweetness. We have come to call a good wheat the "gateway to goodness".

It seems to be both hops and heavily roasted malts that initially bother beginners so we avoid giving them anything that gets near that flavor profile. A fine Scotch ale, lambic, english brown, Irish Red, Marzen or Vienna are also easily approachable because they are round and sweetish.

That usually seems to do the trick. We have turned numerous people into craft beer drinkers. If not we just leave the filthy and unworthy pseudo-humans in the woods for the wolves to devour.