Englishman Discovers Great American Beers

It’s a little over four years ago that I first came to California from England, to visit the woman who later became my wife. Being a traditional real ale bore with friends to match, I admit to coming over with some trepidation, having heard that all American beers were, in the words of Eric Idle, “fucking close to water”. My experiences with American beers in the UK were enough to give me nightmares of beer withdrawal – Budweiser, Schlitz and Coors being indistinguishable in my taste from chilled cat widdle. As for “Bud Lite” and its many brethren, I hesitated to even mention them in the same breath as the word “beer”.  Unlike Ponce de Leon, I found what I was searching for, as  I came to learn that the US has hidden and delightful surprises.