Alton Brown on Beer

Thanks to the fine folks over at FARK, I ran across a site called Brian's Belly.It's a food and beer site. However, the most important thing is that he had an interview with Alton Brown. As a whole, it was a pretty interesting interview. What was interesting enough to be posted to this blog is Alton's comments about beer, reprinted below:

"The difference between someone who really appreciates beer and a beer snob is that someone who really appreciates beer will learn, understand and accept a wide range to the exclusion of nothing. Someone that learns and then uses their knowledge to exclude other things I see as a snob. Okay, if you don't like Bud don't drink Bud, but don't drink Bud because it's not hoity-toity microbrew. A lot of people in this country will drink a Foster's not realizing that in Australia, Foster's is held in lower regard than Bud is here. I don't how many times at home I've had sushi and Bud for lunch. When you taste something like Budweiser--which is mostly rice--and start tasting other beers like it, i.e. Japanese beers, you realize that they actually go well together.

"When I want to taste complex beer with a heady aroma, that's finely crafted, I'm not drinking Bud. You know what, I'd rather have a Bud than a Diet Coke for God sakes! I know that after mowing the lawn on a Sunday afternoon that a Bud tastes better than a Samuel Adams, it tastes better than an Anchor Steam, it tastes better than a Red Hook ESB, it tastes better than a Sierra Nevada, it tastes better than any of a hundred different regional microbrews I can name... all of which I like... but I really just want something kind of beer-like, you know (laughs)."

Well said, AB. Well said.