Of course, I have no scientific evidence whatsoever to backup my theory, but hear me out: off the top of my head, I can think of at least a handful of snowsports themed beers: Magic Hat's Single Chair Ale, Breckenridge Brewery's Avalanche Ale, Avery's Out of Bounds Ale, Boulder Beer's NeverSummer Ale, and New Belgium's 2° Below. Furthermore, it seems as though a disproportionate number of micro and craft breweries are located in or close by a ski town - coincidence? I think not.
My final piece of evidence is an observation of the beers favored by my various groups of friends. The guys and gals back home in Connecticut - the ones who, although they may ski or snowboard once in a while, don't think of themselves as skiers or snowboarders first and foremost - they drink mainstream stuff like Budweiser, Coors, Miller, Sam Adams and Heineken. My friends in Vermont, and the ones in the ski and snowboard industry nationwide, will only buy Budweiser when they're cooking up beer can chicken. I rest my case!
What do you think? Are skiers and snowboarders a bit snobbish when it comes to beer? What's your favorite brew?
Comments
I present myself as evidence to debunk your theory.
I snowboard a fair bit (at least every second weekend and one trip out west per year) and I drink PBR. Or whatever else I can get for as cheap. I doubt I can call myself a beer snob.
I guess I could be an exception…but I don’t think so.
Paul,
I hear what you’re saying, BUT – in my eyes, PBR totally qualifies as a snowboarders-being-beer-snobs-brew. What, you say? Try and keep up here – as nasty, as low, as horrid a beer as PBR is, the only people I’ve ever met that bow to the altar of Fred Pabst’s hallmark brew are…you guessed it – skiers and snowboarders. This, of course, is because Mr. Pabst is the founder of Bromley Mountain in Vermont, an endeavor which has forever endowed him to snowriders everywhere. Then again (and I stated this in my original post), I could be entirely wrong…
What say you?
I agree with Chris. I live in a ski town in CO, and we practically pay homage to PBR with specials at just about every bar. The only people I have met who appreciate PBR as much as snowbums are broke college students…and let’s face it, we’re almost one in the same!
And then there’s me. I grew up drinking Long Trail. I can remember a time when my older brother was proud of me for drinking Double Bag while his friends back home were drinking Bud. Now I live in Colorado, and the closest beer I can find to my FAVORITE (Long Trail’s Blackbeary Wheat) is brewed in Denver but not served in any bar here. So I wind up drinking Coors Light.
Hint: Send me some B-beary Wheat.
I will – but only if you return the box with an Odell sampler !!