A First: Good Beer in Guate!

A good friend of ours, Adam, recently sent us a fantastic care package in the form of delicious American beers. For those of you who know us well, you know Beth and I (me especially) really enjoy a good, craft beer, particularly a pale ale or IPA. We got spoiled living in Lawrence with Free State Brewing Co., in addition to the town having a good selection of beers. So, since living in Guatemala, we've really missed full-bodied and flavorful beer. There are maybe six Guatemalan types of beer, but all are extremely watered down and flavorless, like Bud Light (sorry to any fans of Bud Light...but it's true!).

Adam sent us three we requested and tossed in an additional to surprise us. Sadly, the surprise addition broke in transit. : ( All of the bottles were 22 ounces. The three that made it were all from the Great Divide Brewing Co., one of my all-time favorite breweries. We received an imperial IPA, an imperial stout, and a barley wine, all of which are extremely aromatic and flavorful.

We opened up the imperial IPA, which the brewery has named, Hercules Double IPA, two Fridays ago. As soon as I popped the top, we could smell the strong and inviting aroma of hops. (Hops are used to add bitterness and aroma to beer, as well as work as a preservative.) Hoppiness is the biggest component of this style of beer and it gives it a citrus/pine/floral flavor. Yum!

We savored our shared beer (11 oz. each) for more than an hour. It was soooo good!




Beth's not a fan of dark beers, so I will be splitting the imperial stout with Randy. But we will be sharing the barley wine at some point before coming home for Christmas break. We're just waiting for the perfect night or until we can't hold out any longer!