Nostalgia Ain't What It Used To Be

First; I have no idea why the picture isn't right side up. I changed it; saved it; reopened it, and it was right. I load it into Blogger, and it's wrong. Must be a Blogger thing.

At any rate, (oh yeah? how about 12 and a half percent? (Sorry; that's an old George Carlin joke I just can never resist)) the other night I had glass of New Wiedemann.

I made a special trip down to Newport to Pompilios, just for a cold glass of the old days. I wasn't the only one. The bar was packed, and I saw a lot of glasses with the New Wiedemann logo on them. You would recognize Pompilios, if you have ever seen Rainman. They filmed the scene where Raymond counts the toothpicks in the dining room just off the bar.

We finally got a spot at a table in the bar and I ordered the first glass of Wiedemann I have had in probably 6 years or more.

And I was disappointed. Kind of like the picture above; you could recognize it but it just wasn't right.

First sip told this was not a real Wiedemann. The beer I remember always started real smooth; ice water smooth, especially if the beer was real cold. This beer hit you with  flavor from the beginning. it was a strong flavor, and since I wasn't expecting it, it was a bad taste; almost skunky. Old Wiede-pop would always leave your tongue with a bite; like a flush of something bitter, that would fade faster than it came, and would disappear before the end of the second can. This beer finished flat; it kind of just ran off your tongue and disappeared.

It wasn't all bad; the beer was the right shade of pale, clear yellow, and wouldn't have developed a head if you shook it like a pair of hot dice; all old friends. New Wiedemann also had a different mouth feel; almost like it was a thicker brew, which is possible. It also left me with a dry mouth feeling after half a glass; something I never got with Old Wiedemann.

All in all; it was not a bad beer, just not the beer I was expecting. It also seemed a bit pricey; 5 bucks for the 20 ounce glass and $4 for the 16 ounce.

Back in the day, I could get a pitcher of Wiede-pop for 2 bucks, and a gallon to go- bring your own jug- for $3. Those were the days. a group of good friends, sitting around a fire out in the field, swigging cold Wiedemann from a gallon jug and watching the sparks from the fire rise to join the sky full of stars.

I was hoping Wiedemann's return would also bring back those nights too, I guess.

Maybe I was expecting too much from a couple of glasses of beer.