Beer on Guam

Hafa Adai from Guam!

This is literally "Where America's Day Begins." Before the 1980s it was not even shown on most globes, but is an integral part of American history nonetheless.

We are one of the 4 US Territoies, which basically means we are US Citizens who do NOT get to vote for President and do NOT have actual voting representation in Congress, but rather a delegate figure head who tries to lobby on our behalf.

You can find much more about Guam by doing a Wiki search--no not Waikiki as that is in Hawai'i, a series of islands which actually enjoys the benefits of statehood.

Because Guam has a rather large Asian influence owing to its position in the Pacific (just three hours south of Japan by plane) the beer landscape is quite dismal, but has improved marginally since I moved here nearly two years ago.

Budweiser and Miller products rule this island unfortunately. Heineken is a popular import, as are Singha, Asahi, Tsing Tao, and to some extent Foster's. Guinness, though available, is different from mainland US, and comes in at an ABV of 7.0. Nice!, except for the price. We're talking about $12.50 for a six pack, or basically what you'd pay at cost in a tavern back in Muncie, Indiana my former hometown for instance.

I am celebrating the recent increased availability of Hoegaarden in selected gas stations on island as we do not have many of your typical "liquor" stores or "Beer Stores" for those of you playing along in Pennslyvania.

What "top-shelf" beer we do get on island tends to be sort of name-brand like Lindeman's Krieg for instance or Schneider Weiss.

Guam is blessed with one microbrewery--a charming little establishment called The Mermaid Tavern, named after the John Keats poem, an excerpt of which you can find on their homepage at http://www.greatdeepbrewing.com/.

The owner/operator is a chemistry professor at University of Guam and his establishment has been featured on The Good Beer Show hosted by Jeffrey T--a program I co-hosted and miss very much after contributing to winning two Podcast Awards in 2005 & 2006.

To be honest, I've scaled back my beer consumption immensely, and in large part due to lack of variety. As a general rule, I'm prone to drink the aforementioned Guinness or Peroni (owing to my Italian girlfriend), and the occasional Fat Tire when available. I've been also been ordering the recent acquisition of Carlsberg at a few restaurants. If you haven't figured it out by now, lager is the chief choice on island. Since we don't really have more than one season, you can understand why we don't stack up on Oatmeal Stout and then go out with a light sweater and play in the snow drifts.

Recently I consumed Bud Light for the first time since college (circa 1990) at a poker match as I did not want to offend those who offered. Needless to say, I don't think I ever got over the legal limit to drive no matter how many I consumed.

That's about it for my first beerblog. I'm not sure how much I'll have to contribute in the future, but I welcome anyone who is willing to mail me good brews...bubble-wrapped for protection during shipping of course :).

Take care fellow beer enthusiasts, and happy drinking!