All Work and No Play

... makes for a very boring blog. Except for when Mr Wort Hog posts.

In the past 2 months, I've been to Seattle, Detroit, Portland, Fort Worth, central Illinois, and now Miami - nearly all work-related. I don't normally travel this much and it's significantly affecting my blogging frequency as you can probably tell. I've cut back on my beer drinking as well - partly due to the amount of stress & travel, but also because I was pushing my body's ability to stay within my current clothing size. Time to scale back.

However, tonight I was in the mood for a beer (after what's already been a long week - and it's only Tuesday) but I wasn't in the mood for something heavy. I'm not typically a fan of hotel lounges, but I had to get out of my hotel room for a while (but not travel far) and figured I'd suck it up and spend ten bucks on a well gin & tonic. Or maybe just a Diet Coke.

Not this time!

Boston Beer Company to the rescue - I spotted a Sam Adams Light on the menu and thought it would hit the spot. I'm not a big fan of light beers, but there are a couple that stand out. New Belgium's Skinny Dip is pretty decent, but it's seasonal - and sometimes I want a light beer in winter to counterbalance, say, a Chocolate Oak-Aged YETI (mmm....) Sam Adams Light it is, then. For 119 calories, you actually get a really good beer. It has a nice, dry flavor that has a little bit of an orange essence on the finish from the Noble hops. There's also a prominent but light caramel flavor from the malt and none of that funky sweet adjunct taste you get from other light beers.

Does it taste like a 300ish calorie bottle of Hopslam? Well, no. Do I care? Not really. It's refreshing, flavorful, and a nice change from the winter beers I've been nursing this season. The body is still decent, head retention is quite good, aroma is pleasing. There is nothing offensive about this beer.

Of course, most 4-5% ABV beers hover around 150 calories per bottle anyway, so you could always just go for a Boston Lager, Anchor Steam, Schlafly Pale Ale, and so on; 30 calories less really isn't that much. That's half a Girl Scout cookie. 3 minutes of running. 1.5 ounces of Hopslam. Not much. But if you're looking for a good beer low in calories, Sam Adams Light is one worth your hard-earned money.