I know by now it’s old news, but I had to give props to the fine legislators, and especially our own Governor Sanford, for passing bill 3218 to allow the sale of up to 14% alcohol beers. This is a great victory for beer lovers in our state. We can finally enjoy many Belgian ale, barely wine, imperial, and other styles of beer that are of higher alcohol content.

Now, for those cynics out there who think we’re all going to go out and get bombed twice as fast, I challenge you to drink one of those high-gravity beers. If your aim is to get bombed, this would not be the way to go. (Thinking about it now, if you are a cynic who is against alcohol in beer, you probably stopped reading this blog after the first five seconds. I digress…)

These beers are so rich and full of flavor that they take twice as long to drink. Plus, those that do enjoy drinking to get housed will have nothing to do with these bad-boys. They are way too expensive to pound. Higher alcohol beers are best when paired with food, like a good wine. I find that their consistency is often close to wine.

Some good ones that I have had since prohibition was repealed are Flying Dog Double Dog, Rogue Imperial Stout, and Unibroue Maudite.