Old Milwaukee… just sounds delicious, doesn’t it? This beer dates back before they named brews after snakes. I’m not sure if this is technically malt liquor or merely cheap beer, but I drank it from a 40-ounce bottle shaped like a Saturn rocket booster, so I’ll refer to it as the malt variety. Once Frosty hires a fact-checker for us, I’ll be more diligent in my terminology.

This one was not terrible, but it really stands out for fizziness. The “beer” was astoundingly carbonated. Just so much bubbles, fizz, and accompanying bloated feeling, that I wondered how much actual beer there was in the bottle along with the CO2. If it’s warmer this month than usual, blame my beer review for doubling the global warming effect. Malt liquors in general are more carbonated, and oddly carbonated, than regular old beer — you can tell that whereas a homebrewed beer, for example, contains bubbles from natural fermentation processes, malt liquors contain bubbles thanks to the support of some scary industrial surfactant. Needless to say, I was absolutely charming in the eyes of Mrs. Liquor that night, with my horrible beer breath and need to burp every 3 seconds.

What’s this I see on the label? Lo and behold, Old Milwaukee is brewed and distributed by Schlitz, which makes my least-favorite malt liquor to date. Given the flavors of both, it seems that Old Mil is the upscale, high-quality product, the Lexus to Schlitz’ Toyota. I’d drink this over Schlitz, but not much else — I really can’t recommend it for taste. If you’re entering a burping contest in the next 30 seconds, or you need to inflate a lot of backyard jumpy toys by hand this evening, I heartily recommend it. Otherwise, save your money, and save our world from more global warming!

Whats the only thing better than drinking beer? Drinking beer someone gives you! Ok, so maybe there are a few things better than drinking beer, but its sure nice when a generous coworker comes wandering by with a bottle of home brew for you to try. In this case, the brave soul was our own British expat, Jonathan Edwards. I had the pleasure of sampling one of the last bottles of dear Mr. Edwards Birthday Bitter, named in honor of both his birthday, and the birth of his cute little daughter Elizabeth.

Now, some of you who know me well may be wondering about me using the words “pleasure” and “Bitter” in the same sentence. I have been know in the past to strictly avoid Bitters, every since Grandpa Goodness had me try one that was the beverage equivalent of being punched in the teeth. So it was with a bit of trepidation and politeness that I geared up and gave Jonathan’s freshman brew a swig.

And wouldn’t you know it, as it turns out, Mr. Edwards has no idea how to brew a tooth punching Bitter. And I love him for it! This beer was really good. Despite its depressingly low alcohol content (2.6%!), it was a perfect complement to the Disney character shaped pasta the little Frosties and I had were having that evening. Full flavored, with a touch of hoppiness. After finishing it, Mrs. Goodness and I both remarked that it was very close in flavor to some of the Red Ales I enjoy. Kudos Jonathan, for renewing my faith in “Bitter” as a term not indicative of the experience of drinking it.