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Among the many unique talents of Americans is their adeptness at maintaining the fiction of their individuality by means of rationalizing that an open, boastful allegiance to one or another mass-produced idea or commodity denotes independent thinking – as opposed to the all too arduous task of introspection that prefaces genuinely free thought.

In no other aspect of life is this more alarmingly true than when an American sets out to select a beer.

Nine out of ten Americans, most of whom are eager to pound their fists atop the bar in an impassioned defense of their uniqueness and individuality, nevertheless persist in lubricating their argumentative frenzy by buying one of the major national brands of beer to the exclusion of all others.  In large and numbing measure, they drink the same beer each and every day.

It is a strange ritual of self-abnegation, but it isn’t entirely the fault of the consumer.  What passes in America for “choice” is shaped not by rational thought or informed free will, but by pervasive forces of marketing, advertising and basic hucksterism.  These enforce and maintain the status quo for products that are little more than the tasteless residue of a cynical industrial process performed with antiseptic exactitude by bloated multinational corporate entities.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be this way.  Some of us openly, loudly and proudly dissent from the norms of American beer “culture” as handed down to us, and we have no intention of going away quietly.  Confronted with a seemingly insurmountable ocean of swill, we have ignored this expression of the tyranny of the majority and have chosen the path less traveled - - the true, revolutionary path that leads to beer that does more than provide lowest common denominator satisfaction for the American desire to quaff small, easily digestible doses of alcohol diluted in generic golden liquid, which is the product of brewing as the mass production of a commodity, one utterly lacking artistic merit, and something that is peddled to the masses in a way that would make the famous totalitarian propagandists of old blush with envy.

We’ll have none of it.

We demand flavor and integrity from our beer and we refuse to settle for less, because beer is important to us, and it is an important part of the story of humanity in a number of ways.  The saga of beer is a long and fascinating one, with chapters that deal with all aspects of the human experience.  Beer is about science and art, farms and cities, social history, local culture and geography.  It’s about the places you’ve gone, and the ones you’d like to go.  It’s about different textures and flavors to match your mood, the time of day, the season, and the task at hand.

Above all else, beer is about pleasure, and it is my unshakeable belief that the pleasure of beer is enhanced by bolstering one’s knowledge of its diversity, and actively applying this knowledge in everyday life.  We all recognize that life is short, and there are so many things to do and to learn, and so very little time, but there’s always time for a good beer - - so why not make that beer the best one possible?

If we are to define ourselves in even a small way by the beer we drink, we should do it ourselves, aggressively, with our minds and our palates in concert, and not because a bikini-clad model, an animated reptile or any other manifestation of corporate America has told us to do it.

The New Albanian Brewing Company, Rich O’s Public House and Sportstime Pizza flow naturally from these integral principles.  We espouse the values of good beer, good food and a good life.  We encourage the art of conversation and the marvelous times that follow from it.  We enjoy the life of the pub, and the integrity to be discovered therein, and we want our guests to enjoy it, too.

Or, you can make it a Bud Light.  Case closed.