Entry #2: Fiji: Beer in Paradise

As mentioned previously, many of my blog entries will feature a flashback to my trip around the world. In this case I’m warping back to Jan. 27, 2009 when Bianca and I arrived in Fiji, the first stop on our journey. Getting to Fiji from LA requires a 13 plus hour flight, and a loss of one day. If you’re flying during cyclone season like we were, it also means quite a bit of turbulence. For some reason I didn’t check the weather until two days before our flight and was surprised to see that Fiji had been rocked by a cyclone about 10 days prior which had stranded numerous tourists and wiped out the already shoddy Fijian infrastructure. Luckily when we arrived, the main island looked to be very functional with only a few lingering signs of flooding.

Before arriving in Fiji I envisioned an island paradise very much like Hawaii, what we found was far less developed, but in a good way. It wasn’t all beach resorts and tourist traps—it was mainly small villages filled with huts and raw coastline. When we arrived at our destination called the Beachouse on the Coral Coast, we truly felt like we had our own little slice of paradise. More like a back-packers getaway than a resort, the Beachouse was tranquil, relaxing and most importantly easy on our wallets.

We were surprised to meet a few couples that were planning on travelling for a year similar to us. After listening to all the people back home telling us we were crazy, it was nice to find like-minded comrades. We spent many hours drinking beer and playing games with our new found friends—all of us wondering what our journeys ahead held for us. Drinking, playing cards and board games is a great way to pass the time during heavy downpours of rain—I swear I’ve never seen it rain so hard for so long, but after all I guess that’s what cyclone season means. It wasn’t all rain though, we were blessed with gorgeous weather for about 60% of our stay on the island.

My memories of Fijian beer are very fond, but I’ll be honest, you can’t go wrong sipping a cool one while lounging in a hammock and watching an amazing sunset on a tropical island. I imagine even Bud Light may have tasted good in that scenario. One thing I was unaware of is many Fijian men wear skirts—it’s a native custom. There also seems to be a disproportionate amount of effeminate men in Fiji which makes me wonder, what came first—men wearing skirts or effeminate men? Hmmmm. Regardless, I bring this all up because it’s hard to take a country’s beer seriously when it’s drunk by men who wear skirts.

In Fiji, there are three kinds of beer to choose from: Fiji Gold, Fiji Bitter and Fiji Premium. Fiji Bitter is fairly smooth with a malty flavor finished with a hoppy bite, Fiji Gold is a watered down version of Bitter and therefore less of a bite, and Fiji Premium was less watered down than Gold, but still maintained a smooth finish resulting from a less hoppy aftertaste. Although Fiji Premium may taste slightly better, it also cost a little bit more, which means we stuck to Fiji Bitter. If you’ve ever tried Foster’s (or VB in Australia), then you’ve tried Fiji Bitter because it’s brewed by the same company. These are decent beers—I’d prefer them over American macro-brews, but that’s the best compliment I can give.

Since coming home, I’ve read many online reviews of the Fiji brews mentioned above, and it’s amazing how many people rave about them. I came across far too many “drinkers” that said Fiji Bitter or Gold was the best beer they’ve ever tasted in their lives. I feel sorry for these people because they’ve either never tried quality beer, or they’re incapable of appreciating a good beer when they find one. One thing I keep in mind looking back on my trip is to keep my beer drinking experience in perspective. I mentioned before anything you drink in a hammock watching a sunset in Fiji is bound to bring back fond memories, but that has more to do with the setting than anything. Therefore I’ve taken it upon myself whenever possible to drink a brew that I loved from the road here at home to verify if it tastes as good as I remember. In summary, below are my ratings for Fijian beer, and Fiji as a place to drink beer (on a scale of 1 to 10):

Fiji Bitter: Malty taste with hoppy finish. It’s Fijian for beer. 4.0
Fiji Gold: Should be called Fiji Lite. 3.5
Fiji Premium: Taste good, but not worth the premium cost. 4.0

Fiji Overall: 3.5. As you’ll see in future entries, I’ll rate beers individually and countries overall. Overall country ratings are based on quality of local brews and available variety to choose from. The three beers listed above were the only ones I saw available in Fiji.

Entry #1: LA Beer Festival

Welcome to the first entry of A Beer in the Life. While many to come will feature my reviews and observations on beers I tried during my trip around the world, I figure the best place to begin is the present. Currently I’m living in Agoura Hills with my wife in her parents’ house. Neither of us have a job, which of course means no income, so we are fortunate to have generous families that contribute to our low cost of living.

Most of my time is occupied with thinking of creative forms of entertainment that require spending little or no money (translation: we go for walks a lot). When I heard about the LA Beer Festival I knew an exception had to be made. The $40 ticket price is a little hard to swallow, but I knew the unlimited 4 oz. pours would go down much smoother. If I’m to be taken seriously as a self-proclaimed beer connoisseur, this event required my attendance.

On April 10, my wife Bianca and I were smart enough to arrive early and secure our wristband and mini-mugs at Will Call and take our place near the front of the line to get into the 5-8pm session. This being my first American beer festival, I didn’t know what to expect, but I knew there would be a ton of great microbreweries represented. As soon as the gates opened we power-walked to the first table without a line, which happened to be Unibroue—one of my personal favorites. However given their bottle-only inventory, they weren’t quite ready to pour yet so we quenched our thirst next door with a Shipyard IPA and Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat. This is where I pause to kick myself; we deliberately brought a pen and pad of paper to write down the names of the delicious brews we would sample, but like a kid in a candy shop I was too excited to stop and write anything down. Luckily I have a decent memory so what follows is based on my somewhat hazy recollection.

Beers in hand, we ran into a group of friends and after exchanging pleasantries decided to explore the grounds. The Sony lot proved to be a nice venue for this event--surrounded by store-front facades we sipped beer on the sidewalks of Main St. USA. There were four central alleyways featuring beer tents galore, and although a couple friends wished they had a map, I found it exhilarating to randomly stumble across one tasty treat after another. Rather than guide you through each one I consumed in order, I’ll leave that to the end and in the meantime focus on the overall vibe of the festival.

The amount of hoops you have to jump through to set up an event like this in America always amazes me. In order for adults to enjoy each others' company while drinking beer and listening to a band, legally they must be quarantined off from the rest of society so as not to wreak havoc on the sober public. This particular crowd was actually very well-behaved, I didn’t see any aggressive behavior--everyone seemed to be having a good ol’ time, minus the few that obviously weren’t accustomed to drinking stronger beer and inevitably spewed their suds. For me it turned into a reunion--I ran into many people I used to work with and haven’t seen in over a year and also a buddy from High School who I hadn’t seen in nearly a decade.

In general the festival supported a simple theory I’ve been fine-tuning: good beer attracts good people and good times. As if the delicious nectar on tap wasn’t enough entertainment, there was also 40 oz to Freedom, a Sublime cover-band that provided a fitting soundtrack while time-warping me into a college state-of-mind. If you attended this event and didn’t have a good time, you need only blame yourself. Sure it got a little crowded, and yes there were a few beer tents that ran out a bit early, but I had no trouble finding consistent refills while weaving my way through the herds. I read some ranting reviews of people who showed up right at event time and were shocked by the lines to get their wristbands, and couldn’t believe they had to wait in line yet again for beer once they got in 45 minutes later. A dab of common sense would serve these people well--I have a sneaking suspicion they’re the ones you see caught off-guard at the front of the airport security line fumbling to take off their shoes and belt while arguing with the TSA agent who’s telling them they must dump out their decaf soy caramel machiatto.

This past summer I had the pleasure of going to a local beer and music festival in Belgium. While I’ll save the wonderful details of that event for a future blog, I do want to touch on it for comparison sake. The coolest part about that event was it was free and open to everyone. Parents with kids were mingling alongside beer drinkers old and young alike. They didn’t coral all the drinkers into a little cage in the corner--they mixed in with everyone else. They even served beer in their respective custom glass chalices--not plastic cups. And guess what, no one broke their glass, no one caused any problems, and no one was harassed by drunks. Everyone had a great time because that’s what they know how to do in Belgium. I know we can’t start doing things like that in America all of the sudden, but it seems like we could slowly progress that way and begin to give people a little more credit and freedom from an early age so they don’t feel like they have to go hog-wild when they get a rare opportunity to let loose.

Alright, I’ve delayed long enough--now it’s time for the beer. I drank so many delectable brews I couldn’t possibly recall each one. The list below is comprised of the short list I remember along with a simple description followed by a rating on a scale of 1 to 10: 1 being piss, 10 being perfection. I have to give a big shout out to Ladyface, which in my opinion stole the show, and lucky for me is permanently located one mile from where I live in Agoura Hills. Their Tripel was the best tasting beer, and their pourers the most friendly and knowledgeable at the fest. I’m most bummed about the wonderful Saison ale that was delicious enough to haunt me as I can’t remember its name. It was something French like Le Feu**** blah blah blah. I’ll leave you with the ones I remember:

Shipyard IPA: golden, hoppy and strong but with a honey-like finish. 7.0
Sea Dog Blueberry Wheat: light & summery but not too sweet. 7.0
Pabst Primo: smooth & light (watery)…it’s Pabst! 4.0
? Organic Saison: delicious and pure, true to the Farmhouse Ale style. 8.0
Left Coast Black Magic: full, rich coffee and chocolate flavor with a strong kick. 7.5
Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA: hoppy with surprising malty smoothness. 7.5
Dogfish Head Midas Touch: sweet, fruity, unique and smooth despite high ABV. 8.0
Angel City Dunkel: smooth caramel malt taste true to the German style. 7.5
Unibroue Maudite: exceptionally balanced delicious Belgian-style golden ale. 8.0
Unibroue Terrible: more burn and less fruit undertones than other Unibroe brews. 7.0
Speakeasy White Lightning: crisp, refreshing and yummy white ale. 7.5
New Belgium Mothership Wit: refreshing filtered wheat beer with slight citrus taste. 6.5
Ladyface Trois Filles Tripel: balanced yeast & malt, sweet, strong & heavenly. 9.0