Friday Beer Post: 2012 Gameday Beer-o-the-week - Arizona Edition

Each week throughout the football season I'm going to suggest a good beer for the ubiquitous pre-game tailgate. Let's be honest, with tailgates it's not always top quality that you're looking for. To steal a phrase from the heinous beer terrorists at Budweiser, you want "drinkability." (or what a real beer connoisseur calls "a session beer") So, be warned, these may not be "the best" beers around. But, in the words of Dave Chappelle as Samuel L. Jackson, "IT'LL GET YOU DRUNK!"

Football might as well not exist today.  The 9th of November is all about hoops, so my pick this morning has nothing to do with any football-centric angle.  I make a habit of going to the World Famous Dark Horse before most basketball games, and tonight will be no exception.  As is tradition, I can only have one beer at the Horse, and that stems from an incident eight years ago. 

It was November 19th, 2004, and I was meeting some out-of-town friends at the Horse.  I was only 20 at the time, so I was forced to forlornly watch as my buddies pounded pitcher after pitcher of brews post dinner.  There was a basketball game on the TV: Pacers/Pistons, which at the time was a great matchup, and featured former Buffs basketball star David Harrison.  The game was winding down, and I was preparing to head home to where I could get drunk with the rest of my underage crew.  All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye I could see Ron Artest running into the stands.  It was the Malice in the Palace, and shit got real.

The chaos in the stands lead to chaos in the bar.  Everyone was up and yelling.  In the confusion, the dude who was tasked with checking everyone's ID's passed our table by.  When everything settled down, I found myself inside the Dark Horse after 9pm, with the entire Horse staff assuming that I was therefore 21 or older.  Well, I guess it's time to pass that pitcher over... 

The beer in that pitcher was Boulder Beer's Hazed and Infused, and out of respect for that night I've only ever ordered Hazed when I'm at the Horse.  To celebrate the start of basketball season, I'm also naming it my gameday beer-o-the-week.

If you've been a beer drinker in Boulder for any length of time, you've probably had your fair share of Hazed.  Hoppy in both aroma and flavor, it's your basic American Pale Ale.  It's dry-hopped to give it a bright and citrusy fresh hop character, with a little malt to balance.  Other APA's have passed Hazed by in notoriety and popularity, but it remains a staple brew for me.  If you haven't had one in a while, you might want to give it a second look.

Happy Friday!  Go Buffs, beat the Terriers!