Curmudgeon Conundrum

Recently we were at a local watering hole celebrating a friend’s accomplishment. This friend is Erich, and his accomplishment is that he achieved his dream: he is now being paid to make beer all day, every day. This is essentially what Erich does with all of his available free time, so his being paid for at least half his weekly beer-making is quite the accomplishment.

An odd thing happened in the midst of our celebration. I got a round for Marta and myself (her only instruction being to ‘get [her] something dark’; I ignored it and got a her a beer that I wanted to drink). I selected a Great Divide 17th Anniversary Wood-Aged Double IPA and got Marta a Founder’s Curmudgeon Old Ale. Both good breweries, both exactly the kind of style and alcohol content that I like.


Here’s where it got weird. When we sat down and started comparing, I noticed (and by ‘noticed’ I mean ‘was bludgeoned in the face with’ this): the beers tasted identical. Not similar, not stylistically reminiscent…identical.


So how did this happen? They have a similar ABV and they’re both aged in wood (which was the predominant flavor, along with delicious alcohol). But they’re not even the same style (the 17th Anniversary should have been bitterer, which it wasn’t). I was confused and sad and scared.

They were fantastic, too, and complex. This is not like Keystone and Natty Ice tasting the same. These were beers of the finest quality. IT DIDN’T MAKE SENSE.

Then I realized that the bartender probably just poured me two of the same beer.