I accidentally deleted my prior entry regarding my switch from Amstel Light to Heineken Light, but it needed a bit of an update anyway, so it’s just as well. First I should point out that I had been an Amstel Light drinker since my college pool hall days. Back then, that’s how I would hold court about 8 hours a day, with a cue stick in one hand and an Amstel Light in the other. While Boddington’s (The Cream of Manchester baby!) is my favorite beer in terms of taste, Amstel Light was always reliable for its lower alcohol content which allowed me to look drunk (because of the ol’ Asian Flush syndrome I sometimes turn red from drinking even a teeny bit of alcohol) while still being perfectly able to play pool…for money. That’s part of where my nickname came from; people wondered why I’d never lose for money even when I was drunk. Well the answer of course was that I was never really drunk! I was so identified with that beer that even today old friends will call me up to tell me they think about me whenever they have an Amstel Light.

So when Manny (the owner of Mi Cabanita) bought me a Heineken Light a month ago, I accepted politely but didn’t expect to like it. I was surprised by the clean flavor. Very light and crisp with a hint of grain flavor almost like toasted rice. It was good enough for me to give it another try on a subsequent visit. Then before I knew it, I had sucked back about a dozen in one night and was feeling pretty drunk, but miraculously woke up with no hangover the following day. It couldn’t have been the food I ate, because I almost never eat when I’m in drink mode, so it had to be the beer. Just like they say sake doesn’t give you hangovers because of purity (unlike wine which is loaded with things like sulfites), I think Heiny Light is just more pure than other beers. I’ve been telling people it’s the horizontal fermentation process that does it, although I actually just stole that from the label and have no idea what it means. I’m very convincing though. 🙂

So I’ve been drinking Heineken Light everytime I go to the bar, which has been a lot more frequently lately because Hector needed me to round out his dart league roster, and my competitive nature wouldn’t let me just go in there and suck at it. So after my numerous clinical trials, I can now say with relative certainty that it is darn near impossible to get a hangover just drinking Heineken Light. Even more evidence came a few days ago when I was practicing darts and the Budweiser distributor showed up. What happens is that the Budweiser rep will travel throughout his region with a group of associates (typically a group of attractive young ladies) and just make unannounced visits to their clients’ establishments once every few months. When they arrive, they buy the entire bar free Budweiser products for as long as they are there, typically about an hour or so. Fortunately I was just about to finish my bottle of Heineken Light at the time, so I didn’t have to let it go warm as they started forcing the King of Beers on me. I only had two Buds while they were there and then I was able to go back to Heiny Light. But you know what? Those two Buds were enough to ruin the internal balance, and sure enough, I woke up the next morning feeling like shit. Nice.