Beer Review: Beer for Ball Games

From Off Color Brewing. Also I talk about policing.

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The 2022 MLB season has begun in earnest. As I write this the Phillies are playing the Oakland Athletics. It’s tied 0-0 in the first and Zach Eflin is struggling on the mound a little. Mostly due to a couple of bad calls from the umpire but what can you do? I’m drinking a “Beer for Ball Games” from Off Color Brewing. They’re a Chicago based brewer who make generally good beers, most notably their farmhouse ale “Apex Predator” and a gose known as “Beer for Tacos.”

Off Color specializes in what I like to call “porch beers.” Porch beers are beers that you drink, you guessed it, on the porch. They’re generally easy sippers, low ABV, and inoffensive. That last adjective isn’t an insult. These beers aren’t going to throw their flavor in your face. They won’t launch an all-out ground invasion on your taste buds. They might not topple you over with their majesty, but they’ll also never disappoint you. In short, they’re beers to drink while you’re hanging with your buddies, kicking back and listening to some tunes. Porch Beers.

Drinking Porch Beers is not an unquestioned activity in Chicago. That is not everyone can drink porch beers. Local ordinances prohibit public drinking. That is, you can’t openly drink on the bus, or walking down the sidewalk. Various legal sites I looked at online all basically say it’s essentially unclear whether non-fenced in front porches count as public space or not. So, like all similar laws, this is applied differently depending on where and who you are. Chicago is certainly no exception to this. During the heights of lockdown, it was a regular occurrence to see people taking their daily walks in various parks, often with wine or beer in hand. I never once saw a police officer harass someone for doing this. But I live in Logan Square and most of the people I saw walking in the parks were white.

There were multiple news stories that came out during the pandemic of CPD harassing black folks doing similar things in various parks throughout Chicago, not just on the South Side. Chicago policing, since its roots in protecting downtown businesses, has targeted racial minorities constantly and without fail. Racial discrimination in prosecution of public consumption of alcohol isn’t the most severe or worrisome of CPD’s failures, it is a symptom of a much larger problem with incarceration in the United States, but it is still troublesome. Porch beers should be for everyone who wishes to enjoy one, not just some people.

Outdoor dining also gives the lie to public consumption laws in a different way. Outdoor dining proliferated in not just Chicago, but many urban areas throughout the US during the pandemic. Many of these restaurants serve alcohol of all varieties in wide-open view of passers-by, often far closer to the public than someone on their front-porch. This should not be taken as an indictment of outdoor dining, just a note that legal public consumption of alcohol takes place all the time, and no one is worse for the wear. If I have a gripe with outdoor restaurant dining it’s the fact that they often take up the majority of the public sidewalks, leaving almost no room for pedestrians. If anything, outdoor dining should take place on the street and cars prohibited from driving down restaurant heavy avenues, but that’s a pipe-dream in the car obsessed United States.

Back to the beer. Beer for Ball Games is a quintessential porch beer. It’s an “American Style Cream Ale,” which I guess means something. My bullshit alarm always goes off when someone describes a beer as “American Style [X].” It’s usually just a way to try and make your beer stand out in a crowded market. Nothing wrong with a little bit of marketing jargon of course. I used to pay rent with a marketing job. Just don’t get caught up in it. It’s a Cream Ale.

Beer for Ball Games is a cloudy, slightly-dehydrated pee color, but in a pleasing way. I poured it into a glass very haphazardly which gave it a bone-white foam head with pretty big bubbles. Not sure if that means anything. Didn’t really ruin the experience for me so that’s good. It tastes like if a Bud Heavy rented a tux and went to a black-tie wedding. It’s nice. Very very slightly hoppy, but mostly it tastes like what you think a beer should taste like. There’s a hint of sweetness at the end which doesn’t hurt. Best of all it’s only 4.2% ABV. For my non-degenerate readers that means it has less alcohol in it than a Budweiser but the same amount as a Bud Light. In short, it’s a porch beer.

Porch beers should be available to everyone regardless of who or where they are. As long as you’re mostly responsible it’s a wonderful time. I don’t want to stump for every city to turn into a host for New Orleans-style bacchanals, where everyone is drinking hurricanes all the time, but certainly having a nice glass of wine while you walk through the park should be legal. Hell, the city of Chicago already recognizes this truth. They allow drinking at Millennium Park during various movie nights, and concerts, just not on other days. Everyone has a great time on those days. It's a summer tradition in Chicago! But it also puts a face to the ridiculous nature of those exceptions. Why are Wednesday nights in June somehow better for public drinking than others? Stupid.

In any case I’m enjoying this Beer for Baseball. It’s now the fourth inning and Zach Eflin has settled down a little. It’s still 0-0. But I have faith in the Phillies. (Note: The Phillies ended up losing 4-1.)

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