Looking for a deeper relationship

Novelty is starting to lose its appeal at home and I feel like I need to find a good fridge filler. Can you place lonely-hearts ads for a beer?

A tide is turning deep within me. For years now I have insisted on variety when it comes to beer. I’d taste a beer and move on, taste and move on. Not because I didn’t enjoy the ones I tried — I often loved them — but because there was always something else drawing me on. More first tastes. More unique experiences. I don’t think I’ll ever lose my joy in trying unfamiliar beer, but at home lately I have found myself yearning for something more everyday. I need a fridge-filler beer.

What do I mean by that? Well one thing is certain: it can’t be anything too fancy. Whatever I choose has to be readily available, not too expensive, and ideally locally brewed. Something I can buy in a six pack. If I can get it from a supermarket, even better. It needs to come in cans rather than bottles so there’s no need to hunt around for an opener every time I want to crack one. Cans are easier to fit into the fridge, plus they crush down once they’re done and recycle well.

The beer itself needs to be a good all-rounder. A thirst quencher. Satisfying after just one but approachable enough that I could sink two or three if that’s what the situation calls for. Something easy going, not too strong, that works well with meals as well as on its own. Maybe a pale ale, maybe a lager. I don’t know yet, except it probably won’t be dark.

I’m looking for something I can come back to again and again. It needs to be comforting and familiar. Undemanding but rewarding. Something I can enjoy without paying too much attention to, but which will reward me when I do slow down to taste it properly. I want a beer with which I can develop a deep relationship over time.

Have you got a beer like that? An old dependable friend? Which one have you chosen to go back to again and again, and how has your taste for it developed over time? Let me know in the comments.