Episode 2: Aces and Ales

Beer culture is huge. Unfortunately, most people are doing it wrong.

There's a hold-over from the college culture of our recent past that says beer is for pounding; buy in bulk, drink as much as possible.

Then comes this new, hipster fad of high-end, high-alcohol imports and microbrews. In a way, it's the best thing to have happened to beer since the Reinheitsgebot, but in other ways it's really killing everything about American beer culture.

It's not just dangerous to down as much 12%ABV Big Bad Baptist as you would Keystone Lite, it's disrespectful to the beer. So what's a beer connoisseur to do?

Enter: Flights.

A flight of beer is a group of 4oz tasters (usually 3-6 different beers), just big enough for two good-size sips. Why two? Ideally, one is taken immediately, as the beer is still tap-cold and effervescent. The other is taken a little later, when the beer has "settled" and is closer to cellar temp.

Lots of restaurants and tap rooms offer flight selections, but dollar-to-buzz ratio, no one does it better than Aces and Ales (two locations, here and here).

A flight of six beers is reasonably priced and never pre-set. Want to try that brand new collaboration from Evil Twin and Left Hand, but think it's too pricey for a full pour? It's cool. Doesn't matter what you pick, if it's on tap, it goes on the flight for the same price as every other beer. In addition to some rare finds, they frequently feature exclusive beers from local breweries like Tenaya Creek, or big names like Ballast Point out of San Diego.

Okay, so you go in, you have your flight, but you've got a bit of a buzz going on. Put some food in your belly. Aces and Ales has some surprisingly fancy fair for a local, neighborhood bar. There are too many choices that fuse tradition bar food and fancy pants cuisine to name, but a few recommendations: Beer Bites (essentially tiny bread sticks) served with a homemade Arrogant Bastard beer cheese sauce, or the Eddie Spaghetti, a full-size sausage pizza with a surprise under that layer of melted three-cheese blend: an entire serving of spaghetti. If you're avoiding carbs, it's not for you, but if you need something to sit in your belly while you're waiting for the Uber guy to take you home, Eddie's your pal.