What Meatloaf and Beer Have Taught me about Audiophiles


Recently in life and online I've had some curious observations about human behavior I thought I'd share.   To begin with, I have recently discovered that a surprising number of My Fellow Americans do not like meatloaf.   As a meatloaf maker and meatloaf cognoscenti I was absolutely astonished at this.  Some people who otherwise like burgers and the like hate meatloaf.  

If you make meatloaf and love it your immediate reaction to this is "but you haven't tried _my_ meatloaf."  That's our natural knee jerk reaction because we just can't imagine.  Related to this I have a bartender.  We'll call him Calhoun because his name is Calhoun.  An otherwise respectable fellow who knows beer and tequila better than most.   I would go in to see what the latest rotation of Indian Pale Ales were.  About once a month they'd get some new "dessert beer."  That is a brew made to taste like a sweet food substance.  The least offensive of which were peanut butter and the worst strawberry shortcake beer.  Calhoun would proceed to push me to sample these unholy abominations every time he could. 

Of course I'd tell him "I don't like flavored beers." Which was partially a lie as a coffee or espresso flavored beer would probably be divine.. but we digress.

Sometimes he was so adamant that the latest beer flavor was the one that would change my mind I'd go ahead and try them.  Of course, they were invariably disgusting. 

My point to all this is that being on both sides of this argument.  It's really hard to accept that our fellow audiophiles don't like something we feel is sublime and we will push our fancies onto them in the hopes of enriching their lives for the better.   It's hard for us to respect that someone else can love music and the stereos that play it and yet not have found their happy place the same way we have.

By the way, I use the Betty Crocker meatloaf recipe and add a tablespoon of chipotle powder.  Amazing. 

erik_squires

Showing 2 responses by richmon

I have a mild form of tourettes syndrome- way back in my 20s went to a friend's apt for dinner, his wife was a newbie to cooking.

She brings out a too liquidity meatloaf that had flattened out and misshapen.

I said "it looks like an elephant turd". She still calls it that to me.

Full disclosure- I'm a beer nut.

Certain beers are appropriate for special times and different seasons. I don't drink a dessert stout on the beach in summer but in winter in front of a fireplace, yum.

Also usually only drink heaver stouts late in a beer session, save them for the finale.

Lighter beers like Wits, hefes and blonds taste better in the warmer weather especially after yard work.

So match the style to the weather, food or other considerations.

I recently was in line buying 3 single craft beers for 30 bucks. The guy in front of me got a 30 pack of Natty Bo for 30 bucks. Occurred to me I had approx the same weight of barley and hops in my 3 as he had in 30. No judgement, horses for courses.