Holiday cheer

I like beer. It feels a little transgressive to write that since Justice Kavanaugh made the phrase notorious during his appropriately contentious confirmation. I don't mean it in his inebriated way; I mean I like the taste of beer.

And not surprisingly, that means I have an enthusiasm for winter holiday beers. Not perhaps the most sophisticated choice, but certainly the most accessible of late, has been 21st Amendment Brewery's Fireside Chat.

 

As we came into the season, I looked out for the familiar illustration showing FDR enjoying a brew.

No such cans appeared on the shelves! What happened to Fireside Chat?

I finally realized that 21st Amendment has resigned its packaging to a more generic holiday theme.

 

Nice deer with magnificent antlers, but nothing distinctive. Did someone think they could enlarge the market by replacing the beloved Democratic president? Or by leaning into a nondescript winter theme? Or perhaps, have we arrived at a time when the previous image had become so rarely recognized as to get in the way of sales? I don't know.

 

The beer tastes much as before -- perhaps very slightly sweeter. I feel something has been lost, but that may be just me ...