At a ball game, craft beer wins

My wife and I took her mother to see the Tampa Bay Rays beat the New York Yankees 5-3 on Saturday night at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg. It had been about 10 years since I last went to a Rays game.*

I planned to get a draft beer at the game and remembered the choices being rather stark: Bud or Bud Light.** So I was surprised to see a Gordon Biersch counter on the way to our seats. Gordon Biersch is a craft brewery based out of Palo Alto, Calif. They brew good German-style beers and are a recent arrival in Florida. I bought a glass (I'm guessing it was about 16 ounces) of their Marzen, which is an amber lager traditionally brewed in March (hence the name) and conditioned (lagered) over the summer when higher temperatures made brewing difficult in the days before refrigeration. This style is also known as Octoberfest.

The beer was $9, ouch, but they filled my glass right to the rim. And all other beers sold there were either $8 or $9; a $9 craft beer beats a $9 Coors Light every time.

And the craft beer options didn't end with Gordon Biersch. I also saw Anchor Steam ($9) on tap at another drinks counter closer to our seats. 

*And I'm pretty sure the last game I saw was TB vs. NYY.

**That beer choice reminds me of the line from "The Blues Brothers," "We have both types of music: country and western!"