Boulder Beer Company in Boulder, CO

I really enjoy drinking in airport bars. They have a mystique to them that you can’t find in other places. You’ll meet people that you might become instant friends with, and then they’re gone. You’ll never see them again. Were they lying about their life? Why did they buy me a drink? Why did I buy them a drink? Was I even honest in anything I was telling them? Did I lie about my life?

Emotions fly like raptors in airports. Drinking in them has become an almost cathartic experience during long layovers. The beers are usually hit and miss, and finding one that isn’t Bud Light or Heineken is also challenging. But the Rock Bottom Brewery in the Minneapolis airport is a fun place to meet people I only want to see once, to eat some higher-grade airport food, and to taste a microbrewery’s creations while waiting for a short hop across Lake Michigan.

I’ve drank at the Rock Bottom Brewery before in the airport, and I remembered getting their Singletrack Copper Ale before, which was actually brewed by the Boulder Beer Company. I have fond memories of it, so I was happy to find it still on the menu and ready for a tasting in a nice 20 oz. glass at the bar. (Quantity, not quality, is another interesting feature of airport bars. You’re encouraged to drink–and to drink a lot. Want a whiskey and Coke? A double is only $3 more. Want a beer? How about a big beer instead? Quantity is key. Never quality.) The beer looked as brilliant as I remember, with a soothing amber red glow emanating from the glass. The nose was hard to find, with maybe just a touch of sweeter malt poking through the smell of french fries and bleach water from the bar. The taste was a nice combination of malt and hops, with a light and chewy hop flavor up front, coupled with a good chunk of bitterness, all being rounded off at the end with a dull-malt splash. I hoped to find more from this beer with further sips, but nothing really stepped forward and shouted wildly into the air. But the watery taste made this a beer that was easily drinkable and a nice partner at an empty bar.

When I said quantity and not quality was important to remember, I meant it. This is an airport bar beer. It’s something you want to calm your nerves, despite it’s lower ABV hovering around 5%. It’s something that will help you tell the man sitting next to you in a business suit a wonderfully false tale about train-hopping and your time as a UFC fighter. It will help calm your mind after a bumpy flight, especially after a few tall glasses. And it’s a beer that will help you get over the fact that you’re flying away from someone you love. But no beer will make you feel like that’s a good decision. Even in an airport bar.