I grew up on Rainier Ale in the PNW. Literally, it was the first beer to pass my lips under the disapproving eyes of my mother while my father chuckled tolerantly and said, "The boy's gotta learn how to handle it." So that coppery, slightly stale taste was the comfort of home for me.

I liked it so much that in my raucous youth I was given a special patch depicting the Harley-Davidson winged-shield on a background of green. (There used to be a whole underground code for different coloured wing patches. Let's not go there now.) It has long since disappeared, but the memory remains.

Then Rainier, like Blitz, fell out of production and the brand disappeared. Lately I've been able to find it again on my trips south, though it seems strange to see the R and picture of Mt. Rainier on a beer made in Irwindale, California.

My last venture netted me an unexpected stay short of home to wait out a snow storm, and two sixers of Big Green.

Any other fans in the room?

Green Up!