A Pint Half Full

Note: This is part 1 of a series documenting the countries of Epcot Center and the beer they serve.

At heart, I'm a big kid.  You might call it a "almost-30-straddling-the-line-between-youth-and-adulthood" syndrome that alot of people my age go through.  Things from my childhood have once again become a passion - G.I. Joe (yes I saw the new movie, yes it was the worst movie ever), Transformers, TMNT, Street Fighter, Sega, and of course, Disney, have all worked their way back into my life in some form or another, whether due to nostalgia or pure geekiness.  Of course, the twist now is that these things are appreciated on a more 'adult' level: G.I. Joe figures remain in their plastic prisons of their original packaging or posed for 'action' vice ripped apart at the mid-section and missing tiny plastic weapons; the nuances of Street Fighter technique and strategy are discussed and refined in lew of button mashing; plots of Disney movies are actually understood from a musical and storytelling perspective rather than staring numbingly at Aladdin's magic carpet.  In essence, there is a greater, more sophisticated appreciation of all things we loved as a child - including the mother of them all - Disney World.

Some people hate and/or resent the Disney empire for various reasons.  I wouldn't know any of these since I love it.  But one area at Disney that I underappreciated as a child was Epcot Center.  When I visited the theme park for my last birthday, Epcot was definitely the highlight of the trip.  Not only do you get to ride some of the most state-of-the-art rides (SOARING is awesome!), there is the WORLD SHOWCASE.  All kids hate the World Showcase because all it is food, shopping, shows, beer, and some culture from the countries represented at the park.  But all these are great when you're almost 30!  Especially the food and beer part.  Well really the food isn't that great, so really it's just the beer.  More after the jump.
So the beauty of the Epcot World Showcase is that for each country represented, they have beer that is native to each country for purchase.  From Mexico, to Morocco, to Canada, you can try each beer and essentially, make it "around the world in 11 beers".  20 and 30-somethings flock to this place to accomplish this task.  They make custom t-shirts and have each stand check off each country listed on the shirt.  So the quest has become somewhat of a magnet for douche-baggery (I saw at least 2 groups of "bros" doublefisting beers at some beer kiosks) but my goal was to actually enjoy and contrast what each country had to offer.

Over the next few weeks, I will be describing my journey around the world, country by country, beer by beer.  The list below indicates the country where I had each beer.  Each week, I will outline the experience of drinking the beer and highlight some of the events at each site.  Unfortunately, the task of completing all countries is not easy, and I was not able to make every stop for sake of maintaining some sense of sobriety.  But hopefully, it will be informational  but most of all, entertaining.  Here's the rundown of the countries and the beers I tried there.  Hope you stick around for the details.

Norway - Carlsberg
China - Tsingtao Premium
Germany - Spaten Optimator
Italy - Moretti
America - Sam Adams
Japan - skipped
Morocco - Casablanca
France - Kronenbourg 1644
United Kingdom - Skipped, ate fish and chips
Canada - Moosehead Pale Ale