With the stunner below, Rebecca Zinner has won our craft beer story contest. She’ll get two tickets to this Saturday’s Boulder Craft Beer Festival in North Boulder Park! Congrats Rebecca and thanks for the great story.
By Rebecca Zinner
There I was. Sitting at the Southern Sun bar, locked in conversation with a stranger who clearly thought too much of himself. He looked good on Tinder: a former firefighter who had returned to school with good teeth and okay musical taste.
It had started well – he seemed charming and polite — but things devolved as I learned more about him (he didn’t learn much about me, as he never asked me any questions).
He told me about firefighting and how he was the only firefighter who had ever fought any fires. He told me that he was an expert cyclist and lamented that no one else in Boulder knew how to ride a bike as well as he could.
He told me about how romantic and suave he was, though by this point in the conversation I already knew that he wouldn’t have the opportunity to practice his charms on me.
Eyeing the taps as I finished my first beer, I found myself at a crossroads. The Tinder date was still talking at me, but there was a smoky stout on draft that I had heard good things about.
Before I thought through what my ordering a second drink may have implied, I asked for a pint. It felt like getting punched in the face in a good way; a rich, savory overtone to the smooth brew underneath. I offered my date a sip so that he could take a break from talking.
When I put my credit card on the bar, my date suggested that he could give me a ride home (wink, wink), but I politely declined. “But you had two drinks! Why didn’t you leave earlier if you weren’t into it?”
I was really excited about that stout! It was pretty good, right?
