Make a splash on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is a funny night. People celebrate a transition; a passing from the old to the new. Yet we do so with the same old, tired routines year in and year out. We go to parties. We watch the ball drop on television. We have a champagne toast at midnight. Zzzzzzz.

Why not change it up a little and really make a splash? Instead of champagne, toast with beer!

Not just any beer; what could be more depressing than a crystal flute full of Coors Light? Fortunately, the country of Belgium brings us several choices that could easily replace champagne and cast you in a very sophisticated light to the ladies. Try one of these:

• Lindeman's Framboise raspberry Lambic


• Lindeman's Kriek Cherry Lambic


• Duvel


• Orval Trappist Ale


• Any of a hundred other Belgian pale or strong ales.

These beers do not taste like beer from other nations. They're more effervescent and complex, with that Belgian floral character so many North American breweries fall short of replicating. The lambics, flavored with fruit, are especially popular with the fairer sex.

So this New Year's Eve, introduce people to a new range of tastes, score some sophistication points, and enjoy the flavor of some of the world's most unique brews. You just might spare yourself that champagne hangover in the process.

In with the old, out with the new indeed.

-Mark