An Unimaginable Waste of Beer

The following story took place a few years ago, whilst I was on what was supposed to be my 'World Tour'.

Me and a bunch of other guys were chilling out drinking beers in the garden of the hostel we were staying in just off Lexington Avenue, NYC, USA. We were waiting for our mate, Paolo to finish. He was one of the receptionists at the hotel. I hate to admit this but while we were doing what is now known as 'preloading', the beer I was drinking was Coors. Shameful I know but the 24oz cans were just so cheap and the liquor store across the road sold them, and was open 24hrs. I was originally drinking the big 40oz bottles but after a fairly heated debate it was concluded that the smaller 24oz cans made more sense. In the 40oz bottles, by the time you got about halfway the beer had already turned lukewarm and flat.

As soon as Paolo finished, he joined us for drink which we finished quickly, then head off. He was taking us out somewhere on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. We got the number 3 subway line from the 125^th Street station to 86^th Street just to the west of Central Park. We walked south to roughly 76^th Street until Paolo found the bar we were all looking for.

The bar was a classic American style sports bar with huge flat screen on every wall, pool tables and cheap pitchers of beer. Unfortunately the only beers they had were Coors Light, Bud Light or Miller Light. We played some pool, drank some beer then left.

When we arrived at the next bar, I remembered a friend of mine offering me this great piece of advice. He said that if you tip the barman, say, $20 with your first drink, then he'll 'look after you' all night. Little did I know that 'looked after' meant an innumerable amount of free shots.

We spotted a vacant 'beer pong' table and quickly claimed it as our own, marking our territory with any unnecessary outer garments. We split into two teams with Paolo commentating and occasionally joining in to take a few turns for either team. I was with a German named Fabain, our opponents were two Lads from the North of England, Dan and Joseph. I think my downfall for the evening was the fact that I was drinking 'Goose Island' IPA, from Chicago, USA. I was using it to fill up the little plastic cups for beer pong. It is an English Style IPA at 5.9% quite a strong and delicious one. That isn't even mentioning the shots which couldn't have helped my drunkenness.

Our team just would not be beaten, we were totally annihilating our opposition every game. We were all very drunk but continued to play and consume excessive amounts of booze.

I think it must have been after my second or third pitcher when in started to feel a little nauseous. My involuntary gag reflex was making it a real challenge to drink any more beer.

I felt myself nearing a point where I would be unable to retain any additional liquid. One of the guys landed a ball in my cup meaning I had to neck the entire contents of the said container.

I could feel it coming but proceeded none the less. I managed to drink it all in one but as quickly as I was able to swallow it, it came straight back, all over the floor. Right where I was standing next to the beer pong table. I'd never have made it to the loos in time.

I guiltily asked the barman for a mop and bucket to clean up my mess but this was not received too well and instead of a mop a security guard appeared. This resulted in all of us being thrown out and subsequently being barred from all the bars along that strip on the Upper West Side.

I think I learned my lesson that night.

links that may be of interest:

Goose Island Brewery site

gooseisland

A Wiki How illustrated guide on how to play Beer Pong

Play-Beer-Pong