It’s 4 p.m. on a Friday, you just finished Intro to Boring Class and you’re kicking yourself for having such a late Friday.

How can you fix this? Simple: Head to South Crouse Avenue and hit up a cornerstone of Syracuse University social life, right next to overcrowded frat parties and alcohol-free programming — Chuck’s Cafe, recently reopened for business.

You sit down at the bar and realize you only have $5, and your credit card has been possessed by a demon and won’t work ever again, or you maxed it out, whatever. You could try to split something, get a mix drink — not in this column — or you could grab a pitcher of Dundee Honey Brown Lager, Dundee Oktoberfest or Miller Lite for $3.50. A $3.50 pitcher doesn’t taste as good anywhere else.

Miller Lite is Miller Lite. According to millerlite.com, this was the first light beer to be nationally distributed, and it tastes like it. Despite what its commercials tell you, this beer does not have full taste and is only slightly more palatable than Bud Light. This light beer is a surprisingly boozy 4.2 percent alcohol by volume, but I still wouldn’t recommend it.

Dundee Honey Brown Lager is the obvious choice for a Friday night. This brew is more flavorful and darker than Miller — good all year round, but best consumed on a Friday afternoon. You don’t taste an overpowering honey flavor; instead, it is a more subtle undertone to the overall palate. Honey Brown is a quality cheap beer and at 4.5 percent ABV, it packs more of a wallop than Keystone Light. The real star of this brew is its price and drinkability. You could pound a few pitchers of this stuff and feel like a million drunken bucks — even on an empty stomach. I challenge you to stay hungry with Chuck’s kitchen so close, though.

If you are trying to change up your beer routine, Dundee’s Oktoberfest is waiting to fall into your lap. This beer is a Marzen-style lager that doesn’t stand out from other fall seasonals. At 5.5 percent ABV, the Oktoberfest has a relatively high alcohol content, but lacks the spice palate other Oktoberfest beers celebrate. One of the pleasant surprises to the flavor combination of this brew is its slight chocolate taste. I recommend giving this fall seasonal a try, but I wouldn’t try to base an evening around it.

All of these pitchers cost $3.50, which means you have $1.50 left to tip the bartender.

— Compiled by Dylan Sorensen, staff writer, djsorens@syr.edu

Published on October 3, 2012 at 3:43 am