A frosty glass of beer brewed in my Kansas town rests before me. Time to take a sip, then.

A glass of beer can be enjoyed with a friend at at a bar or restaurant, writes opinion editor Clay Wirestone. (Photo by Clay Wirestone/Kansas Reflector)

The glass of beer sits before me. Amber and the slightest bit cloudy, it rests underneath a modest cap of foam.

I mull over this glass because I’m not a beer enthusiast. It’s probably fair to say that my taste in alcohol runs toward the fruity seltzer. (Make all the gay jokes you want, I’ve probably made them myself.) But I’m a big believer in that chilled glass of beer, served at a restaurant or bar. It’s doesn’t beg to be chugged. It’s not a shot of forbidding fluid in a tiny glass. It’s no mixed drink that will turn you tipsy almost instantaneously.

No that glass of beer is a drink to nurse, meant to while away the hours as you converse with a friend, browse a book or scroll through your phone.

By the sip, a glass of beer refreshes. After a fuller swallow, it fans out into a complex mixture of bitter citrus flavors. I’m writing about India pale ale style brews here, in case you couldn’t tell, because I’m a bearded man of a certain age.

Some evenings, I can spend nearly two hours working my way through a single glass, glancing up every now and then and enjoying a pleasant surprise when I see how much of the liquid remains. I’ll just have another sip, I think to myself. Then I take a phone call or send an email and the delicious cycle begins again.

I seldom have more than one beer. That’s probably because I find that heady mix of flavors a little much for multiple drinks. After two or three frosty glasses, I feel as though I’ve had an unpleasant run in with some sourdough.

But the single glass of beer, that works on its own. It’s a unit of time and memory and gastronomy.

When shared with friends, beer transcends my personal preferences. Sourdough be damned, we’ll have more than one. The beer serves as a conversation marker. You have the first glass when you’re all settling in and talking about what’s been happening in your lives. When the conversation grows more serious or intellectual, you order a second drink. You might consider a third when you move into the second hour of conversation, this being the drink that finally tips you over from relaxation to perhaps revealing an unguarded opinion or anecdote.

When it comes to a fourth beer or beyond, I must respectfully draw the curtain closed and allow readers to imagine for themselves.

Here in Lawrence, Free State Brewing Co. makes some exceptional indie beers. Free State was also Kansas’ first legal brewery in more than a century when it opened in 1989.

My favorite of their offerings depends on time of year. In summer, they produce a basil-laced lager known as Garden Party. For most other months, I drink their decidedly hoppy Yakimaniac.

Beyond those favorites, I don’t discriminate among craft beers. I find big national brands too watery for my taste, but good luck to those of you who enjoy them. While interning at the Philadelphia Inquirer I was introduced to the Pennsylvania-based Yuengling lager, so I enjoyed seeing the brand arrive in Kansas a couple of years ago.

Please drink responsibly this holiday season. I don’t want these modest words to move anyone toward bad decisions. Remember, you can always have a diet soda.

But perhaps that’s a column for another time.

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.