My favorite thing about The Lodge, a bar that serves a wide selection of craft beer in Boca Raton, is watching people get converted. On a recent visit, a pack of college kids from up the block at FAU swarmed in and grabbed seats next to us at the bar. As they looked over the menu, one of the guys wearing a backwards baseball cap turned to his friend and asked, "What's an IPA?"

His curly-haired friend in a white T-shirt and shorts answered with a slight pause, "It's a beer with a lot of hops in it." I got the impression that he may not have known exactly what hops were, besides that they're good things to put in beer. (For the record, hops are a budded cousin to marijuana that gives beer its bitter, sometimes floral flavor.)

Mr.

Ball Cap's wheel's turned a bit before coming to an epiphany. "Oh,

that's like Miller Lite. It's triple hops brewed!" His friends had a

good laugh at his ability to retain advertising,

and ordered a pitcher of Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA. After a few sips

of the beer, which is continuously hopped over the course of the

60-minute boiling process that "cooks" the sugars in, their friend

ceased touting Miller Lite completely. All he could manage was, "Wow."

The

little scene was proof you don't have to be an exclusive craft beer

drinker to appreciate real flavor - the kind that isn't magicked

through marketing.