Ladies and gentlemen, start your drinking

By and large, Americans drink. In fact, I think we drink pretty well. We are, however, a nation of diverse, well rounded drinkers – we are the utility players in international imbibing. We have no real forte when it comes to beverage genres. Europeans, on the other hand, do specialize. The Russians are the world's master liquor drinkers. The French take the gold in the wine events. And the Germans, they win the beer division. (Honorable mention goes to the Irish – the standard bearers in all double-fisting categories with their patented whisky and a Guinness combination move.)

I bring this up because today marks the opening of the 18 day beer fueled German bender known as Oktoberfest. No other nation on the planet decides, en masse, to go on a two and a half week open air pub crawl. I simply marvel at their stamina and sheer determination. In short, the Germans elevate beer drinking from humble pastime to high art.

In that spirit, I raise my glass. Proste!