It was bound to happen, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen in Texas.

While my basic goal is to drink exactly one beer a day all year long without repeating a single beer, I have a broader goal of discovering new beer. With a few exceptions, I have deliberately sought out beer that I’ve never tasted before.

There were some beers, seemingly ubiquitous on American menus, that I decided to drink only in emergency situations. And I had one of those during my last night in Dallas.

I was in Texas for a work conference, and the final night included an excursion to Lone Star Park for horse racing, drinks, and a buffet dinner in a box suite. I had hoped to find some more Texas or southern beer at the track — at least a bottle of Lone Star, since it shares a name with the race park — but one look at the bar told me I had bet on the wrong horse.

They had Shiner Bock, of course — but I had already dived into a big serving of Shiner two days earlier. That left a few mass-marketed American lagers, some mass-marketed Mexican lagers, and one mass-marketed Dutch lager. With a bus that wouldn’t be leaving until about 10pm and calculating the hotel return and time required to cab it into the city, I decided to just order the Heineken. The chance of not finding another beer before midnight wasn’t worth risking the integrity of my “one a day” challenge.

The Heineken came in an aluminum “keg can”, ice cold. I carried that thing around with me for at least 30 minutes, trying to decide if I wanted to drink it or risk a run into the city. That indecision at least gave the beer a chance to warm up — I’m not sure I’ve ever had a Heineken at its recommended serving temperature of 40-45 degrees. To me, there was clearly more flavor to this slightly chilled version than I remember from drinking ice-cold Heineken in the past.

That said, sometimes less flavor is a good thing.

I poured the can into a plastic cup, surprised by the incredibly huge and persistent head that arose. The warmer beer really produced a lot more foam, and by the time I finished the beer I was left with a great deal of thick lacing all down the cup.

The aroma was crisp but flat, full of pale malt and an almost skunky aroma. Heineken had a nearly clear, light yellow body and I was surprised again by its extremely creamy mouthfeel. I’m accustomed to thinking of Heineken as crisp and bitter, but at about 40 degrees it is far less crisp and much more creamy.

Bitterness is still quite present in the taste, riding flat through grainy malt, and the hops make themselves known as part of a long finish.

While more interesting warmer, I think I like this beer less now than I did before starting this one-a-day challenge. Whether because my palate has broadened or because I drank the beer fairly warm is up to interpretation. My bet is on the temperature — it allowed me to experience what Heineken really tastes like, instead of just chugging it cold and moving on to the next one.

This story has a happy ending at least — after losing about $20 on bets throughout the night, I placed my money on the winning horses of the last two races. I didn’t bet much, but it was enough to recoup my losses and walk away with $20 worth of beer money.

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