Manager Frank Rangel says Elitch Lanes has carried the special bottles for years. They're only available to bowling alleys, he says, a tip Rangel picked up at an alley proprietors' conference a while back. Elitch charges $4.50 for a bowling-pin beer, which is a little more than for a normal Bud, but for good reason: These are 16 ounces instead of 12.
When I admitted to Rangel that I didn't immediately recognize the shape of the bottle -- perhaps owing to the non-pin-shaped beverages I was drinking -- he seemed surprised. "Most people look at it and immediately know what it is," he says. Thanks, Frank. But even pointing out my mental slowness won't keep me from going back and ordering one of these beauties.
