Beer rules

Beer rules.  Fuck it.  I’ll say it: beer rules.  I came to that decision about ten, fifteen minutes ago.  If I was forced, and i mean ‘forced’ cause this would suck, to choose only beer or wine (an oft-asked question), i would choose beer.  Maybe its just because i happened to have just taken a swig of it before asking myself the question, but the feeling of the cold glass in my hand, the perfect amount of liquid flow out of the bottle….its near primitive, that feeling.  Walking around with only a swath of animal skin around your midsection, and a cool beer in your hand.  Does it get any better?  And the more beer i drink, the more my eyes are opened to the myriad of flavors that beer can offer.  Damn…seriously, we all seem to hold this fact up about wine, and for darn good reason, but the beer is IN us.   Before the pyramids, baby.

What do YOU think?

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Foamy delights on the pier

The line was thirty deep and two people wide. A throng of revelers and beer fans who had come from every nook and corner of the city were there to taste the latest offerings from the mainly East Coast represented brewers.  And what a perfect day for it.

A nip in the air, so a coat was required.  But the crowd was totally hopped up on fresh undertakings in the small kegs that filled the south end of Chelsea Brewing company at Chelsea piers.  What a location…nestled on the edge of the dock in plain sight of the million dollar, gas-guzzling, euro-crew ridden yachts tied up nearby.

Chelsea Brewing has a strange niche.  It’s survived on the extreme west edge of Manhattan and now finds itself embraced by the microbrew loving fans who flock devotedly to the latest offerings from the master brewing team.

Cask ale, sometimes called “real ale” by the die-hard british caskhounds, is an unpasteurized, unfiltered brew that sees its final conditioning in the same barrel in which it is served.  And served without pressurization.  This it folks, as ‘real’ as it gets.  Beautiful.  The complexity is stunning and the venue was abuzz with rabid fans swirling about the room, as the “86” list began to gain more and more names of cashed offerings with each passing minute.

Kudos to Alex Hall, the Gotham Imbiber, and organizer of the event.  May it become a mainstay on the circuit.

The Beginning

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“What is this?” “Beer, my friend.  Beer”

Yes, its been known for ages. Just how long beermaking has been known is staggering to comprehend. Thousands of years. Where we are today, as brewers, is astonishing. Ancient styles, long-lost techniques, are being brushed-off and being thrust into the limelight. Microbrewers and craft specialists are a-flourish with all things Belgian, German, British, and Czech…oh, and don’t forget the Yankees. We, as Americans, have found our niche of brewing; a rag-tag group of upstarts gone wild has turned into big saga, with our country being filled with artisans and shrewd businessmen alike. Aflame with passion and a wealth of information, we are off and running. So, where did it all start? What is this beer in front of me, and what is its story?

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A connection to the past. A taste of civilizations up and gone. Wine, beer and spirits connect us. To culture. To tradition. To identity, place, and geography. We are swept up by them on a daily basis, yet many of us have no idea the true lineage that sits in front of us in that glass (oft a weird shaped one, at that). By starting one beer at a time, one bottle of wine at a time, one can draw the connections made from grape to glass or barley to beer. It’s eye-opening bits of knowledge that sometimes sound of dribble, but can be great little nuggets that enhance our experience of the moment.

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