more on beer

beer.

Can be such an amazing thing when it is crafted with quality ingredients from caring and experienced brewmasters and connoisseurs.  The flavors and sensations created by this amazing beverage are extremely difficult to successfully replicate in other areas of cuisine.  It is a drink to be deeply appreciative of and respected, and the process of creating this classy libation has been developed and refined over centuries of innovation to become a true art form that speaks in chorus to the senses.

At least, it was that...

...until prohibition put a sudden stop to what was an incredibly diverse and regionally defined network of small artisan brewers.  After prohibition was overturned and beer was again legalized, it became heavily monitored by federal regulations.  Initially this seemed a great idea, but a part of this regulation forced breweries to sell their product through a distributer, and that is still how beer gets from brewery to retailer to consumer.  Unfortunately this was seen as a money making opportunity which is why 95% of beer sold through distributers is a product of Anheuser Busch (budweiser) , Coors, and Miller.... leaving us flooded by beer sporting the artistic equivalent of an ape farting colored chalk into a napkin, and an extreme reduction in quality.

Advertising proved to strong in this case, and it has made a lasting impact on a decline in appreciation of beer and the responsibility that partners a healthy respect of a quality product.

Recently, however, there has been a overall decline in beer sales in the USA. Interestingly though, this has only impacted the big tyrants (Miller and Coors have since merged together in an attempt to combat Budweiser.. and Bud has been bought by Belgian company InBev) And in contrast to the decline there has been an increase of smaller artisan breweries... "microbreweries" such as dogfish head, New Belgium, Boston Brewing Co (Sam Adams), and several others... in addition to this is an increase of home-brewing by beer loving individuals longing for a return to quality products.  There has also been a rise in pubs that cater to interesting and quality beers... Muddy Pig and Happy Gnome of St. Paul are just two of my favorite examples.


I have frequently voiced my opinion about what i would call "good beer".

We are in a good place to return to a time of appreciation and artistry regarding this amazing craft... I urge you to begin doing some research.. fork out a few extra bucks for the quality beers, and help bring beer back to the respected and artistic foundations from which it has so tragically fallen.  Cheers.

stinky cheese, ice cream, and big cities

I don't think it is unusual for us to think back on situations, locations, and experiences form our past and produce a kind of glorified alternative to reality in our mind.  This is usually met with some kind of disappointment when the idealistic reproduction comes face to face with the real thing...

example: Nelsons ice cream in Stillwater.  A place that amazes you when you are a kid, or when you go there for your very first time and see the outrageous amount of amazing ice cream they dish out for you and the wide variety of flavors you are permitted to select from.  After going there my first time I was mentally hooked and the reality grew to a legend in my mind... it is still a place that exists, and they still serve up the same outlandish scoops of quality ice cream.. but now there is a part of me that ponders why a human would ever want to eat as much ice cream as they give you.. and how someone manages to do that without coating the entirety of their body with milky sugar goo... I would probably get their most moderate size if I were to return there.. just because it makes more sense to me...

and then there are the times when the reality perfectly matches what you remember.

example: Sap Sago cheese.  What? you have never heard of it... not unusual.. all you need to know is that somehow in my childhood it became a common treat for my family to enjoy. The stuff stinks like skunk dander and has a mild green tint to it... it is a hard aged cheese that you eat it by finely shaving or grating it and placing a spoon full of it on a buttered cracker, or whatever else you want to be amazing.. often people will say that it makes their tongue or lips itch.. because it does.  I had not had this treat in over a decade and was just treated to some again recently.  It perfectly met my expectations of it in every way... many things have changed since then in my life but Sap Sago has remained consistent and amazing.

finally, we have those things that are even better than we remember...

example: About a year ago, my wife and I moved out of the city and live about 45 minutes away in the countryside... I often will think back to how great living in the city was, we are closer to friends, family, good beer and music, coffee shops, culture not involving wrangler jeans... and the list seems to continually grow.  Because a trip back to the city means an hour and a half of driving, we tend to limit ourselves for special occasions.  Recently, we had a reason to return, and it was glorious.. but somehow all the wonderful things I had in my mind about the city didn't meet the reality of it.  It was somehow even better than I remembered...

I don't know why the mind glorifies, maintains, or diminishes our memories.. but the trip to the city was a bittersweet surprise.