Beer for Breakfast
And that’s the truth. I’ve been drinking dark beers since 7:00 a.m. across the river in Indiana, for the opening of the Gravity Head beer festival. The whole morning I’ve been surrounded by hipsters in long beards, ball caps and “Liver Olympics 2014” t-shirts. One seriously pierced beer dude from Indianapolis was sporting knuckle tattoos à la Night of the Hunter, only instead of “love” and “hate” across his fingers the letters spelled “malt” and “hops”. That’s not a joke.
And if you’ve never seen Night of the Hunter I strongly encourage it. It’s one of Robert Mitchum’s best, also the only movie Charles Laughton ever directed. After the studio honchos saw Night of the Hunter they took away the car keys forever. No way Charles, not again. See it, you won’t be disappointed.
But I do digress. I’ll try to get my pies made today, I really will, but right now I need a nap. Crikey, I probably shouldn’t have driven home.
UPDATE: Can I add: will the hop craze ever stop? IPA mania is driving me nuts. I guess it’s human nature to over-do things: if a hatful of hops is good for a vat of beer, and a bucket full of them is better, then a dump truck full must be best of all. Meanwhile your glass of ale tastes like Chanel No. 19 Poudré. Enough I say!
I see you’re having your own style of Carnival there. It was believed here at one point that turtle soup staved off inebriation, but I dunno, I think liquid bread is probably a good breakfast. Once in a while. Maybe. On Mardi Gras day, okay.
I don’t think I could find a bowl of turtle soup to save my life in Kentucky, though we certainly have our share of snappers…big ugly things too. I wonder if they’re good eatin’?
Hmmm….
– Joe
Snappers are perfect – Audubon Zoo has so many wild ones I’ve seen them stacked like totem poles. Don’t think they’d encourage us eating those, unfortunately.
I wouldn’t fret…
Pork pies should probably be made whilst drunk.
You know you have a point there, Hellyweg. Well said.
– Joe
A few weeks ago I had a nice chewy breakfast stout (no kidding, that’s what they called it), brewed with oatmeal, chocolate, and coffee. Nice way to start the day, if you ask me.
Hey Sue!
You know I drank something similar on Friday, and it was the most pleasant of those heavy beers I drank. The fact that it was over 15% alcohol probably had something to do with it. What a way to start the day…I think I still have a headache.
Cheers,
– Joe
Hey…I used to wear Chanel No. 19. Can’t imagine drinking something that tastes like it smells, though. Good Grief! Yick!
Good beer is an excellent source of B-vitamins, especially if it’s unfiltered, and the dark stuff like stout is a good source of iron. Irish midwives used to give pints of Guinness to new mothers to stave off anemia. So drink up, it’s good for you!
I had a similar conversation a couple weeks back with some homebrewers about hops, and the general consensus is that there’s definitely some oneupmanship or something going on among the breweries. On the other end of the scale, my husband has been experimenting with brewing completely un-hopped beer recently – the most successful so far was a Norwegian-style brew using juniper berries in place of the hops, which turned out very nice indeed.
Thanks for the encouragement, Jane! I’ll remember that the next time someone invites me out for high-gravity ales at 7:00 A.M.!
What you say rings true about craft breweries and their beer battles. I just wish I knew why they choose hops! What a strange thing to get competitive about. One day I’ll figure it out. Thanks, Jane!
– Joe
The hop-battle has been going on for a good 15 years or so – more and more until it becomes a true test of strength to finish such a brew.
No thanks.
It’s the BALANCE that makes the best beer, not the quantity of hops.
Well said, Roger. Maybe it’s more of a Kentucky thing right now, but craft beer scene is awash in hops. I can’t stand it!
– Joe
I like some strongly-hopped beers (Sierra Nevada, Bells Two-Hearted) but I also agree with you: enough is enough. Sometimes beer should taste like malt, not grapefruit juice.
Amen, Wally. Those are two of my favorite beers by the way, so I’m not allergic to hops. But I can only take so much!
Cheers,
– Joe