Beer: An Oral History
Bet you’re looking for a link to the oral history of beer right now.
Well, don’t. This is a blog, and as such, I shall be recounting the oral history of beer in verdana, or whatever script this is.
That is because when the oral history of beer was first created, they had no alphabet with which to write it down. Thus it was an oral history.
We have an alphabet, so I’m going to write this down.
This is a simplified version.
The Sumerians, who lived in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) in the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C., baked bread called Bappir.
“The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Beers”
Just got this story as a comment from the last post. But I thought it was such a good illustration of what I’m talking about this week that I’d post it for all of you to read.
A couple days ago my wife sent me a little story that fits right in with your column and this comment. It’s a little lengthy and some of you may have seen it somewhere else, but I believe it’s worthy to read it and appreciate the simple wisdom of “The Mayonnaise Jar and Two Beers”.
“The Mayonnaise Jar and 2 Beers”
When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 Beers.
A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.
The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.
The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous ‘yes.’
The professor then produced two Beers from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.
‘Now,’ said the professor as the laughter subsided, ‘I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions—and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.
The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car. The sand is everything else—the small stuff. ‘If you put the sand into the jar first,’ he continued, ‘there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.
‘Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Spend time with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter.
Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.’ One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the Beer represented. The professor smiled and said, ‘I’m glad you asked.’
The Beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of Beers with a friend.’
Prost,
GG
More on Celebrating
This is celebration week at GrizzlyGrowler.Com.
Maybe it’s because I miss my family, most of whom I have only seen once this year when we gathered for my grandfather’s funeral last May. Maybe it’s because in this beat-down economy and charged political climate, we’re not celebrating enough. Maybe it’s because we don’t think there is much to celebrate right now.
If any of those are you, then this post if for you. If not, then scroll down and watch the last VLOG I did.
How to Celebrate
We use the term libation a bit liberally these days. A libation usually is an alcoholic beverage poured out on the ground in honor of a deity.
Still, a libation signifies a ceremony of sorts, and ceremony usually comes attached with a celebration.
For more years than history remembers, celebrations have been powered not by finger foods, dancing or great music. Just the opposite in fact, celebrations, and all they entail, are powered by CnH2n+1OH, which, if I could figure out how to drop the numbers down a half line, is the general formula for alcohol.
Fall is in the air
Actually, fall began at 11:44 a.m. EDT today. So it’s OK to buy those heavier, darker, richer beers you’ve been saving up for all summer. Never mind that it’s actually cold enough to justify it this year, thank you very much La Nina.
In light of that, Slow Elk Stout is on tap at Big Sky Brewing Co. again. Bayern Brewing has Oktoberfest on right now, and at least up until last week they had the unfiltered version of it on as well. And Kettlehouse has Coldsmoke, of course, as well as Hemptoberspliff, though I’m told the HMPTBRSPLF might be almost done.
So go get yourself a cold, dark one, and check back for reviews of the best of the fall beers as well as a new VLOG sometime this week. I’m doing a tasting with a consortium of area brewers. The beers are local as well as not-so-local.
Prost,
GG
Kettlehouse gets a new look
No, it’s not the northside location, though that will undoubtedly be a new look for them.
The Kettlehouse Brewing Co. updated its website.
This is one thing I’m picky about, though it’s probably because I’m an online reporter, and I look at a gazillion websites every day.
Nothing bugs me more than a brewery without a website. You have to have a way to tell people where you are, about your beers and whatever value-added extras you feel like including. Second only to that are poorly designed websites. But, hey, you gotta start somewhere.
Here’s a look at the front page as you enter the site. It’s good design, clean and without a bunch of flashing ads and whatnot. It’s also fun.
I was going to wait and write this post when more of their features are working, like the schwag tag of course, but one feature I really like is the page with all their beer descriptions. This was long overdue and a real bonus for Kettlehouse regulars and newbies alike.
Al, can we get a place on the site where you can post your weekly wisdom? Or your football rants?
Finally, a place I can point people to who want to know what the hell a Hemptoberspliff is.
Prost,
GG
Beer Mapping Missoula
This is one of the coolest features I’ve found in a while. Actually, I knew about this for some time, but I’m just getting around to playing with it now. It’s a mapping program from The Beer Mapping Project.
You’ll notice that only Kettlehouse and Big Sky are on the map currently and that Big Sky is not in the right place. I updated that and actually submitted Bayern, Red Bird, Worden’s Market and The Good Food Store for the map as well.
Prost,
GG
Beer Reading
Everyone should do it. Whether you’re reading a Michael Jackson classic or rolling through the newest blog posts from your favorite beer bloggers, keeping up with your beer reading is important.
I found a blog today that is enlightened, fun and literary. I thought you might enjoy it too.
Check out The Thirsty Hopster here.
Prost,
GG
Homebrew column
I need to apologize to the homebrewing community. I’ve left you out of this blog far too long. Part of that is because homebrewing is so rich in things to talk about it can overwhelm the simpler world of buying craft beer from a brewery or store.
Also, it’s been more than a year since I last brewed a batch of beer in my garage, so I’m more than a little out of practice.
But I want my homebrewing brethren to know that my thoughts are always on the mash tun, the boiling of the wort and copious hop additions.
Here then is this week’s beer column, dedicated to all of my homebrewing friends.
Brew Review – Homebrew hopping in the Garden City
By TIMOTHY ALEX AKIMOFF of the Missoulian
I left one thing out of last week’s “Missoula is a great beer town” column – the local homebrew club.
But I left it out for good reason.
The homebrew community in Missoula is so vibrant, so healthy, so happy and full of life that I couldn’t lump them in with everyone else.
They get a column all their own.
If you even need a reason to check out the Zoo City Zymurgists, I have several.
Tim’s Beer VLOG – Episode 4
Where Tim makes Big Sky Stir Fry.
Prost,
GG