Update and a Beer-ey Top 10

So I skipped yesterday on account of the 4th and all and drank beer instead of writing about it. There really was not a great deal to report - on Wednesday evening there was a 1/4-inch of foam on the top as fermentation continued, down from Tuesday. Then on Thursday the foam was mostly dissipated. The fermentation was mostly complete.

That’s it?? Yep, that’s the whole report. You can see why I wasn’t worried about missing Wednesday. What I thought I’d do instead is share a few beer-related things that I’ve come across over the years - the odd trifle or two. That way combining this week’s beer subject with the Top 10. Here we go!

10. Burp Castle, Manhattan - a place of beer worship. Look - I really can’t make this up. It’s a tiny little bar in NYC with a whole lot of Belgian beers on tap where the waiters sometimes wear monks’ robes and there are murals of medieval monks. Some like it, some don’t, some don’t even get it as evidenced by their spelling of Carmelite (a monastic order) as “karmeleite”[sic]. As for me, this is my kind of place. I have 2 degrees in medieval religion. I love Belgian beer. How could I NOT love this place? (illustration, right, is a mural at Burp Castle)

9. Trust Make ‘zine to have something good about what to do with all the bottles once the beer is gone. How about a beer bottle solar-powered water heater? Link.

8. A good beer blog. I’m sorry, that’s actually A Good Beer Blog. What I write is that of a very amateur enthusiast. I have a lot of hobbies, and not enough time. So read that guy, and know more. You can also check out the US Brewers Association at Beertown.org.

7. So I think my dad and I will both confess to being more interested in seeing how beer comes about rather than actually making up recipes ourselves. Personally, I think that all those brewsters and monks over the ages have probably done the work just fine, and I am the happy beneficiary of millennia of beer wisdom. So we rely on fabulous books like Clone Brews: Homebrew Recipes for 150 Commercial Beers. No kidding, this book has the recipe for Chimay Red in it! I can’t guarantee yours will turn out the same, but hey, you can try!

And if you’re more of a domestic fan, check out North American Clone Brews: Homebrew Recipes for Your Favorite American and Canadian Beers.

6. Monastery Greetings is one of my favorite places to get all kinds of stuff. Probably many don’t think of nuns and monks as “indie” they do often hand-produce amazing things for sale to support themselves. Monastery Greetings sells it for them. And of course, they have beer stuff because monks make awesome beer. They can’t actually sell the beer, but this is stuff they DO sell.

5. Speaking of monks and brewing, Corsendonk Agnus Tripel is my favorite bier/beer. And you know what? Due to import taxes, it’s not sold in the great state of Texas. (To the right - the Corsendonk abbey where the bier was originally brewed. No longer an abbey.)

4. Just like with wine or any other alcoholic beverage, there particular glasses that go with particular types of beer. Alcohol appears to be picky. Most people have seen the common pint glass, but have you seen the one that’s a cross between a brandy snifter and a wine glass? For this, and other glasses that bear the logos of the beers that inspired them, try Pub Glasses.

3. No beer tale is complete without a nod to some sorta pub. Do places like this really exist in Ireland? Apparently yes, and they’re somewhere near Ballinloghig. Scanlan’s Pub. Source

2. Like wine corks, I also can’t seem to make myself throw beer bottle caps away. However, there may be hope yet, as this article attests…

“Bottle-cap art, long a poor cousin to tramp art, quilting and other established folk crafts, is finally achieving a measure of collectable respectability. Though still a scavenger art whose modest aspirations, rough edges and obscure origins baffle the uninitiated, it is no longer strictly a sideshow inspiring only hard- core aficionados.”

1. The #1 thing about beer really is that it’s really something good, to be enjoyed. And I’m lucky to have my dad, who I can enjoy making it with, too. Priceless!