Cali 2 NL » Spirits

History of the World in Six Glasses

Derek Hardwick — Wed, 07 Jun 2006 22:47:23 +0000

The California World Affairs Council has a wonderful lecture by Tom Standage, Technology Editor for The Economist and author of A history of the World in Six Glasses. His overview of his book seperates history into six eras, dictated by types of drink. It’s available here (mp3 or real audio). Good stuff starts about 5 mins into the lecture.

Did you know?

Pyramid builders were paid in beer
Agriculture may have been ‘invented’ to make beer, not bread
Scholarly gatherings are called “Symposiums” because of Roman communal wine drinking
Jesus’ first miricle involved wine, and it was the last drink before his death
Trade Triangle (Slave Trade) involved brady/liqour trade as much as slaves
Britian’s Naval supremacy was due to rum (grog, actually)
At one point there was 1 coffee shop in London per 300 people in 1700s (take that, starbucks)
The London stock exchange started as a coffee shop
The French Revolution started in a coffee shop!

… and there’s lots of other fun bits of knowledge. Obviously history has more factors than just beverages, but this is a wonderful way to learn about the historical impact of our favorite drinks. It’s about an hour long, check it out.

Affligem Dubbel Abbey Ale

Derek Hardwick — Wed, 11 Jan 2006 04:59:48 +0000

Further justification that purchasing beer you can’t pronounce is a good idea! Alyssa and I randomly stopped at a swanky grocery store on the way back from SFSU today. The place had a decent beer selection, so I picked up a few bottles.

I’ve had good experience with abbey ales in the past (Chimay is excellent), and they had several bottles to choose from. I picked this stuff because I hadn’t heard of it before, and also it was noticibly opaque. The first thing I noticed after uncorking and pouring it was it’s thick head. Always a good sign. I found the first sip to be surprisingly sweet and very malty. After a few more sips you get a real sense of how smooth this beer is, very akin to nitrogenated beers.

Also exciting was that this beer gets better as you drink it, imho. The yeast tends to settle towards the bottom of the rather large bottle, so as you work your way down the taste gets more and more intense.

I only post about beers that I really enjoy, so if you come across a bottle of this stuff make sure you pick it up.

Stone Smoked Porter

Derek Hardwick — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 07:32:21 +0000

Tried this earlier tonight. I’m a big fan of Stone Brewing in general, their Imperial Stout is one of my favorite beers. After being scared away by the insulting diatribe on the back of their Double Bastard Ale, I opted to try their Smoked Porter. In actuality, there was a very positive review of this beer at my local BevMo and I’ve rececntly learned to appriciate their ranking system (especially with wine).

This time they were spot-on. It’s decently dark, and there’s a suprising lack of bitterness. When they say “smokey” they really mean it, which makes for a very interesting but pleasant taste. People with more refined taste buds than I claim to notice a chocolatey and coffee-like taste, but all I can pick up is peety and smokey flavors.

Everything I’ve tried from these guys I reccomend, and this is no exception.

Lagunitas Cappuccino Stout

Derek Hardwick — Sat, 05 Nov 2005 05:29:21 +0000

Damn. This is a good beer. Somebody needs to remind me to take a tour of their brewery (read: get drunk on their beer for free), because their located in nearby Petaluma, Ca.

After reading about Nestle’s new beer-like coffee only two days prior, I decided to try a coffee-like beer (since the former is not yet available). It was a very good idea, because this beer is excellent. As a fan of both, I must say that coffee and beer make excellent companions. My friend Tina, who is not a big fan of dark beers (or beer in general), really enjoyed this, so that must say something.

Apparantly this is a sesonal beer, so I’m going to stock up on a few bottles of it shortly.