Well, well, well.
Someone other than my wife and TW Geek is tracking this little old blog. What a legitimate surprise. To that end, I received a question via email regarding a potential follow-up to the Hopewell Culture post.
Q: Did your mom enjoy the mounds in Ohio or not?
A: She did. In the end, she’s really all about history and places off the beaten path. We are very different but we have that in common. Most probably it’s common between us because I learned it from her. Now…country music. No. I did not get that from her. She can keep it. I want no part of it. Well…except for k.d. lang, Lyle Lovett and (perhaps) The Dixie Chicks. I know that I don’t even consider two of those three to be country artists.
Q: Reading about your beer–did you ever consider making your own?
A: As a matter of fact, way back in the tunnel of time I made beer with TW Geek. It stunk up the place something fierce (and not in the Christian Siriano way). I remember it being barely drinkable. Two days ago, apropos of nothing, I turned to my wife and told her I wanted to try homebrewing. I think that I might be able to spend more time, effort, and money to do it up right this attempt. I harbor no illusions that the first batches will be any good. But I do have hopes for something drinkable eventually. At present, I am in the research phase. Oh…and I know that I will not be bottling. I plan to keg it. The hassle of bottling is not something I want to deal with. I also do not have the space for a bunch of bottles. I’m sure to revisit this topic occasionally as I take my baby brewing steps.
Have you ever been on a brewery tour? They’re universally similar and the main goal of attending one is the sample room at the end. If you’ve seen one brewery line, you’ve essentially seen them all. I’ve done the Anheuser-Busch tour twice now (now with extra Belgian goodness). What’s fascinating about that tour is that they have free samples at the beginning and at the end. It’s well worth the free admission. You get to mill about in a waiting area where you can purchase pretty much anything that’s been licensed with the A-B brand. Then…you get to see stables, maybe horses, and fake assembly lines. The architecture and design is generally fascinating but you can see the looks on faces and here the barely audible murmurs of, “Get this damn tour over and get me to more free beer!” It’s the same look you see on any brewery tour. No one really cares about your beechwood aging, or the number of bottles you brew fill per minute, or whether you’re infusing Belgian chocolate into your malts. In the end…it’s all about the samples.
Look! An old beer wagon. Where's Friar Tuck?
Note the pre-tour beer in hand.
See...horses...
More horse stuff...where's the beer?
Now…winery tours are another beast entirely and worth a separate post. I actually have a long history with those. I anticipate a multi-part series.
