Highlights and Low-Lifes, or All That's Right With What's Left. Social Zymurgy; the culture of beer presents The Year's Best!

"We all know that only poets and writers can save the world. We have left it in the hands of others for too long." - Doc

This is something of a tradition here at Social Zymurgy, the culture of beer. At the beginning of the New Year, we do a brief recap of the best from the previous twelve months. You get the steak without the gristle. The binge without the hangover. The worldwide cruise without all the sea sickness. In short, I've cut the fluff and kept the good stuff. This will be a series for the next week so that I can catch up on your blog. Enjoy!

Ideas for blog writers who can't think of any:

"For Those Engaged In National Blog Posting Month"

Tales of caution:

A story from my sordid young adulthood: "The Night I Took Up Flying"

A purely visual joke which I don't do very often: "When I die, I would like to die peacefully, in my sleep like my grandfather. Not screaming in terror like his passengers."

Have you ever had a few beers and done something silly? "The Flare Gun"

It is only a matter of time: "Why The Aliens Would Want To Kidnap Me And What Should Be Done When This Happens"

This too is simply a matter of time: "My Living Will or What To Do When The Coma Comes"

Helpful advice for when the excrement hits the turbine: "The Five Things You Didn't Know You Needed In A Disaster"

Thanks for joining me on a trip down amnesia lane. Swing by tomorrow for more tales from your favorite dumb white country boy!

Cheers,
Doc

It's Fat Tuesday And I Got To Lick The Spoon!

It's Fat Tuesday and I'm eating my lemon paczki and washing it down with a cold Killian's. Bubs and his lovely bride are off enjoying Marti Gras in New Orleans and I'm stuck waiting for Flannery to get home from Michigan. Being a single parent sucks, even for just a few days. I don't know how single parents do it. I imagine they drink a lot or pray a lot, or both.

Last night I tried out my new Guinness beer spoon (pictured above). I sat up much to late last night and made Black-n-Tans until the Guinness ran out. It took quite a bit of experimentation to get them just right, so that you had very little mixing. I found that they turned out best if I held the spoon as level as I could just above the foam line of the lager and poured extremely slowly. Damn, but they were delicious.

I suppose a large round soup spoon could be used as I think the key is in the pour and not so much in the tool. As long as the porter or stout you are adding to the top is allowed to kind of dribble off the edge of the spoon, you get a nice even separation of layers.

But why go to all this trouble? It's just beer right?

No, it IS NOT just beer, and yes, it is worth the trouble. If you are drinking a black-n-tan, there are a few easy assumptions. First is that you enjoy beer probably more than your average joe. You can sit back and enjoy a beer in much the same way as some people would a lavish dinner or fine art. You have acquired a taste for dark, hearty beer as well as the lighter lager or ale, and you would love to combine these two wonderful contrasts into one drink and savor them both.

The surprise of the whole thing is that there isn't just two flavors here. There are a multitude! First the stout explodes across your palate and your taste buds come alive, and each successive sip compounds the flavor. A few sips later you have reached the division of the two beers and the flavor changes subtly and then becomes bold as brass into a synthesis of the best of both beers. After that you reach the crispness of the lager or ale and this gives your taste buds a zing that finishes this drink perfectly, much like the crescendo of an orchestra!

Lets face it, a black-n-tan is a beer drinker's drink.

While I'm not much of a candy eater, I suspicion that it is much like a Tootsie Roll Tootsie Pop.


I hope you kicked up your heels a bit for Fat Tuesday, as the Groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter three weeks ago and Lent starts Wednesday. May as well have a good beer the way the Paulaner monks did.

Cheers,
Doc