It has been 98 days since I brewed professionally. I’ve made several home brews since being the victim of Side Launch’s restructuring, but it’s not the same. It barely scratches the itch.
35hL vs 20L
I miss it. A lot. I walk into a brewery and take a deep breath and yearn to walk up to the brew house. My fingers itch to mill, to CIP, to brew. I don’t though; it’s not my house and it’s really bad form. Plus I’ll look like a bit of a loon to those who don’t feel the same way about beer that I do.
Tomorrow though, I get to brew. I’m hoping it will lead to a job offer, but honestly, I’m more excited to work on a brewhouse again than I am nervous about a day-long interview. I’m as giddy as a child the night before Christmas. I can’t wait!
I like to think that I am equal-opportunity beer drinker. I know the difference between tasting beer and just drinking it for enjoyment. My response to a beer depends on where I am, who I’m with and what is the purpose.
Really, I’ll try anything.
No, let me correct that. I’ll try just about anything. I will not try or buy any beer, no matter how good it is purported to be, that has a sexist message attached.
Sexism in beer marketing is a topic that is becoming more prevalent in the beer-o-sphere. It’s been in magazines like All About Beer, websites, blogs and podcasts. As it should be. Women are an increasing market, more women are brewing, and it’s 2017 for fuck’s sake. Why is this still a thing?!? And it’s not just women who have had enough; men are stating, not cool man, more and more.
Ben Johnson wrote a post last week entitled Let’s Talk about Sexist Beer Marketing, where he called out what I feel are some of the worst offenders in Ontario. I read it muttering yes, yes, FUCK yes,! throughout. Everything resounded. Jennifer Nadwodny’s comments at the end of the post say what’s in my mind and in my heart better than I ever could. Go read it.
Four of the five beers come from breweries that I boycott. While I do what I can to support the craft beer scene that has welcomed me so openly, I cannot give my oh-so-hard earned money to any business that obviously does not hold the same values of equity and equality that I do.
I have developed quite a love for Berliner Weiss’. I love the tartness on a hot day, and like not getting blasted with a too high ABV. I remember reading about the use of syrups in the BJCP guides – locals would dose their Berliner Weiss with a shot of either raspberry or woodruff syrup. The raspberry was easy to replicate but had no idea what woodruff even was beyond the fact it was an herb.
And then I saw this in Starsky’s in Hamilton:
It tastes good in soda, but in a beer like Sawdust City’s Coriolis Effect, it’s sublime.
