As your exalted Leader it is my duty to make the critical decisions. With out my even temper and guiding hand we would quickly fall into to anarchy... or worse, sobriety. It is with that in mind that I have set a date for our first official meeting and picked the style.
The First Meeting of Beer Club will be called to order on November 23rd, the chosen style will be Stout.
I know, I know, that seems like a long way away. But, do to several holidays taking place in sequence (Halloween and Deer Season) the 23rd is the soonest we can do it. The upside to this is that it gives you all exactly 1 month to research Stouts.
Stouts and porters are very similar beers, with the distinction that stouts include roasted barely. For our purposes we will not distinguish between the different varieties of Stouts, yet. Milk, oatmeal, chocolate and all other stouts are welcome. Today I picked up a pack of the Schell's Stout - a London style sweet Stout - just to refresh my memory.
Once a member has selected a Stout they should post a comment claiming that brew so that we can avoid duplicates. After everyone who is going to show has posted their choice I will pick a surprise brew, which will be revealed after the tasting.
Note: Leinenkugel's Creamy Dark is not a Stout.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
The Rules of Beer Club
The Preamble:
We the Hop Heads of the Beer Club, in order to form a more perfect Union, promote the general B.A.C. and secure the blessings of Beer to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish these rules for the Beer Club.
The 8 Rules of Beer Club.
Once the Generalissimo (aka Tyler) looses his mandate from the masses the oppression will begin. This is where the violence inherent in the system rears its ugly head.
After the genocide, the UN will step in to transfer power to an autonomous collective. This collective should take the form of an Anarcho-syndicalist commune, complete with an executive officer of the week, bi-weekly meetings and democratic ratification on all decisions of that officer relating to both internal and purely external affairs.
I want you all to know that I struggled with this decision. Oh, I know you all saw it coming, and you were right. But, I want you to know that I didn't do this because it was the easy way out. I did it because rules #1 and #2 were broken yesterday - the result convinced me that these rules were probably a better fit than I would like to admit. The upside was that I have learned there is more interest in Beer Club than I anticipated.
We the Hop Heads of the Beer Club, in order to form a more perfect Union, promote the general B.A.C. and secure the blessings of Beer to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish these rules for the Beer Club.
The 8 Rules of Beer Club.
- You don't talk about Beer club.
- You do not talk about Beer club.
- When someone gets too drunk to walk, even if they are faking it, someone should help them to their car.
- No more than one style of beer a night.
- Bring the best beer of that style that you can find.
- Please wear shirts.
- We drink as long as we have to - no exceptions.
- If this is your first night at Beer Club, you have to bring chips.
Once the Generalissimo (aka Tyler) looses his mandate from the masses the oppression will begin. This is where the violence inherent in the system rears its ugly head.
After the genocide, the UN will step in to transfer power to an autonomous collective. This collective should take the form of an Anarcho-syndicalist commune, complete with an executive officer of the week, bi-weekly meetings and democratic ratification on all decisions of that officer relating to both internal and purely external affairs.
I want you all to know that I struggled with this decision. Oh, I know you all saw it coming, and you were right. But, I want you to know that I didn't do this because it was the easy way out. I did it because rules #1 and #2 were broken yesterday - the result convinced me that these rules were probably a better fit than I would like to admit. The upside was that I have learned there is more interest in Beer Club than I anticipated.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The Founding of Beer Club
I love beer. The combination of malt, hops and yeast is probably the greatest inventions of all time. Well, at least the greatest beverage of all time. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." So who am I to argue with Mr. $100 bill? Beer is the liquid version of God's love.
It is amazing how such a simple recipe can create such a wide range of flavors. The huge variety of beer is one of its best characteristics. You don't have to limit yourself to just one beer, or one style of beer, instead there is a beer for every situation. How could you go through life drinking only ales? or Hefe-weizens? No, experiencing the variety of beer is half the fun.
But, with in each style of beer there is even more variety. No two stouts are alike, no two ales the same. But how to determine which Kolsch is the perfect Kolsch? or which Lager is the best Lager? And which is the worst? We all know that some beers are sub-par, how to seperate the wheat from the chaff? How can you drink enough of these beers to be able to make a judgment on them?
This question puzzled me for some time, kept me awake at night and finally drove me to drink. My first solution was to drink even more beer, but it was like wandering in the dark. It was too hard to compare beers if you drank them a week apart, the subtle differences were lost to time. It occurred to me to keep a beer journal, but if you have gotten this far you already know I am not much of a writer. Clearly, I needed help.
That was when the idea for Beer Club came to me. I would recruit a team of hop heads, beer snobs and drunks and combine our beer drinking effort. Only then could we drink enough beer to have a chance to find the best. With determination, elbow grease and many many trips to the john we would find those exceptional beers.
We are the Hop Heads of Beer Club and our quest is to find the best beers in the world.
It is amazing how such a simple recipe can create such a wide range of flavors. The huge variety of beer is one of its best characteristics. You don't have to limit yourself to just one beer, or one style of beer, instead there is a beer for every situation. How could you go through life drinking only ales? or Hefe-weizens? No, experiencing the variety of beer is half the fun.
But, with in each style of beer there is even more variety. No two stouts are alike, no two ales the same. But how to determine which Kolsch is the perfect Kolsch? or which Lager is the best Lager? And which is the worst? We all know that some beers are sub-par, how to seperate the wheat from the chaff? How can you drink enough of these beers to be able to make a judgment on them?
This question puzzled me for some time, kept me awake at night and finally drove me to drink. My first solution was to drink even more beer, but it was like wandering in the dark. It was too hard to compare beers if you drank them a week apart, the subtle differences were lost to time. It occurred to me to keep a beer journal, but if you have gotten this far you already know I am not much of a writer. Clearly, I needed help.
That was when the idea for Beer Club came to me. I would recruit a team of hop heads, beer snobs and drunks and combine our beer drinking effort. Only then could we drink enough beer to have a chance to find the best. With determination, elbow grease and many many trips to the john we would find those exceptional beers.
We are the Hop Heads of Beer Club and our quest is to find the best beers in the world.
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