Video Meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor

Oh Du Bist zu Schon

In München steht ein Hofbräuhaus:
Eins, zwei, g'suffa . . .
Da läuft so manches Fäßchen aus:
Eins, zwei, g'suffa . . .
Da hat so manche braver Mann:
Eins, zwei, g'suffa . . .
Gezeigt was er so vertragen kann
Schon früh am Morgen fing er an
Und spät am Abend kam er heraus
So schön ist's im Hofbräuhaus.

Okay so I shouldn't be quoting German bier drinking songs when I'm about to praise an American brew with a Russian name, but after watching the ever effusive Samantha Brown of Passport to Europe last night I feel in the mood. She hoisted more than a few in a Munich episode. (Which brings up my own dilemma. My wife wants me to visit her in Spain on her bidness trip. Found a $440 fare that leaves 1/11 & arrives back in Ohio 1/15. With layovers, about 11 hours there and 14 hours back. Sounds exhausting. But how many times can you see Barcelona for $440, since the hotel is obviously paid for by her company? But I digress...)

This gen-X, 43-year old blogger (can you be 43 & be a GenX'r? I thought GenX started around 1965) posts on Ol' Rasputin (found via Eric Scheske):

Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout: from Fort Bragg, California. Very nicely balanced for a 8.9% beer. Lots and lots of roasty-toasty roast barley imparting a garnet hue to the inky ale, its tan head quickly dissipating. The hops are not minty and the nose is actually floral with a fair bit of black rum Christmas cake dry fruitiness as well. There is a lot of heat with hoppy spicy over the roasted black malt and roast barley and with a creamy heart. A very nice example of a well layered beer - like a big red wine lots and lots of flavours that open up over time.

I posted about that same beer here.

Maestro!...

Da trinkt man Bier nicht aus dem Glas,
Da gibt's nur "die große Maß!"
Und wenn der erste Maßkrug leer,
Bringt dir die Reserl bald mehr.
Oft kriegt zu Haus die Frau 'nen Schreck,
Bleibt der Mann mal länger weg.
Aber die braven Nachbarsleut',
Die wissen besser Bescheid!
In München steht ein . . . . .

Dark beers: feature or bug? I say the former, but beginning in the mid-to-late 19th century Americans favored pilsners to the heavier beers because, according to Maureen Ogle, we've always had a culture of abundance here and so the desire for "beer as food" was limited. In the old country dark beers were sipped and treasured as "liquid bread". Americans had all the food we could want and so we looked at beer as something to be drunk in quantity, something lighter on the stomach.