Friday, May 4, 2012

Session #63: The Beer Moment

Pete Brown poses an interesting question for this month's Session—What is the beer moment?

At first glance, I thought he was getting at a "does the beer make the moment or the moment make the beer" thing. But, in fact, the question is far more basic than that. Pete has no agenda with his question or grand philosophical debate. It's just a question. What makes for that great beer experience?

I've spent hours (my wife would say more like days) drinking in pubs and bars, in crowds or just with a few friends, at night and during the sunny day. I've had hundreds of beer "moments"—we all have. I vividly remember trying my first craft beer, a Saranac Lager, at a Tau Kappa Epsilon party in 1993. I often think back to warm summer days drinking Heffeweizen, overlooking Warner's Lake from the deck at Schultz' Hofbrau. Occasionally my mind wanders to the road trips of my past—to Ye Olde County Inn, down in Ellenville, NY; to Matt's Brewery for my bachelor party; and beer hunting around coastal South Carolina. From the mundane to the exhilarating, my history is a pint glass full of beer moments.

Remember this pic from last July?
I look exactly the same.
More recently, and especially since the kids popped, up my beer moments have become a beer moment. Although I'm lucky enough to have one every day—right around 5:30pm. I do most of the cooking in our house. I've always enjoyed cooking, especially the prep. I find the chopping and dicing and slicing to be a release—a cathartic evacuation of the day's stupidity. With my mis en place set, there is only one thing left to do—pop the cap on a beer. Because what's a beer moment without beer? I'll be honest I'm not all that picky when it comes to what I'm drinking during that 15 or 20 minute period, either. Of late, I've been on an IPA kick—but the occasional Utica Club or PBR often find their way in. It's usually just one, as well. Rarely will I have two beers while I'm cooking. I don't know why, it just seems to work out that way. During the warm weather months the moment intensifies with the addition of fire. Many a work-weary drive home has been lightened by the thought of sipping a Sierra Nevada by the grill as the burgers sizzle and the smell of seasoned chicken and smoke wafts through the warm air.

Honestly, it's a simple answer to Pete's simple question. For me it's beer, sunshine, and a grill—really what else do you need?



7 comments:

  1. Some food on the grill is also nice though.

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    1. You've obviously never eaten what I've cooked!

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  2. I just returned from Salem, Ore., where I did various beery and cidery things.
    . . . the beery moments I will most cherish was Friday afternoon in the basement bar of my son-in-law establishment drinking various pints [pilsner and IPA] with various friend I had not seen in 09 months. Beer, in a convivial situation, heighten the experience.

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    1. I like that—"beer in a convivial situation."

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  3. Sunday after church we usually have a family get together and grill...

    I'm usually the one behind it and it seems like beer always finds its way into my hands right when the mesquite firewood is starting to burn...

    http://brewbeeranddrinkit.com/the-beer-moment/

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  4. Yeah, mesquite and beer is a good combo.

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  5. Come to think of it any hardwood fire and beer is a good combo. Makes me want to go out and get the fire pit going!

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