Sunday, October 25, 2009

How to like beer

Some 21 year old guy was asking advice on reddit on how to like beer. 21 is pretty late to learn how to enjoy beer but I'm sure it can be done. In order to give the guy some decent advice I reflected on why I enjoy beer so much.

I think alcohol enjoyment is a learned cultural phenomenon. While in the past unsafe water supply was mitigated with the production of alcohols ,today we enjoy clean safe water. So the drinking of alcohol is now a custom passed down through the generations.

While I was growing up all adults in my family drank. I separated it into two kinds, stupid alcohol that caused noisy parties and slurring adults and the there was normal alcohol, the beers after hard work, the homemade wine at Granny and Popsies place and shandies.

Shandies were the best thing ever, half lemoade and half beer. The sweetness of the lemonade with the bitter homebrew beer in a perfect ratio. This was the drink served at 5pm just before dinner. Popsie would decant a bottle of home brew in a jug and make a lemonade soda stream. Us kids would all get one and it was the perfect summer drink. We rarely got shandies at home so its was all the more special. Some nights, probably winter, we would get a small glass of home made wine. It was always in a fancy etched glass and the wine was plum or feijoa. If we were good we could have a little extra at dinner. Alcohol was associated with happy family dinners. So to enjoy beer it helps to have ritualised happy memories associated with it and to start off by mixing it with lemonade.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Intersting things all around


I was buying a tomato plant at Kings Plant Barn in Porana road when my husband had a hankering for coffee, thanks to the trend of installing cafes in garden centers I was able to oblige and whilst waiting I admired the mosaic of the queens jewels.
I bought cucumber and tomato seedlings so I hope the cold weather is finally at an end.