CAMNA: The Campaign For Nipped Ales

ofa1So far I have created, with a certain underwhelming success, The Pub Game Project to note the things people like to do when they get together for beer, The Society for Ales of Antiquity to celebrate those brewers who are brewing beers like those brewers who used to brew the beers as well as CAMWA or The Campaign For Watery Ale, to encourage movers and shakers to consider the thing that makes 87% to 96% of what is in the bottle.

The response has been, well, insignificant if I want to brag it up out of all proportions. But we cannot stop there. Now we need CAMNA, the Campaign for Nipped Ales, to demand that the higher the strength the smaller the beer. Look at that bottle of Anchor Old Foghorn. Look at the dime. That is a small bottle. Seven small ounces. A nip. And it is only an 8.8% brew. I am getting really tired of opening 22 ounce or even 750 ml bottles of 8% to 13% beer. It is too much. It costs too much, it is too much booze and it is an invitation to excess. You will say they are to be shared or saved for special occasions but I want the option to sip a little one alone on a Tuesday. Why can’t I except with a handful of beers from a few forward thinking brewers? How much would it really cost most moderately sized micros to put out a line of nips of their stronger offerings? Would it not make them more accessible, allow more people to have a try?

These are the questions asked by CAMNA – the only international organization of its stature which dares take on this cause and those lined up against it. Some may think the utter irrelevance of CAMNA to the discourse is a challenge but I say it is an opportunity – an opportunity to be the mouse that roared… in the forest where trees fall when no one in around… in a land far far away.

Vermont: Odd Notion Spring ’09, Magic Hat, SoBurl

Extreme. Experimental. Weird. Weirdo. That is my new sliding scale to express a facet of the craft brewing world, like the crap-snob continuum. Granted it is only half the scale, missing the BFW¹ – X3M portion to the left. But it is a good scale and Odd Notion Spring 2009 inspired it.

One problem with “extreme” is that right now it’s the centre of the pack. This beer points out that there is plenty of room beyond extreme, including places you will likely not visit again. Because this beer and those like it are weird. Last spring’s peaty brown ale called Odd Notion helped generate a lot of heat over diacetyl that I don’t expect to be repeated with this one’s poppy seed and agave flavours. Will not one defend the honour of the agave? Who stands for the poppy? None.

It pours an attractive orange amber with a nice sheeting white head. But the smell is like a fresh and well-crafted beer trying to replicate the smell of an old, off skunky one. In the mouth, it’s a bit like fancy hotel soap, the stuff you put on a bad sunburn made from cactus as well as that hard astringent poppiness. There is other stuff in there like a little orange marmalade and maybe a bilious note. It is hard to explain but for all that, this is not entirely off-putting given that (1) it is generated in large part by the poppy seed, a taste I took to when I worked in Poland and (2) I have been sunburned a lot and support the post sun burn lotion industry. But it is weird. Yet not quite a weirdo. Good BAer support.

Kingston St. Lawrence Base Ball Stats 1873

The big second season for the Kingston St. Lawrence was held in the summer of 1873. The 1872 stats are here. In 1873, there are reports in both the Kingston British Whig and the Kingston Daily News. In the Monday, 23 June 1873 issue of the Kingston British Whig, it asked:

Such is the mania for base ball just now. Will it be like lacrosse – up like a rocket and down like a stick?

It was called “a mania” by the KBW again on 30 August 1873. It was also a year of controversy as letters and articles in the KBW in June set out complaints about the base ball players taking over the Cricket Grounds which City Council had given the use of to the city’s cricket club some years before. Also, the Whig on 30 June states that the game has “ridden rapidly into popularity since its introduction last year by Dr. Jarvis and Mr. Eilbeck. Both men are listed as playing in the published box scores.

In addition to the second reference to KBW 30 July reference to “the silver ball” as the trophy of the Canadian championship (after the earlier reference in KBW 21 August 1872), one most interesting notes in the papers is in the Kingston Daily News of 24 July 1873 which reads:

The St. Lawrence Club has received a challenge to play from the Red Stockings of Boston. It has not been decided to accept this challenge yet.

The Boston Red Stockings of 1873 won the national Association championship and, in August, were on a tour of Canada winning all 14 games and outscoring their opponents 524-48. They became the Boston Braves, then the Milwaukee Braves and the Atlanta Braves. Al Spalding, shown in 1871, pitched for them. He later when on to found the sporting good company.

The team also had its own western Ontario tour in August 1873. Here is a listing of the games played by the St.L BBC in 1873:

2A: Saturday, 30 May – St. Lawrence (90) v. Locomotive Club (14). Played on the Cricket Ground. No umpire named in the KDN report.
2B: Saturday, 7 June – St. Lawrence (8) v. Ottawa Club (54). Game played at Ottawa. Ottawa had 4 US professionals. St. Lawrence served a written protest but played (KBW, 9 June 1873). Game mentioned. (KDN, 2 June 1873)
2C: Monday, 23 June – St. Lawrence (70) v. Stars (12). Umpire Dr. McCammon. Reported in both the KBW and KDN as part of a three match day. Only 2 hours despite the score.
2D: Thursday, 1 July. St. Lawrence (10) v. Silver Star, Port Hope (25). Played at 2 pm on the Cricket Field on Dominion Day 1873 (KBW, 30 June). Long report in KBW 2 July. Ten cents paid to watch, betting reported, sidelines crowded and ladies filled the cricket stand and benches. Umpire was named “Shibley” and was a nephew of a Port Hope player. Protests at his biased calls, defends himself by addressing the crowd, saying he is from New York and “was a success as an umpire”. Crowd takes the field in second inning and Dr. McCammon replaces Shibley as umpire. Game ends after seven innings at 5:15 pm as Port Hope needed to travel home on 6 pm boat for Ottawa game the next day. “Shibley” appears to have returned to the field to declare this as a “no game”. Much drama.
2E: Friday, 4 July – St. Lawrence (70) v. B’hoys, Cape Vincent, NY (9). (KBW, 3 July 1873). Box score in KBW 7 July.
2F: Wednesday, 16 July – St. Lawrence (26) v. “Union” Club (13). St. Lawrence had issued a practice challenge against best of rest of city. Practice is for upcoming game against Guelph Maple Leafs. St. L. states it is willing to play 9 to 18 players or give other side 6 outs per inning.(KBW 14 July; KDN, 15 July 1873). Game played at Cricket Ground as a “union” of the Union Club and the Stars Club. Umpire was Dr. G. W. Oliver of Cape Vincent, NY. Five innings with St. L allowed 15 outs and the Union team getting 30. Report in the KBW on 17 July states
2G: Friday, 18 July – St. Lawrence. first nine v. St. Lawrence second nine. No further reference than the advance notice is found in papers.
2H: Monday, 21 July – St. Lawrence (35) v. Guelph (27) Maple Leaf. Anticipated as “the great game of the season” in KBW 17 July 1873. Kingston defeats Guelph – headline in the KBW 22 July reads “The St. Lawrence Boys Astonish Guelphites and Every Body Else”. Game started 2 pm (2:15, KDN, 22 July) at the Cricket Field. Dr. McCammon umpired. Described as very gentlemanly – compared to recent Port Hope experience no doubt. 16 to 7 for Kingston after first inning. “Their backers at home would not believe the news of the defeat and telegraphed again and again in hope of a contradiction.” 700 to 1,000 watched (KDN, 22 July). KBW 23 July: Excellent supper afterward at the American Hotel. Fifty attended. No liquors were introduced to the table “out of respect to the temperance members of the Clubs”. Gathering ended at 11: 30 pm.
2I: Tuesday, 29 July – St. Lawrence (23) v. Cobourg (14). Game ends at 4:45 pm and score makes that day’s KBW. Full reports the next day in both the KBW and KDN. Played at Cricket Field. Mr. Salisbury of Cobourg umpired and judged to have done so very fairly.
2J: Thursday, 7 August – St. Lawrence (12) v. Newcastle Beaver(s) (5).
2K: Friday, 8 August – St. Lawrence (25) v. Victorias of Bowmanville (12)
2L: Saturday, 9 August – St. Lawrence (2) v. Dauntless, Toronto (7)
2M: Monday, 11 August – St. Lawrence (3) v. Maple Leaf, Guelph (36)
2N: Monday, 25 August – St. Lawrence (?) v. Boston Red Stockings (55?). Report in KBW of 26 August indicates a pounding.
2O: Monday, 25 August – St. Lawrence Second Nine (23) v.Maple Leafs, Kingston (31).
2P: Monday, 1 September – St. Lawrence (24) v. Mutuals Ottawa (31). Originally was to be against London Tecumseh Club but they canceled or were late. Good report in KDN 2 September 1873.
2Q: Monday, 2 September – St. Lawrence (19) v. Tecumseh Club, London (1). Played on Cricket Field on short notice after rescheduling. Inning in which no score is made as called “whitewash.”
2R: Monday, 25 August – St. Lawrence Second Nine (49) v. Harvesters, Kingston Twp (32). Mr. J McCammon was umpire. Played at Welburn’s Farm on Front Road. St. Lawrence traveled by wagon. “Wielding the willow” is description of batting. Cold with a strong west wind. Montgomery’s Quadrille Band was present.
2S: Monday, 25 August – St. Lawrence (57) v. Black Rivers, Watertown NY. (49). Game took 3 1/2 hours with team coming by Cape Vincent boat. St. Lawrence “batted themselves out” to get the game in before darkness. Black Rivers stayed in Kingston and took the morning boat back to Cape Vincent for game there. Last game of the year. Umpire was Mr. E. Nolan.

And here is a list of all the base ball teams mentioned listed in the KBW and KDN during 1873:

  • St. Lawrence Club, Kingston.
  • Locomotive Club, Kingston. Played in 2A. Played the Stars at 7 am (!) on Monday 30 June at the Cricket Field.
  • Ottawa Club. Played in 2B. Played Guelph on July tour on 23 July 1873, losing 16 to 2. Called the Ottawa “Mutuals” in KDN, 2 September 1873.
  • Foundry Club, Kingston. (KBW); Victoria Club of the Victoria Foundry
  • the Piano Forte Club, Kingston.
  • the “Stars”, Kingston. Played in 2C.
  • the employees of Messers Chown and Cunningham, Kingston.
  • the employees of Mr. R. M. Horsey, Kingston.(KBW/KDN). Played Foundry and beat them 41 to 30 on 23 June 1873.
  • “Union matches”(?), Kingston (KBW); the Unions Club (KDN). Beat Locomotive 26 to 14 on 23 June 1873. Played the Stars Wednesday 16 July 1873. (KDN).
  • Maple Leaf Club, Kingston (?). Played the Stars on Monday 14 July 1873, losing by 4 runs (KDN). Box score in KBW, 15 July. Score was 23 to 19 for Stars with Stars getting 29 outs(?) to Maple Leaf getting 27. Mr. J. Carson was the umpire.
  • Silver Stars, Port Hope. Played in 2D. Had a new base ball song composed by Mr. Fred Lockwood (KBW, 30 June). Played Guelph on July tour on 24 July 1873. losing 33 to 0.
  • The Maple Leaf Club of Guelph. Played late July tour. Swift, pitcher, and Maddock, catcher, noted in KBW 15 July 1873. Stated to have held the Canadian championship for four years (KBW, 17 and 22 July 1873).
  • Cobourg “Travellers”. Played in 2I. Played Guelph on July tour on 19 July 1873, lost 36 to 6.
  • Ogdensburg Pastimes. Played Guelph on July tour on 22 July 1873. Named in KBW and KDN 22 July. Played the “Bostons” (ie the Red Stockings) on Friday 29 August and lost 37 to 6. Pastimes still playing in 1921 (pdf!).
  • Newcastle Beaver(s), Ont. Called “Beaver” in the KBW but “Beavers” in the KDN.
  • Victorias of Bowmanville, Ont.
  • The Dauntless Club, Toronto, Ont.
  • Tecumseh Club, London, Ont. Played Cob(o)urg on 1 September 1873 (KBW 2 Sept)
  • Wolves, Kingston (?) KBW, 30 August 1873.
  • Bears, Kingston (?) KBW, 30 August 1873.
  • Dockmen, Kingston (?) KBW, 30 August 1873.
  • Dockmen, Brockville (?) KBW, 30 August 1873.
  • Volunteers of the 14th P.O. Rifles, Kingston
  • Barriefield Club. Played and lost to the Volunteers of the 14th P.O. Rifles on 19 September 1873 (KBW, 22 Sept).
  • Harvesters, Kingston Township. Played the St. Lawrence Seconds on 20 September 1873.
  • The Black Rivers, Watertown NY.

Friday Bullets For My Day Off In The USA

My three hours at the NCPR phone farm starts at noon so I should get my butt out the door about nine thirty. I wonder of they will let me play with the Twitter controls. Things I do in the states: eat jerky (I have a rule – no jerky in the homeland); buy a local weekly newspaper (they still report who was visting from away like a Maritime weekly); look for flags (I still need a NY state flag); and shop at grocery store for cans of butter beans and multi-coloured goldfish crackers. In America the goldfish crackers come in different colours than orange. That is what makes the USA great. When I hear the “USA, USA” chant I think of multi-coloured goldfish crackers.

  • I watched the last ER and hated it. I hate ER. I used to comment on ER usenet groups when it was a cool show (holy oldie olson internet reference!) but I stopped watching around 1998. Death and death and more death. If they were such good ER doctors, the death parade wouldn’t go on and on. Plus I get that Stamos guy mixed up with the guy from “Joanie Loves Chachi” – but at least one Doctor Who crossover moment so at least that was something.
  • I do not yet see the world from the perspective of Davros’ toggle switch but I must say that the words “anti-facist demonstrators” do equally warm my heart. The juxtaposition with this and this should be more publicly troubling than it is.
  • I don’t know what to make of Harper these days but there is plenty of evidence that Canada is doing well economically under his watch.
  • Today is also an edition of The Session and the topic is smoked beer. Never heard of it? Start with our man in Ireland and follow the links.
  • Mr. Taylor and I engaged in a very interesting dicussion of social software and the courts this week. Have a look. Maybe we are both wrong.
  • When was the last time a First Lady said something that you though was simply solid advice: She told the 240 girls about growing up on Chicago’s south side, and urged them to think of education as “cool.” “I never cut class. I liked being smart. I liked getting A’s,” she said. “You have everything you need. Everything you need to succeed you already have right here.” I am going to use that line. I wonder if she is also strong on the use of 1970s British TV Sci-Fi as a tool for teaching about ethics and the importance of blasting things freom outer space?
  • I was listening last night to WFAN and the discussion of baseball ticket prices. At their new palace, the stinky cheater Yankees, the average gret seat now costs over $500 compared to about $150 at the Mets and Red Sox. Another reason to engage in recreation ritual hate. By the way, I watched the 2004 Red Sox ESPN summary last night. I am now very ready for baseball to begin.

That must be it for today. Where will I go by the end of the day? Maybe to the mall? Woot!

Kingston St. Lawrence Base Ball Stats 1872

You may recall the whole vintage base ball thing that came out of the Kingston Society for Playing Catch (KSPC) thing which came out of the whole community playing thing? Well, the season is now upon us and the Kingston St. Lawrence Brown Stockings Vintage Base Ball Club has two tournaments on already in the works, one in town and one over in Sackets Harbor, NY. Styled upon the “second nine” or the second-rate junior team from the main club that played in Kingston from 1872 to 1876, the KSLBSVBBC has a record of 0-1-1 with the tie coming in last year’s rain canceled game in Sacket’s Harbor, NY. The loss? Well, that was the year before.

Nutty yet based in history, we now have a team of crack researchers is now working on the actual heritage of the original St. Lawrence team, combing through articles like the one from 1873 shown here, in an effort to best replicate the details of uniform and play… and also to justify the effort to our spouses, bosses and bankers. Here are some stats arising from the games played by the Kingston St. Lawrence Base Ball Club in 1872 as reported in the Kingston British Whig. It is possible the list of games is not complete given the gap from 1 July to 21 August:

1A: Friday, 15 June – Married (39) v. Single (75). Umpire C. Van Arnam.
1B: Friday, 1 July – St. Lawrence (24) v. Cape Vincent, NY Ontario Club (26) – 1,000 in attendance at Cricket Grounds. Umpire: Mr. Cooper, Cape Vincent, NY.
1C: Monday, 21 August – Married (34) v. Single (54) – Eilbeck has switched sides having gotten married that summer. “Large attendance” at Cricket Ground. Singles called “the Benedicts” in the article. Umpire: J.M. Fo[r]te.
1D: Tuesday, 10 September – St. Lawrence (9) v. Clipper Club of Ilion, NY (70) – rain delay. Ilion were “masters of the Canadian bowling”. K’ton hosted Ilion at the “Anglo” in the evening. Umpired by T.L. Twiss of Ilion, NY

The list of all teams referenced in the Kingston British Whig in the summer of 1872:

  • St. Lawrence Club, Kingston.
  • Cape Vincent (NY) Ontario Club.
  • Williamsville Club. Williamsville was then a neighbouring community to Kingston. Played a “return match” with Orange L[?]y’s on 20 August 1872 (KBW, 21 Aug. 1872).
  • Orange L[?]y’s, Kingston. Played a “return match” with Orange L[?]y’s on 20 August 1872 (KBW, 21 Aug. 1872).
  • Maple Leaf Club of Guelph. Champions and holders of the Silver Ball (KBW, 21 Aug. 1872); “recently” beat Ilion at Ilion, NY (KBW, 11 Sept. 1872).
  • Dauntless Club, Toronto. Mentioned in the New York Times in 1872 but the Red Stockings toured Ontario in 1873.
  • Clipper Club of Ilion, NY.
  • Ogdensburg, NY.
  • Port Hope, Ontario.

More information will be forthcoming. Lots of it. Brace yourself. Players lists. Details from the games. Notes on which hotels were the site of post-game libations. Notice, too, that of the four games reported in my Whig articles, two were played within the Club by teams composed of married men and single men. A “club” in that era was just that – a gathering for a common purpose, not just a team which took on other teams in a league schedule. In The June 15, 1872 article in the Whig, the club is stated to have 60 members.

PGP 5.0: Once There Was A Pub Game In My Town…

kbcwb2

So, aside from the fact that I was not a contestant in the Wellie Boot Chuck and that I walked by the Wellie Boot Chuck to actually go to the pub, I thought the Wellie Boot Chuck at one of my favorite pubs on the planet went rather well. See, I was under the impression that the boot chucking was done in the street in front of the pub and under some sadly false illusion that the view of the chucking could take place with an oatmeal stout in hand. No. Twas not to be. And, see, there was a 37 second walk from the stout to the chuck and I was more focused on the stout. So… we were in the pub. But I am pro-boot-chuck and, of course, pro-charity so it was not the pub, it was not the chucking… it was me. If you appreciate that you will understand everything.

And science can teach us things even when we don’t wish to learn. So, what do we learn from the Kingston Brew Pub‘s rubber boot throwing? First, it does not take a lot to put together a good pub game.

Frankly, the silliness adds to it all. Secondly, a pub game can be good for the community even if it is good and silly. I don’t know how much was raised for charity but it was likely more than your pub raised… definitely more than I raised. Third… it’s throwing a boot in public as your appetizer for a little craft ale. I would have thought that was your secret wish in life. And not just because it’s mine.

To be clear – we did walk by and see the crowd of wellie chuckers. It was a lovely Saturday afternoon and the wind was still providing for the prospect of a great chuck. A lovely sight was made by smiling happy chuckers filling the air with wellies. What I want to know is this – why more pubs don’t do this? Perhaps they do.

Again With The Whither The CBC On This Tough Day

So who do you blame? Who do you blame for the evaporation of much of the CBC today? Do you blame me who stopped watching and listening years ago and regularly disses it? For that you can pretty much blame Brent Bambury leaving the local CBC Ottawa drive home show as that was the last thing I would tune in for. Do you blame Stephen Harper? You could I suppose – but when people are losing their jobs all over the place, when private news and entertainment sources in Canada are closing – is every job at the CBC sacred and worthy of tax dollars? Harper himself would blame consumers – you – ultimately but that is part of his whole passive / aggressive love / hate thing that has worked out so well.

You know who I blame? Paul Martin and Stephane Dion – Tweedle dumb and Tweedle dumber. “WHAT???” you say with a high screechy voice? Yes, Martin and Dion. They had the nation handed to them as only a Liberal party leader can, they had the ability to continue in the steady (if sometimes slightly sticky) hand of Jean Chretien. But no. Martin has to wrestle the leadership away from Jean only to find he has no skill at being leader. And Dion has to run against Iggy only to discover that, zoot!, he is actually a goofball egghead. Had these two men not botched the natural governing party, we would not have the social and economic experimentations of our rural overlords. We would not be driven into deficit by the single decision to reduce the GST from 7% to 5%. Remember that? Would it have made a tick of difference to anything other than the emptying of Federal bank accounts had the GST stayed at 7%.

This is what happens in a leadership void whether a void created intentionally by the CPC which wants to prove that the Federal level is irrelevant or by the Grits who, until recently, apparently wanted to prove that they were. Don’t get me wrong. I think the CBC in large part created the wall that it is now slamming headlong into. It has a singular lack of vision and stilted stance on its own importance that stands out among public broadcasters and public institutions. I should be a fan of the mothership, a booster. But it failed me long ago. I feel very badly for those who will be out of work, perhaps including creative clever friends from that undergrad with the journalism school I attended all those years ago. Still, the CBC deserved and deserves better. Blame those who should have defended her and who should have been there in these dark days. Blame Martin and Dion and the Grits who supported them.

None

Group Project: Is Twitter The New Gold Fish Eating Contest

I wonder about things. I wonder why I need so many half consumed jars of jam. I wonder why the rise of the internet, the economic bubble and its bursting are all related. I wonder why no one seems to notice that. And I wonder why Twitter is taking off, jumping the shark and about to become (in Mr. James’s words or – better – something like them) the usenet of the 2010’s. Remember usenet? It was so great. People being all Web 2.0 a decade and more before Web 2.0? Now people are being all 25% usenet fifteen years or more later. What is up?

Anyway, being ticked that the Whitehouse apparently really really discovered Twitter last night and finding 30 or so of the last 50 posts I had to wade through were about policy and Obama girls, I deleted that feed. I have been spending much of my Twitter time in the last two weeks deleting feeds. I even had a show trial of a brewer whose pace of twitting was far too manic. I bet that really stung. Being unhappy with Twitter has given rise to a few observations which I trust you will confirm in their entirety:

  • People consider the haiku moment of Twitter to be the restriction to 140 characters. I would prefer 50 characters myself. I had no idea that people could actually go on with only 140 units at their disposal.
  • Twitter is now full of spam. Twitter spam is of two sorts:repeating the posts of others when any one with any sense would plagiarizer a good idea and straight up commercial blabbery. Are people now so accustomed to spam that they don’t notice it is spam?
  • A more annoying constraint is the limit to the number of posts I can view meaning that a twitting blabber mouth can monopolize your view screen. I say view screen as it is a more accurate 1964 way of describing the screen you view. For you stuck in the 90s please refer to the GUI. If you post more than 4 times a day, you are cluttering your readers’ view screens.
  • There is something really really sad about news media discussing Twitter. But it might equally be said that it is very sad when bloggers write about Twitter.
  • Twitter is incredibly anti-social for social software. It is entirely isolating, insulating and, if one were hooked, immersing. Stephen Fry may well be playing out his addiction in public and one wonders what it means to “follow” 55,243 feeds. Surely, the format is simply broken at that point.

So, is Twitter the widget that is so simple yet dysfunctional that no one actually has to admit it does not really work except as a Borg training device?. And why is it so apt for people in the time of recession? What does it speak to in a time of doubt and uncertainty? Is it like Depression-era eating goldfish or dancing non-stop contests without a prize?

None

Book Review: “Beer and Skittles”, Richard Boston

bas1This arrived from a used book shop in the UK yesterday and, today being off sick, it was a great opportunity to rip through this book in record pace. Richard Boston was the columnist for the then Manchester Guardian whose weekly “Boston on Beer” is credited as being as important as the early days of CAMRA in raising public awareness of the impending loss of real ale that England faced in the early 1970s. He passedaway late in 2006.

I had hoped that this book would be a reprinting of his columns but it is more of a reworking from the point of view in 1976 – not a bad thing but it covers a lot of ground later beer writers like Cornell, Brown and Haydon dealt with in more detail. That being said, it is still a real treat. Boston left beer behind and went on to many other things in his life with a engaging eccentricity but his 1970s beer writing played an important role in preparing the public appetite for the writings of Michael Jackson whose first book, The English Pub was published in the same year.

The book includes information on the history of beer; home brewing and cooking with beer; a guide to where to find real ale 32 years ago as well as a handy discussion on the elements of the pub. This section includes descriptions of games such as Toad in the Hole and Bar Billiards– and contains a passage of incredible value, a description of both the rules and manners required to play shove-ha’penny. Through my tireless (but somewhat fruitless) efforts in relation to The Pub Game Project, I have placed shove-ha’penny on the list of those games I might actually get to play. Manners, as is the biggest part of any game, are critical:

How do you decide if a coin is in, or if it is just touching the line? Some boards have sunken brass dividing lines that can be raised to see if they move the coin or not. Some players run the edge of a piece of paper or the blade of a knife or engineering feelers between the coin and the line. This is poor stuff. The rule is that the coin must not only be in, it must be clearly seen to be in. If you have to ask a scorer for a decision, then it’s out. A good player will never argue the issue.

Throughout the book, Boston is both grumpily entertaining and keenly critical. Of CAMRA he writes “it has been said that some of their members would drink castor oil if it came from a hand pump and would reject nectar if it had no more than looked at carbon dioxide.” Filled with relevant poetic quotes, illustrative anecdotes as well as charm, it captures a moment in time that has turned out to be critical to the development of real ale in the UK as well as North American craft brewing. Long out of publication, Beer and Skittles is well worth the sort of price you will pay if you find it second hand

Extreme… X-Treme… X-Tre-m… XTRM… ?

Hub-bub. That is what is going on. There is hub-bub afoot these days about “extreme” beer. Here is what I know, though things may be changing on the fly, minute-by-minute as it were:

The Independent in England goes all yikes over BrewDog and other new strong beers even categorizing their article under the “health news” beat. Best ‘fraidy cat panicky quote: “alcohol campaigners have complained that drinkers may be unaware of the strength of the new products, a single 330ml bottle of which is enough to make an adult exceed their daily recommended alcohol intake.” Deary deary. Let’s hope know one in England under 40 has heard of gin either because I understand that, too, can get you tipsy.

Then Pete Brown goes yikey-doodles in response laying it on thick and hearty in return, due to the article’s reliance on his own work to create the “health news” in question. Best Pete-flips-lid quote: “[the article] creates a master class in hypocrisy that would be funny if it wasn’t for the fact that it might damage brewers I care about who spoke to me in good faith.” Look, I know as a good North American I am supposed to think the residents of any EU nation are nothing but big daft socialist softies but I still find it hard to believe that anyone who might actually have chosen to try an extreme beer would be deterred by this “health news” – and suspect, for that matter, that many more would take it as an opportunity to explore the big brews mentioned.

And, then, Stan asks the musical question – with a lot less of the yikes – as to what “extreme beer” actually means to you… and to me. Specifically, he asks:

What I’d like to know is if the term “extreme beer” means something specific to real live beer drinkers. I’ve never heard a customer at a bar say, “I’d like an extreme beer, please.

 

Good point but since the advent of extreme beers I have also never heard a customer say “I’d like to try a few more of all these wonderful new experimental session beers you offer, good publican.” That’s because extreme beer has had this Vulcan Mind Meld on so many craft brewers that all their explorations are based on turning to the volume to eleven, too often to focus on quantity of taste as opposed to quality. There is no room for modest balance (or modest price for that matter) where all on offer is extreme.

What’s it all mean? My comment at Stan’s begins extreme beer means nothing to me and that is as honest as I can put it. Mainly because it is really nothing new. Experimentation with very strong beers like Samichlaus or Thomas Hardy Ale well predate the X-TR-M label. Experimentation with odd and intense ingredients has been going on in home brewing well before Papazian’s first book. While you are at it, just consider the simple fact of Belgian brewing history or even only the sour branch of it. But besides all that – aside from the claims to new and exciting – for too much of the time extreme beers simply disappoint because they taste like you’ve just sprayed aerosol furniture polish in your mouth or because you really didn’t want to revisit the undergrad skull splitting headache the next day. Yet it has been latched upon as a means to market, to increase price and perhaps forgo value in a way that ignores that the adjective “extreme” has become a bit of a joke in other areas of pop culture.

X3M09? One year later and I still feel now as I did a year ago – the push for more ends up feeling like nothing so much as branding and hyping and inflating of a particularly tedious sort. A little like those ads aimed at “off-centered” people, I really look forward to the day that we look back at “extreme” brewing as we do the song stylings of Rick Astley. Must I quote the Scottish play? Has it come to that? Extreme beers are…

…but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

None of which speaks to the quality of any particular beer. Some are wonderful and lovely. But for all the US strong beers I have enjoyed I have disliked more… and more than once felt a bit ripped off. And I suspect most feel this way – though both the panicky health nuts on one hand and the craft marketing hype machine on the other might not like to admit it. The trend is not for death by ale, is not for beer that could sterilize surgical instruments while tasting like steak sauce or shoe leather, is not for the 25 dollar bottle that captures the essence of a thousand hop blossoms. And, because of that, it does a disservice to the bulk of more moderate craft beers and the vast majority of beer sales and buyers.

Were there that North American beer consumer lobbying group, I would expect that a backlash against the focus on extreme might have started some time ago. But we have none so it’s not begun. Maybe it should.