Purpose Driven Drinking: October 2005

Canadian Beer

Greetings Purpose-Driven Drinkers!

I'm honoured to join the ranks of the blog contributors to this site. Hopefully I'll add some meaningful Canadian content to this site...

But first, a statistic:
The average Canadian consumes 84 L of beer a year.

Having said that, I'm nowhere near that in personal consumption. But I do enjoy a pint every now and again.

My personal recommendations, for Canadian beer, are Kokanee and Moosehead for lager, and Rickard's Red and Fort Garry Dark for ales.

Happy exhilaration!

You may be exhilarated...

In Martin Luther's Sermon on Soberness and Moderation, delivered on May 18, 1539, he noted:

"It is possible to tolerate a little elevation, when a man takes a drink or two too much after working hard and when he is feeling low. This must be called a frolic. But to sit day and night, pouring it in and pouring it out again, is piggish... all food is a matter of freedom, even a modest drink for one's pleasure. If you do not wish to conduct yourself this way, if you are going to go beyond this and be a born pig and guzzle beer and wine, then, if this cannot be stopped by the rulers, you must know that you cannot be saved. For God will not admit such piggish drinkers into the kingdom of heaven [cf. Gal. 5:19-21]... If you are tired and downhearted, take a drink; but this does not mean being a pig and doing nothing but gorging and swilling... You should be moderate and sober; this means that we should not be drunken, though we may be exhilarated."

From: The Beers of Martin Luther

Katie's beer

I am very intrigued by this rich and earthy account of Katie and Martin Luther:

Dr. Kirsi: Luther was very fond of her (Katie's) beer. She was in charge of making good German beer. And every body enjoyed that. The students. The visitors. And especially Luther. And Katarina was in charge of all that. Because Luther was busy being Luther. Writing, teaching, arguing, having beer, having conversations. He used to give fabulous wedding gifts and throw huge banquets. Until Katie came in and said, "No way. We have to feed our family and our guests." Luther was very eccentric. Very difficult to live with. Very high maintenance spouse. He was sometimes, probably smelly. He didn't really take care of his hygiene or diet or anything. His bed was rotting. He forgot to change the straw. Katie knew all about this. And this was an older man. 42 year old. Katharina was 26. So what was the attraction there? If there was an attraction it was probably on a spiritual and intellectual and mental level. Katarina must have had tremendous respect towards Luther. Even before they got married. And once they got married her respect and love shows in her always deferring to Herr Doctor in public. Probably not in bed. But in public. Herr Doctor Martinus Luther.

From the E*CA: This in-depth video documentary looks at the life of the woman who helped Luther change the course of history. Featuring the insights of noted Katharina experts Dr. Kirsi Stjerna, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and theologian Dr. Martin Treu, Wittenberg, Germany this new video sheds new light on an often overlooked partner in the reformation.

In some lands...

I don't know if this counts as "misadventure" enough, so let me know. But I thought it was definitely interesting (and disturbing information) that should be shared.

So my Pastor and I, following choir rehearsal, decided to step out for some dinner and a beer, as us Lutherans tend to do from time to time. We had intended on going to the German restaurant in the city (Schnitzelbank) but it closes early like everything in West Michigan (boo). Instead we went to another place and had some Bells Oberon (Kalamazoo, MI) which isn't half bad at all. That's all fine and good. Here's the strange part:

I mentioned these plans to some of my friends, who were mostly curious what i was doing Tuesday night. They were shocked! Now this new information I'm about to disclose might horrify most of you, so I strongly encourage you to cover the eyes of your children, and if you have a weak stomach, please turn away! Apparently, from what I've come to understand, some people are under the impression that Pastors don't drink beer! I came to learn that I'm the only one of my fellow organists to be lucky enough to have a Pastor I could have a brew with. From the stories they tell me about their churches, it sounds as if they could probably use a drink after that mess...

How you could have a Pastor without beer is beyond me, personally. I always remained under the impression that it was more important to go to the bar on Friday nights than to go to class when you were a Seminary student. I mean... how else are you going to find a pastors wife: one of the pre-requisites for an M.Div. Plus, I imagined there must be some kind of beer drinking contest to see who's really fit for ministry or not. It made sense to me at least.

I should note that everyone here is Dutch.... which explains most of their strange and ungodly ways. On the other hand, the New Holland Brewing company makes some really nice microbrews, and tonight IS stein night. But if you can't share it, what's the point? *grumble grumble*dutch*grumble grumble*

Beerfest

The Midwest Beerfest is today, and I will be there for the third year in a row, with Ron and his Brother-in-Law Nick.

Also, I will continue to peruse the web trying to prove that MADD is a prohibitionist group in sheep's clothing.

What Will the First Song Be?

Is there a Celtic version of Roll Out the Barrel?

Thanks to Mutti Beck for pointing out this delightful means of soliciting donations for the organ fund at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Ireland.

FYI, you can find out more about the fellow on the sign by following the links from the Open Directory Project entry on Sir Charles Villiers Stanford.

MADD at 25

If you haven't read this article on Fox News' website, you should.

This fall Mothers Against Drunk Driving marks its 25th anniversary. The organization certainly has much to celebrate: Deaths from drunk driving are down more than 35 percent since the early 1980s. We no longer chuckle at the bumbling drunk who can barely get his key into the ignition — we scorn him. Hopefully, we arrest him, too.

Unfortunately, MADD has come to outlive and outgrow its original mission. By the mid-1990s, deaths from drunk driving began to level off, after 15 years of progress. The sensible conclusion to draw from this was that the occasional drunk driver had all but been eradicated. MADD's successes had boiled the problem down to a small group of hard-core alcoholics.

It was at about this time that MADD began to move in a different direction, one not so much aimed at reducing drunk driving fatalities but at stripping DWI defendants of basic criminal rights. MADD also seemed to expand its mission to one of discouraging the consumption of alcohol in general — what critics call "neo-prohibition."

I think it's time to get them off the government teat.

A Joke

A conversation on Tabletalk just sparked a joke that was told to me by a Canadian friend of mine:

The British drink warm beer that tastes like piss. Canadians drink cold beer that tastes like piss. Americans drink cold piss that tastes like beer. {rimshot}

Behold Chocolate Bock!

Behold Chocolate Bock!
Originally uploaded by Terrible_Swede.

At our poker game, I brought out one of Sam Adams Extreme Beers: Chocolate Bock. It smelled like chocolate and tasted like chocolate. It also had a hops taste.

Here's what the tag has to say: For centuries, the world's finest brewers have created rich, complex dark beers known as bocks. The best bocks, like Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock, display many layers of luxurious flavors. For our bock, only hand selected hops from the world's oldest growing area are combined with a complex selection of carefully roasted malts and a centuries old brewing process. Finally, the beer is slowly aged on a a bed of rich chocolate that is specially blended by the master chocolatiers at Scharffen Berger Chocolate. This aging on special chocolate creates a flavor like no other.

Picture courtesy of Dan the Geologist.