Beer Traveling
This issue features an interview I recently did with Ken Wells, author of Travels with Barely.
As we chatted about this beer or that one, this brewery or that one, it soon became obvious that there is a great wealth of good beer to be found here in the United States. The number of microbreweries is impressive and the numbers of brewpubs is staggering.
It was at that point that I experienced a jolt of exhilaration that rated right up there with that moment when Archimedes uttered the word Eureka.
It was the realization that to taste the beers we were discussing I would have to go to where they were brewed. No great fleet of trucks would deliver them to my local beer distributor. I would have to take a plane, a train or a drive in a car to experience those beers. I would have to take the time to get there, the time to taste the beers and the food, and the time chatting with the staff, owner and fellow imbibers. I would have to leave Brooklyn.
Now, it can be observed that the above revelation was actually a rather simple thought and not at all profound. However, that would miss the mark.
Wherever we are, we tend to measure our world by where we live. Familiar customs, language, dress, beer and food bind communities in a closeness that is often not noticed until the bonds are strained or broken. Moving to another city often leaves you quite disoriented, until you find a comfortable bar or restaurant. Then you can again begin to wrap yourself in the comfortable cocoon that is a neighborhood. And once again you have discovered the center of the universe.
The comfortable feeling of finding a place that we can call our own is a basic need. However, deluding ourselves that this place is the only place anyone could possibly want to live can be dangerous. It limits us in our perceptions. This parochial outlook can lead to isolation and bigotry when taken to the nth degree.
What is the solution? I suggest a road trip involving the visiting of at least two brewpubs more than two hours drive from where you are. I applaud the extension of those parameters of course.
This deliberate action of looking for something new, something you can not get where you live, widens not only your appreciation of beer, it presents the opportunity to remind ourselves that we are not the center of the universe, the world does not revolve around us. And with any unique beer a small slice of humble pie is always good for the soul.
Once again, do you know of, or own, a restaurant that features beer and food pairings on a regular basis? If so please let me know, or have them send me a menu, so that they can be included.
Cheers!
Peter LaFrance
