Northern California reader "Patvann" takes the pulse of the American zeitgeist at a local booze outlet and senses a disturbance in the Unicorn Force:
"So my brother and I go to our nearby friendly neighborhood liquor store, to buy our daily requirement of what my Wisconsin relatives refer to as, “barley-pop”. As I walk past one of the refer-cabinet doors, my eye catches the label of a beer:
'Limited Release
LAGUNITAS
say “lah-goo-knee-tuss”
W I L C O
T A N G O
FOXTROTA Malty, Robusty,
Jobless Recovery Ale’
We’re not quite in the Red, or in the Black… …Does that mean we’re in the Brown?!
ALC 7.83% O.G. 1.072 BY VOL 64.20 I.B.U
"Intrigued, (WTF?) I read further, and there was indeed much further to read. On the side of the label, in a very small font:
'In the murky realm of things that make you go Hmmm… 2010 may rank way, way up there. From the curious per curiam decision of 531U.S98 to WTC7, to the Superdome, to the Fall of the House of Lehman, to the Novel President’s Afghan Expedition escalation, to the oxymoronic Jobless Recovery of 2010, we have been confused. So, we did the only thing we could- we made beer-and lots of it. 6,420 cases of it to be exact. As far as we know, you drank all of it. Thank you for that, because if you had not we would have been looking for a bailout of our own, and we haven’t heard of any breweries either needing or receiving any of those Yuan-flavored TARP dollars… although we have read that the Las Vegas adult video industry did. Nobody knows why. So, in a world that is once again the proverbial ‘Ball of Confusion’, craft beer alone seems to carry its own weight. It’s nice to be on the winning team and thank you for your friendship and imbiliciousness. Call us! 707-769-4495 CHEERS!'
UPDATE!"It was 'Brother Mike’s' turn to buy, and he didn’t hesitate. We split the 22 oz bottle, and began testing in earnest. At the same time, I looked up the company, and found they make a great variety of fine beers, and are located near where I used to work in Petaluma California, just north of Marin.
"Now I don’t know about you, but if a brewery in a liberal city, in one of the most liberal counties, in the most liberal state can gather the courage to post that on their locally-sold product, then I think they need to be brought to the attention of good Americans everywhere, who are tired of the bad politics, and bad politicians on both sides of the isle, and would also like a damn fine beer while they wait for one to come along.
"Oh. The beer. It was a dark, well-bodied “sipping” beer that was simply outstanding. A full natural head, with no bitterness whatsoever, and a clean after-taste."
From the delightfully foulmouthed British blogger Obnoxio The Clown comes more news of politically incorrect brewing brewing across the Pond:
Thought you might like to head about Brewdog, Scottish brewers of such fine brands as Nanny State, Tactical Nuclear Penguin and the legendary "End of History" (world's strongest and most expensive beer): Enjoy responsibly!
The End of History from BrewDog on Vimeo.