I went to my local supermarket just a couple of days ago and was somewhat startled to see a number of “organic” beers offered in the “green” section of the store. This got me wondering about what the differences are between “organic” and normal beer might be.
It turns out that, in its simplest terms, beer qualifies for the organic definition when all the ingredients used in the beer brewing recipes have been grown in acceptable “green” fashion. Generally, this means that the hops, barley, and everything else in the recipes have not been exposed to fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides, or herbicides. Proponents of this beer brewing method claim that organic beverages taste better than their larger non-organic competitors.
Not surprisingly, most organic growers are very small, with less than 100 acres under cultivation. They also tend to sell their product within a geographically small area, to local microbreweries specializing in offering organic products. This limited production and distribution prevent any meaningful economies of scale with, in turn, will mean that these offerings will be priced higher, in some cases substantially so, than the more familiar competitors.
On the plus side, these patronizing these local microbreweries have other positive effects for the environment. These include consuming a locally produced product which reduce the negative effects of wide area distribution. (more…)
Drinking and games seem to go together. This has been true for centuries past and will more than likely be true for centuries to come. Who among us has not participated in a drinking game at one time or another? While the college years usually see the most frequent participation, especially in years one and two, some of us will admit to continuing to participate into our adulthood as well.
And why shouldn’t we? Even Plato celebrated a drinking game in his book Symposium which was written around 385 BC. In it, he describes a game where a bowl filled with wine is passed among the participants. Each person drank the wine, slapped the bowl, and passed it along to the next person. It sounds very simple but don’t all drinking game rules sound simple before you start?
“Kottabus” is another drinking game played the Greeks 2,500 years ago. The game was played by throwing the wine lees (the sediment at the bottom of the barrel) at a target. The player was required to speak the name of his beloved as be tossed the lees. This game was something like the “she loves me, she loves me not” variety with flower petals today.
The Chinese also developed drinking games of their own that involved dice, riddles and a silver canister. The players would place written instructions into the canister that described which player had to drink as well as a specific amount. These games also had “officials” who were responsible for maintaining order and were able to call penalties which, of course, included more drinking.
Today many of these games have been transformed into the various past times found at your local tavern such as billiards, darts, pool, and ski-ball. These establishments are carrying on a centuries old tradition that traces its roots back to both the cradles of both western and Asian civilizations.
