Holy Thursday: No, It Really Is

Also known as Covenant Thursday and Maundy Thursday, it's the actual Holy Thursday. Despite my weekly jab at my own lack of church attendance it has still roared its way here for those of you out there that choose to celebrate it. I've never actually attended mass today in the 25 years I've been alive, but I will admit that my favorite personal mass is that of Good Friday. Still, I haven't been at that one in years either. On Good Friday we have to kiss the feet of a crucifix in a communion-esque fashion. The last time I did this the priest accidentally moved the crucifix as I went down to kiss the feet and I almost lost my two front teeth.

Still, Holy Thursday is to help us remember the Last Supper. I'm sure all of you have seen the painting by Leonardo Da Vinci at some point in your life.  To me, the actual today along with Easter Sunday symbolizes a weekend of fun and feasting with our families and friends.

If not the painting, then surely the Tom Hanks movie.

Obviously if you're reading this or if you've ever read anything on this blog you have a habit of pairing some good brews with some snacks and other assorted foods on the holidays throughout the calendar year. I make an annual trek to Franklin, PA on Easter Sunday to spend time with family there. I remember when I first became of age to drink legally the beer of choice had been Heneiken in my uncle's stock. That's not too thrilling, but we always did have some interesting liquor. Distilled European assortments such as Absinthe (depending on your point of view) and whiskey from Ireland.

Aside from all of that, the beer selection has improved over the last few years. Last year I remember having a Schell's sampler. Some of you might run in fear from the corn, but I embrace it. Corn isn't that bad in beer! We've also had some Great Lakes variety packs at certain points.

I have cousins that live up in Erie that sometimes come down. I've been pushing to end up with some Derailed Cherry Ale for a good while now. Cheers to indulging in some Derailed. Also, cheers to your holiday weekend however you're celebrating.

Holy Thursday: Homage

In preparations for yet another edition of my sarcastic Catholic ways, I noticed something on the calendar of one of my favorite craft beer pubs. A quick look at the Blue Dust event calendar will not only show you the upcoming Craft Beer Week events the bar has on the books for the Pittsburgh celebration, but something that's worth noting. An anniversary.

I would have told you that you were crazy if you would have told me that Blue Dust (or as us regulars call it "The Blue Dust" exactly like those idiots on Monday Night Football that hail from Ohio State or Miami) has been that cozy little craft pub in Homestead for five years on the 20th. I couldn't believe it, but that can also be because I haven't been of legal age to drink for as long as the place has existed.

Still, I always try to fit Blue Dust in whenever I can to pay some for of homage. After all, it was that bar that I've always credited with plunging me into this exploratory world of what is great beer. North Country Brewing Company in Slippery Rock was only a taste of what it could be. Discovering and frequenting Blue Dust helped this obsession to bloom. My visits to Blue Dust early on are probably the biggest reason of which led me to start recording my thoughts on this blog. Here I am two and a half years later.

I've always been able to try what ever I wanted when I've been there. They've usually shared my posts on this blog through their website and social media feeds. I'm eternally grateful for that place being my gateway to such an intricate and interesting world. Members of my own family would hate it, but I've probably spent more time trying new beers and interacting with other regulars than actually going to mass. Surprise, right? Still, Blue Dust is indeed holy ground.

Also, next Thursday is the actual Holy Thursday. So, I might have to cook up something extra sarcastic.

A beer flight at Blue Dust from way back.

Holy Thursday: The Land of Ice and Snow

"I got a woman that stay drunk all the time." - The prophets Plant, Page, Jones and Bonham

Although it might seem as if the title of this week's Holy Thursday is very reminiscent of the weather we've dealt with in the Northeast for the duration of the past two and a half months, it isn't in my mind. I'd like to think that the title means something in the direction of a good mix of Led Zeppelin and a few beers rather than my traditional made-up, sarcastic and biblical-sounding verses. On a very ironic note, if you know which song that lyric hails from then you get my joke. How about another one from the same song?

"Sunday morning when we go down to the church and see the menfolk all standing in line."

My main reason for today's post is my fear to venture back into an aspect of beer from the past - frozen or frosted glassware. I'm hopefully venturing down to Morgantown, W.Va. tomorrow evening after work. My sister wants me to come and join her at a bar in town called Mario's Fishbowl.

Being the dork that I am I always tend to check out the place online before I actually go. What beers do they usually serve? What's the food like? The usual. Apparently this place is famous for serving "fishbowls" of beer. By fishbowls it looks like giant goblets. At least, that's what I can notice on the place's Facebook page.

They are frosted. Long ago I learned that you lose some of the flavor if your beer is above a certain temperature. That might be the case when and if I get to this place. It's agreed among the fancy beer community that we reserve the right to ask for a regular glass. Not entirely sure what I want to do as of yet. Maybe try it both ways? Been a long time since I ran a temperature experiment. )

Holy Thursday: Just a Little Bit

When I began this series of posts each week, I didn't intend on actually preaching about religion in any fashion. This series is mainly to be about beer, and solely titled as such to poke fun about the fact that I'm one of the more terrible Catholics that you'll ever come across. I bend the rules quite a bit when it comes to religion. Rarely attend mass out of stubbornness.

 Still, every year I seem to go on a mini-rant at the start of Lent which began yesterday. When this occurs each year, there's always a debate on social media - the people that give something up for the 40-day period, get the ashes on their foreheads and fast on Fridays along with the people making posts about how they don't understand why people partake in such a thing, post about how their respective God still loves them if they eat meat on Fridays etc. Many of these to keyboard holy wars and it's upsetting.

To all of that, I say that I forgo eating meat on Fridays during Lent for the sake of the symbolism of the entire thing. When I thought about it yesterday I realized that I do a ton of symbolic things in my everyday life. Especially ticks and mannerisms that pay homage to important people in my life or even as far as favorite movie characters. Some genetic and some on purpose. Ever hear me randomly sniffle twice? That's my grandmother. My laugh that sounds like a hyena? My uncle David. In essence, I don't feel any more holy or glorified because I gave up something for Lent or chose to not eat meat on a Friday. I just do it as a double-check. A reminder that I control what I put in my system. The beautiful thing about? There isn't some universal law that states who is right or who is wrong. Why do you care what anyone else does?

Now that I've completed my annual complaint, on to other business. I've never actually given up anything for the full 40 days of Lent. I've pondered actually doing it this year. To reinforce my thought process from up above, if you don't go get the ashes I'm fairly sure it technically doesn't count in the Catholic church that you're giving something up. See how I make my own rules? It really doesn't matter to me.

Someone said to think about giving up beer. I laughed. I had a slight idea to give up coffee, but that went out the door as fast as I did when I realized I couldn't put said pants on correctly. I completely forgot a belt. I'm not totally sure. Technically, I'm supposed to have decided already, but I'm sure I'll be alright if it's all a day late.

Holy Thursday: Chock-Full of Beer Reviews

"Stop your doings, they cried. Please take mercy on us!"

Last week's Session post hosted by Oliver from Literature and Libation challenged us all to review a beer without actually reviewing it. After I had finished my individual post, I did a little pondering on the state of beer reviews in the blogging world. I settled on the idea that beer reviews are pretty basic. My beer reviews included. That's pretty much the gist of it.

I get the feeling that a decent portion of the online beer community doesn't put much merit into them anyways. After all, we are only going to decide based upon our own tastes. Beer reviews can only go so far. I mean, how long until some of them begin to sound redundant. I've followed the same procedure for at least 85 percent of this blog's existence. I've got to the point of using a thesaurus to incorporate different words to describe aspects of the beers I'm writing about.

Generations of Books

Man, I remember when I first settled on the perfect photo backdrop for my beer reviews. I put each beer on the end table just offset from one of the three bookcases here that are chock-full of history books. Books my grandfather owned. There's an orange book by Harry Pfanz entitled Gettysburg: The Second Day. If you've peered close enough in some of my review pictures you can sometimes spot "Gettysburg" in white lettering on a bright orange book spine. That's the one. I've always loved having that small Easter egg in the background as a token of my obsession with the three most important days in the small Pennsylvania town's history.

If there's one thing that I don't cringe at anymore when I write my beer reviews it's the fact that I prominently stick that bookcase in there. It signifies a lot. If I end up changing the format of how I present my thoughts on certain brews on this blog, I somehow want to keep that bookcase incorporated.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road?

So, the question is where do we go from here? At least, where do I go on this blog? I don't want to completely stop doing them in any fashion. Beer is a beautiful thing. Lovely colors and fluffy foam. Bubbles. The list goes on and on.

I'm planning on continuing with the same old boring format for a least the next few weeks. I already have photos taken and notes recorded stained with beer on certain pages. I can't let that work go to waste. Thus, those beers deserve to be reviewed. At some point I'll change it up. Maybe a creative angle for the photograph with a few funny quips? Not totally sure yet. Maybe "shut down and retool!?"

Holy Thursday: From the Source

"Where is thine ale concocted from?"

You know what? For being "snobby" "geeky" and "bratty" about my beer and the vessels in which I consume it out of over the last few years, I have also become lazy in a few aspects. Lazy in what department? That would be getting my beer in growlers.

I have three growlers on my current premises. That only gets me beer from two establishments - Blue Dust and East End Brewing. I have two growlers from East End. That's actually pretty sad for someone that prides himself on trying a lot of different styles and brews as well as boasting about the local beer around Pittsburgh.

I mean just think about what I've been missing here. Roundabout Brewery just opened up in Lawrenceville. Full Pint and Rivertowne are just a 20 minute drive or so from where I am. All three of which fill growlers. Yea, I can find some of their brews on draft at some pub around the city, but there's just something about going to the source and bringing a fresh growler back to enjoy in the comfort of home.

Here's to getting out there and exploring more than I used to.

Holy Thursday: I Tried to Stay Up Late Once

"As long as your energy provideth, you may taketh in the games."

I've never really figured out my fascination for many things that I took interest in over the years. I'm all over the board. Beer, history, writing, sports, Star Wars, fitness. All kinds of crazy stuff. Every two years I'm somewhat reminded of why I remain fascinated with both the Summer and Winter Olympics as Russia is set to kick-off the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi today. If you're reading this in the afternoon the games have pretty much already been started except for the opening ceremonies that occur tomorrow and will be aired on NBC in the evening.

I vividly remember watching water polo and weightlifting with my father at some point during the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta. NBC had a live look-in to some weight lifting competition that didn't last very long being a sleepy 7-year-old. My old man said that it would be back on in a matter of a few hours, but that I'd have to stay up. To make a long story short, I didn't make it to the next showing of weight lifting. The next thing I knew I awoke in the dark. The only thing I saw was the blue glow of the clock on our VCR.

I also remember many other moments that stick out as important in my memory while watching the games over the years. Michael Johnson setting the world record in the 200m with his golden Nike shoes during that same 1996 games as well as standing and screaming in my living room at the end of that swimming relay in the 2008 Beijing Games with the men's swimming team overtaking the French. Truly epic stuff.

Over the last few sets of games I've been lucky to pair beer with watching some of the sporting events. This has led to some funny and interesting ideas concerning the countries and cities in which the games take place. This is all from an American perspective of course! Oh, and another aspect I've come to cherish about taking in each Olympic Games is the assortment of John Williams music you can hear during the various NBC broadcasts. The style in question is easy - Russian Imperial Stout. Let's roll.

Bugler's Dream and Olympic Fanfare - Bell's Expedition Stout

Just as the first minute or so of this song acts as the first portion of the NBC primetime coverage slot as well as to and from every other commercial break, Bell's Expedition can also be that gateway for this post. According to the Bell's website, Expedition is one of the first Russian Imperial Stouts on the American craft beer scene. I'm not entirely sure about that, but I'll take their word for it. After all, it works just fine for my post.

Summon the Heroes - North Coast Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout

This suite can be noticed in multiple instances throughout the NBC broadcasts. I usually hear it when they transition to and from Bob Costas in their "International Broadcast Center." Sometimes hit or miss. Grigori Rasputin was viewed as some kind of hero to some in early 1900's Russia, right? Maybe I'm reaching on this one. There were a lot of peasants at that time that didn't care for him. Finding tunes from this song on NBC broadcasts are still somewhat as vague as the stories about Rasputin's assassination.

Olympic Spirit - Cigar City's Marshal Zhukov's Imperial Stout

The rarest of the rarest. I can't remember the last time I heard Olympic Spirit during an Olympic Games. Legend has it that it was last played in 1988. I've listened closely while watching on television over the years with no luck. Maybe this is the year , but I'm not too confident. I'm even less confident in coming across this beer. I'm fairly sure Cigar City doesn't distribute around Pittsburgh. So, if you hear Olympic Spirit during a broadcast over the next two weeks think of me and find a way to get me some Marshal Zhukov! I'm sure Zhukov had better odds at the beginning of Operation Barbarosa than I do coming across this.

Holy Thursday is a weekly post (usually every week) generally about beer. It includes almost any topic relating to beer, but with a certain spin. A slightly religious spin Still, I'm not doing it to preach anything but beer. I'm just poking fun at myself for a being a terrible mass attendee!

Holy Thursday: Preaching to the Masses

I remember distinctly where I was when I began writing the weekly Monday Rant posts on this blog. I was in Slippery Rock University's Bailey Library complaining about malt beverages such as Mike's Hard Lemonade. Here I am two years later and I still write it for pretty much every Monday morning. It's the Monday Quarterback of the beer world. I've experimented with a couple series of posts with intentions of doing them weekly, monthly etc. Unfortunately they never caught on.

Last week, I began a simple post with some for of a biblical-sounding quote that I churned up out of thin air. I thought it entertainment enough to do it for this one, too. As I cracked a smirk I decided to try and make a weekly post called Holy Thursday. I can have some idiotic quote I made up. It can also symbolize my poor attendance at mass. Holy Thursday is actually one of the holy days in the Catholic Church. It remembers the Last Supper the week of the Easter celebration. If you have any better-sounding ideas than Holy Thursday just let me know. I'm not totally committed, but would prefer it to be some religious or medieval undertones. Alright, enough blabbering. Let's roll.

"If thou dost well as an orator, thine ale shall flow." - Nobody

I've always wondered the world would be like if we saw a hefty dose of advertisements and ad campaigns from some of out favorite craft breweries. After all, we get enough from the major brewing companies whose product we've become bored with fro the most part. You know the ads I mean. If you don't, just watch the Super Bowl next Sunday.

I'm fairly sure the disparity (at least in my area) could be due to finances. The craft market just doesn't bring in as much as the big ones do. Still, craft breweries are bringing in a fair share of money. They continue to grow.

If craft breweries haven't taken any foothold in the form of television or radio advertisement they definitely have in the form of social media. Interacting on a personal level with customers and fans. I mean just take a look at some of the breweries you follow. They retweet cool pictures we take. Most are punctual in terms of getting back with responses to inquiries. One of the best here in Pittsburgh is East End Brewing. Take a look.

Working on that. But it's on draft now.RT @SteveOldrati: when are Smokestack Heritage Porter bottles going to be available at the brewery?
— Scott at EastEnd (@EastEndBrewing) January 19, 2014

And @HerzMuses too! MT @hoyle13: Nice @TribLIVE article on growlers http://t.co/UoFTPegeP0 cc: @Houghspgh @ArsenalCider @AllSaintsCraft #fb
— Scott at EastEnd (@EastEndBrewing) January 16, 2014

There's plenty more where that came from. I'd link or screen cap something to one of the major brewer Twitter accounts, but I just peaked at the Budweiser one and there's nothing. No questions answered. No retweets of anything. No interactions with any other breweries. No personality at all. The craft breweries might not ever catch the majors in terms of financials, but they've sure got them on the battlefield that is the web.