Beer

Fall makes me think about “the harvest”, even though when was the last time I participated in a full-blown harvest? Possibly never, but, nonetheless, right now plants are producing, and people are picking, storing, preserving, and enjoying. Then, somewhere in that harvest process, my mind jumps to beer. It’s natural, both the process of fermenting grains and adding other plants in order to create fermented beverages such as beer, and the fact that my mind gravitates towards beer this time of year. I think it’s hard-wired; I remember that lecture in college when Professor Tim Allen made a compelling case that agriculture was developed and societies formed not to more efficiently raise food to eat, rather to drink the results of the fermented grains stemming from agrarian efforts. And, don’t get me wrong. I think about beer during other times of the year; the lager on a hot summer day, humidity dripping off the ice-cold bottle, or that winter stout meant to fortify our system and, well, midsection against the cold, inhospitable winter. But, fall, FALL, and its beer festivals (my favorite, the Quivey’s Grove Beer Festival, outside of Madison, Wisconsin, just happened), seems like just the right time to get a batch going, as well as enjoy the efforts of biermeisters throughout the region as they release the latest India Pale Ale, Oktoberfest or Amber. As I delve more into this topic in the book that I keep referring to in this blog, the medicinal aspects of some of the additives to beer most keenly attract my attention. Just the other day, in Marquette, Michigan, I saw advertised in an attractive, ground floor bar, a beer named the “Honey Citral IPA”. Citral, or the aromatic essential oil in lemon, lemon balm and lemon grass, probably anything lemon, has anti-spasmodic and anti-microbial properties, interesting medicinal effects for our barley beverage. And, the literature on hops is extensive, as are the flavors and unique ingredients making its way into microbrew coolers around the country. Maybe the medicinal effect is yet another reason to twist off the cap on your local brewski.