BeerBloggers.com

Beer Activist is the blog of Chris O’Brien, author of Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World (New Society Publishers, 2006). The blog is dedicated to his two favorite things: drinking beer and saving the world. I’ve added it to my news reader subscription list and the blogroll here on BeerBloggers.com.

Chris’s blog features some very interesting beer-related news, such as a post today about a boycott of Anheuser-Busch products in Alabama. The “boycott is [organic brewing (in fact, he is a part owner of a store in California that sells organic brewing supplies). For those who just worry about how your beer tastes, there is some eye-opening reading here. In fact, I may just have to order that book of his…

From Hop Talk today:

I like to “collect” aphorisms. Call me kooky.

One that has been rattling around in my head lately is the following:

In wine there is wisdom.
In beer there is freedom.
In water there is bacteria.

Unfortunately, I have not yet been able to find a reliable source. Google searches show most people are attributing it to Ben Franklin, which can’t possibly be correct.* (Of course, he didn’t say “beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy” either.)

So, where is it really from? The first line could be a bastardization of the Latin proverb “in vino veritas” (“in wine, truth”). But what about the rest?

While the quote stands on its own, I’d really like to know who first said it. Or will it be added to the long list of wisdom from that great philosopher, Anon.?

Anybody have a good source?

* While microorganisms were observed as early as the late 1600s, the word “bacterium” wasn’t introduced until 1828, and Pasteur didn’t present his germ theory of disease until the 1860s. Franklin died in 1788.

While I thoroughly doubt that BeerBloggers.com reaches more readers than HopTalk, perhaps one or two of our readers don’t read Hop Talk, and perhaps they know the source? And perhaps I’ll win the lottery tonight too…

A quick read of Beer Hunting with GPS in the Beer and Brewing section of BellaOnline reveals that I definitely should have tried harder to talk the wife into letting me buy a GPS at the post-holiday sale prices. Bundling breweries and brewpubs into a POI pack is a great idea. Perhaps I’ll have to work on one for Portland, ME if I do pick up a GPS. I wonder if any of the stores around here have any decent systems still in stock…

Ron over at Hop Talk has a nice piece entitled Top 5 Beers on Ron’s Christmas List. The content should be fairly obvious from the title. I thought perhaps I’d share my own top five list (in no particular order):

1. Franziskaner Hefe-Weisse – yes, I know this is one I’ve talked about before, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want more of it. This time of year makes me think about it even more, as it was just before New Year’s that I first tried this wonderful wheat beer in Germany.
2. Allagash Interlude – I’ve recently become quite enamored of Allagash’s various Belgian offerings. I’ve been eying this one in particular at the beer store, but haven’t yet pulled the trigger as it’s $15+ for a single 750 ml bottle.
3. Brutal Bitter Ale – One of the styles I’ve discovered I like a great deal is ESB, and Rogue Brewing makes a mean one according to the reviews. I’ve not tried this one yet, but I’ve heard great things…
4. Stone Imperial Russian Stout – Aside from a disappointing Guinness earlier in the year, I’ve stayed away from stouts of late. However, with the weather as cold as it is now, I think it might be time to start picking up some beers you can eat with a spoon. Stone’s Imperial Russian gets spectacular reviews, and at 10% ABV, it’ll help warm you up quick. This is a spring-released beer, so I’ll probably have to wait until the snow starts to melt. Wait, never mind, I live in Maine. The snow doesn’t melt until June!
5. Pliny the Elder – No, I’m not hankering to be back in my high school Latin classes. This Imperial IPA from Russian River Brewing is renowned as one of the bigger “hop bombs” around, and I do love the hops. If anyone from Cali is willing to set up a trade for something from Allagash, please email me!

Obviously this list is a little more beer snobby than the silly Heineken commercials I’ve seen on TV lately, but then, I’d rather be sober than drink a beer “affectionately” referred to with another word for your backside.