Hop Pop February 17, 2010

Japanese "Good Kids Beer"

I’m giving up beer for Lent.*  The irony of posting this on my beer blog isn’t lost on me.

My health has been poorly for weeks– I haven’t been able to drink much beer lately at all.  It’s strange to have a hobby that is, at least for me, really dependent on my body participating happily.  With that said, I have been drinking with relish the new Brew Dog Nanny State which is kind of like a hop soda pop.  At .5% it’s technically “alcohol free”.  Far superior to the unfermented hop tea that was the first Nanny State, this version is packed with Amarillo hops, which are my favourite. But Brewdog Nanny State has me thinking about Near Beers– particularly these Japanese kid’s beers which I’m dying to try.  Call it  a temporary regression!

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. I went to see Wolf People at the Lexington and did a nice job of exceeding my daily units by having three pints of Sierra Nevada (much better on keg here than in bottles in the US– less sweet and the hops really zing).  It’s good to note that this pub has an excellent selection of bottled American beers and the staff are friendly, efficient and knowledgeable.

I will most likely continue to drink Nanny State during my Lenten privation.  Will it feel like cheating?  I’ll let you know in a few weeks.

*I’m not Catholic, but seeing as Catholics have borrowed so much from the Pagans, I feel it only right to steal a few things in kind. The cyclical poetry of Ash Wednesday has always felt significant, coming as it does at the last pale of winter. It’s a good time for meditating on an habitual pleasure.  Imagine how good that first springtime beer will be.  I have weeks to think on which one it will be.