It is written, somewhere in the laws and codes of the universe that fathers are inherently full of invaluable wisdom. For whatever reason, be it experience, knowledge or maybe just dumb luck, once a child is born, a father's knowledge, understanding and intuition mysteriously increase tenfold. When we're kids we'll believe almost anything our dads tell us because in our minds, they're the smartest person in the world. When I was growing up, my dad was full of sagacious advise that I probably should have listened to a lot more. Some of the most important things I remember my dad telling me when I was just a wee lad were; 1. Measure twice, cut once. 2. Get your finger out of there. 3. It's a poor worker that blames his tools and perhaps most importantly.....4. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
The advice sounds so simplistic that it's almost moronic. I understood what my dad meant when he used to say this, even if I didn't entirely agree with it. I mean, if I were to totally buy into my dad's logic, how would I convince him to buy me that new corvette (sidenote: I never did get a Corvette). If something is fine the way it is, why change it?
The simple answer to this question is that it is human nature to want to improve upon to things of the past. As an ever changing and evolving society, it is natural for us to look for ways to make the things that we love even better. In a field like art, medicine, technology or education, clearly it benefits humanity to embrace the idea of progress. But what about other things like baseball, chocolate cookies, or J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye? Aren't there certain things in life that are so classic that they couldn't possibly be made better?
So what about beer? Where does this ancient quaff fall on the spectrum on improvability? Certainly there have been significant improvements to beer over the last thousand years, but how much more can we tamper with it? In a world saturated with literally hundreds of varieties and brands of beer, how do you create a distinctive brew that sets itself apart from the pack? Many microbrewers have attempted to add unique flavors to their beers to make them more interesting or appealing to the beer drinking public at large. Cherry beer, chocolate beer, beer with a tomato twist; countless breweries have tried their hand at tweaking the flavor of the products with varying degrees of success.
My beer for tonight is America's Original Pumpkin Ale produced by Buffalo Bill's Brewery is the perfect example of how brewers are attempting to create a new twist on a very old beverage. Craft beers like the ones produced by Buffalo Bill's Brewery can be a crapshoot even if you're just tasting a stadard ale or lager, so the odds of being wowed by a pumpkin beer are already looking slim. I had some serious misgivings about this beer from the beginning, but I tried my absolute best to reserve judgement until I actually drank the beer for myself. From the first sip, the taste of pumpkin was omnipresent throughout the entire pint of America's Original Pumpkin Ale. There were many fruity notes in this ale that gave it an interesting taste, but the overpowering aftertaste of pumpkin dominated everything else. At first America's Original Pumpkin Ale wasn't all that bad and I actually didn't mind the overbearing pumpkiness of the beer, but by the end of the pint I was completely sick of it. For me the very idea of creating a pumpkin ale just seems so tired and gimmicky. This one example of a brewers attempt to create a unique and exciting beer, with less than stellar results, so I guess my dad was right after all. As you've probably guessed, America's Original Pumpkin Ale is a seasonal beer so if you're interested in trying this brew and all of it's pumpkinicity, you'd better get a move on before they shut down production for another year.
Cheers,
Ian
http://www.buffalobillsbrewery.com/
P.S. for the second time in the history of the 365brews pic, I failed to get a picture of the beer for some reason. To make up for it, I've posted some embarrassing pictures of myself to atone for my error. Enjoy!
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