On Beer and Drinking: September 2008

Long before beer was primarily used as an inebriate, it was consumed for sustenance. Weak beers were had with every meal in lieu of water; water quality was suspect in many medieval towns. Monks brewed and drank strong beers during fasts and weak beers with meals. And, of course, many enjoyed strong and herb infused beers as part of ceremonies and celebrations. So, it just seemed natural to look to beer, called liquid bread by some, for replenishment after the long runs I've been doing to get in shape for the Portland, OR marathon.

Why am I doing a marathon? Well - it gives me a good excuse to spend a week in Portland drinking and eating more than any self respecting human should without feeling the least bit of guilt, and I like to run. This will actually be my second marathon, after completing San Diego back in June.

Post run, I usually grab a Brooklyn Weisse, the unfiltered wheat beer has a lot of B vitamins from the yeast and a nice thirst quenching citrus taste. Occasionally, I'll end my run at the local pub which tends to have Gaffel Kolsch on tap - a very refreshing beer, native to Cologne, Germany, brewed similar to a lager but with an ale yeast leaving it crisp and clean, with just a little fruity ester flavor sneaking in. Low ABV stouts, like Guinness, are always good after a long workout or when you're hungover (the feeling isn't much different.) In fact, stouts were long prescribed to the sick and nursing mothers for their nutritional properties - specialty stouts sometimes included ingredients like milk, oysters or beef to make them more nourishing.

All the beers listed above are great for post run recovery; but, after the San Diego marathon, I was more interested in knocking myself out than merely recovering - I was in a lot of pain - it would have to be something, extreme. Luckily, I was only about 40 minutes from one of America's most extreme breweries, the Stone Brewery in Escondido, CA. With the addition of a restaurant and outdoor beer garden, which is actually a beautiful garden that you can relax in with beer, I was saved. The bar has all of the Stone brews on draught as well as some neighboring breweries like Green Flash. In bottle, they have craft brews from around the US and the world. I got right to business with a Stone Levitation - their hoppy amber ale and then progressed to the Nogne O porter from Norway with a few arrogant bastards in between. With plenty of water and food, I was starting to feel normal again.

The levitation was well balanced with sweet malty flavors up front being swept away by strong citric/herbal hope notes.