Ale Street News Online

The theme of this issue, I’m told by Ale Street’s inscrutable editor, Tony Forder, is beer and health. Ah, I think, what better opportunity to address one of the questions I am most frequently posed, namely why I am not the proud possessor of a beer belly.

Being a drinking woman in America can leave you feeling pulled between two extremes. On the one hand, you’re a thrill-seeking party girl enjoying the booze-tinged good times that men have enjoyed for centuries with impunity. On the other hand, you’re on a death march toward liver disease, breast cancer, and brain damage.

In the last issue of Ale Street News, the altruistic, charitable contributions of breweries were highlighted. It probably came as no surprise that craft brewers are socially conscious. It is probably no more of a surprise to learn that they tend to be environmentally responsible as well.

While there have been organic beers on the market for several years, only recently have brewers, in force, begun to expand their portfolios to include organic ingredients. However, becoming an organic brewer is not as simple as placing an order for specialty malts.

The Boston Beer Co.’s Brewing Manager, Grant Wood, isn’t as much a celebrity as some of his peers in the craft brewing world — say, Sam Calagione of Dogfish Head, Garrett Oliver of the Brooklyn Brewery, or even Wood’s own boss, Boston Beer Chairman and Founder Jim Koch, who has starred in many a Samuel Adams radio and TV commercial.

A recent Saturday edition of The Toronto Star newspaper contained a bar story of a different sort. Inspired by a gentleman whose goal is to log visits to 1,000 taverns, bars, pubs and other assorted places of refreshment before the end of 2005, and chronicle it all at thousandbars.blogspot.com, a reporter named Raju Mudhar decided to pay a call on 25 such establishments in a single work week.

Oncoming pedestrian traffic bedecked in lederhosen and Bavarian folk dresses (Dirndl) tells us we are getting near the Weisn, or meadow, home of the Oktoberfest. Couples seem in decent shape, bigger groups more noisy, and an occasional individual staggering a bit.