Crushin'

My crushes are pretty innocent. They are so innocent they are never about human attraction, instead usually involve food. There was Campari and Soda. Earlier this year it was Choi’s Kimchi. Now, it is beer from a can.

The can looks like this; only more cylindery

And this isn’t a return to a more simple time when beer came from cans and people could still smoke in bars. I never really was a beer in a can type of guy. Porters and craft brews generally come from a tap or a bottle. In the last few years though, smaller beer companies have joined the majors by offering can beer. Cheaper to ship, easier to cool, arguably easier to recycle, cans are the new box wine – Well, in the sense of what used to be a stamp of mediocrity is now the domain of avant-garde, forward looking producers.

My new fave is Fort George’s 1811 Lager. What is 1811, the year of a Czech revolt, the invention of the Saaz hop, the bicentennial of a bottom feeding yeast? 1811 is the year Astoria, Oregon – Ft. George’s HQ location was founded. Astoria is a an odd place. Sitting on the corner of the Columbia River and the Pacific ocean, Astoria, 2 hours from Portland, is sometimes called the moistest place on Earth and like the land of the Smufs, Astorians live in mushroom houses. The sun has never shone in Astoria, if you see a picture of blue skies and light it has been photoshopped.

It is a funny place to for a brewery, except the constant cool temperatures are perfect for lagering – a word that comes to us from the German lagern, to rest. Lagers, unlike ales, which can be quaffed almost immediately, need to be put up for a time. Kept in cool to cold temps for 3ish months, lagers need time to mellow and ripen. Lagers in the States, are usually done in the Pilsner style but they can also be Dunkels dark or Schwarzbier black (a porter-lager).

1811 Lager is he light-pilsner style, the perfect drink on a hot day or as I like to call them, gardening beers. Cider and English ales were the first mainstays of American brewing. It wasn’t until German immigration that lagers gained a toe-hold, then became ubiquitous. It’s a always hard to remember that Beer Gardens were seen as healthy alternatives to saloons. It’s even harder to wrap your head around the fact while Scots-Irish were either/and getting drunk and clamoring for temperance, it was the Tuetoni who were gathering with their families to drink lager, sing songs and enjoy meals – they were the fun loving ones.

Going into Labor Day weekend with local temps expected in the 90s, I have 4 cans of 1811 chillin’ in the fridge, just waiting for my attention. And yes I will ride safely. 

And speaking of crushes, well, Willie Nelson might be love. Here Mr. Nelson covers Coldplay (I know dubious choice, effective results). It is an ad for Chipotle, a fast-food (although they like to think of themselves as fast-casual; and Dockers like to think of themselves as business casual) chain formerly owned/partnered with McDonalds. I’ve always maintained it’s easier to be subversive from the middle than it is at the extremes.