Impy Malting

Pitchfork Bitter
Originally uploaded by velvetdahlia

I sprained my ankle on Friday so i've spent the last couple of days in bed feeling miserable. Not taking any photos and not doing any art. I'm forcing myself to post something here before I climb back into bed and feel sorry for myself again.

My friend Ally has started a new beer blog where she will be reviewing beers and hopefully one day will be setting up beer tasting events for us ladies. Whilst she visited me last weekend I got an introduction into beer tasting and discovered that I really liked this beer- a very local brew that commemorates the Pitchfork Rebellion.

Talking to Ally is was interesting to hear about how the 'Real Ale' culture is so different in America to the UK. Here if you talk about beer festivals and real ale a certain image comes to mind, one of a bearded man, possibly a pipe smoker. In the US it would seem that real ale is kind of...cool.

This is what Ally has to say about her new blog:

“Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; The best of life is but intoxication.” –Lord Byron

Drinking beer is one of the joys of life. I live in England where beer has been a passion and an art and a way of life for millennia. Malting and brewing was once a woman’s art, but one would never know this looking at current British brew culture.

Ale drinking is shrouded in lingo and machismo– but a good pint is really a simple matter, even if the taste is complex. Beer marks the seasons and triggers memories, it comforts and, in fine Baudelarian fashion, it keeps the burden of time from weighing on your shoulders and crushing you to the earth. So drink up! This round’s on me.