The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 14

Øl - is the Norwegian word for beer.  The term is shared with other Scandinavian languages, and comes from the same root as English ale.  A word related to English beer also existed - bjórr - which was borrowed into Old Irish, becoming Modern Irish beoir.

not quite the end

A final splurge from Birra Y Paz for the summer, Valhalla Ragnarök mead.  I'm a little apprehensive, what with temperatures going up again, but it's not a fruited mead so I don't expect it to be too sweet.  I'm not sure if it's going to be a hoppy mead, which I've been told is a thing, but it is one of their special products, very simply made with a nod to history and care.

It sounds violent if I say I'm assaulted by a sweet pastry aroma as soon as the liquid hits the glass, but there is a viking on the bottle, so it fits.  It's not a cloying excessive kind of sweetness, it's the expected honey and a little bit of wine in the background.  It's a very fizzy drink, with a head that bubbles up a lot at first and dies down just about as fast., leaving a little ring around the outside of the glass.  Colorwise, it's something like a cider, very clear and a tannish gold.  The flavor is meady, full honey, but not sticky.  There's a hint of fruitiness lurking, maybe cherry or raspberry.  It has a sour tail that stings a little as a goodbye from the sip, but overall it's a very clean and smooth drink.

Supplier: Birra Y Paz

Price: €4.85

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 13

pint - is a unit of measurement that beer is often served in in drinking establishments.  It is an eighth of a gallon or half a quart.  The word entered Middle English from Old French, presumably from a Latin origin.  Some suggest it is related to "painted", referring to a mark on a container to show certain amounts.  It is used to represent beer when going out to drink, especially in the UK, whether drinks are served in this amount or not.

in the shadows

So finally we had some rain yesterday, a good day for sitting in the window and sipping on a nice dark beer.  I kept my porter until today, though.  When I was browsing, there it was, sitting proudly on the shelf, all in its brown bottle, like a cone of chocolate.  Onso porter might not have that chocolate touch, though, being porter rather than stout.  There will probably be a little fruitiness to it, which is acceptable.  Now that it's not 100 damn degrees out, even a little black beer stickiness won't be so bad.  Cerveza Rodonda, show me what you got.

Extra foamy, and I'm a little surprised the bottle didn't overflow on opening.  The head is barely tinted beige, but the beer carries a pretty good dark color.  It's dark brown, not black, but good enough.  There isn't a strong puff of aroma at first, but letting it sit out allows just a hint of pickled plum to waft out and settle over the area near the bottle.  In the glass there's more of a light raisiny scent.  The taste also has a lot of dried fruit rather than fresh, prunes and raisins over plums or apples.  As a porter I would expect it to have some fruit to it, and along these lines.  It's a very subtle and unassuming flavor, displaying a little heft in the mouth but going down softly and not leaving hardly anything behind.  Left to its own devices, the beer develops a wisp of smoke in the aftertaste, adding some interest and complexity to a solid but otherwise simple brew.

Supplier: Birra Y Paz

Price: €3.70

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 12

μπίρα - is the Greek word for beer, pronounced ['bi ra].  It is a borrowing of Italian birra, and also spelled, more popularly, μπύρα.  Although Greece has not been considered a beer country, there is evidence that beer was drunk even in antiquity, with finds pointing to the Bronze Age.  Modern industrial beer began in the mid-19th century, with a push from a king of German origin.

summer harvesting

Squeezing in another purchase before a short vacation, I grab a couple of things from Birra Y Paz (they're going on vacation, not me.)  I feel like I ought to be getting some things that I don't normally subject myself to, and actually the bars are full of various types of ale more than anything else.  A lager here and there, but there's a downright shortage of sours this year, plus the typical lower offer of stouts for the summer.  As interesting as lambics are as a style, I just can't get into them as much as a taste experience.  I do, however, deeply enjoy a black currant drink.  It's one of Lindemans lesser-seen lambics, at least in Madrid, but I think Cassis is worth a shot.

Slightly winey smell, fruity, but old fruit.  Like a lot of lambics, it has a deeply tinted appearance with the essence of its most promoted ingredient.  It looks a lot like black currant nectar, in fact, but with a rosy head on top.  It has that fruity lambic stickiness, and a good amount of sweetness with no bitter at all, very much like Mort Subité, for example.  It's maybe even heavier than currant nectar, with more body and staying power in the mouth.  It builds in sourness, but maintains a refreshing cleanness to the flavor that allows it to take a place among summer beers.

Supplier: Birra Y Paz

Price: €3.15

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 11

Suds - is a colloquial term for beer, especially in the US.  It refers to the head of the beer, which in the most popular 20th century styles is fluffy, airy, and seen as a desirable characteristic of the drink.  It was used in the somewhat infamous Budweiser commercial in 2015 to promote a chummy feeling among drinkers of that particular product versus fans of other, some would say better, styles.

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 10

Leann - is the Scottish Gaelic word for beer, also used in Irish for light colored beer or pale ale.  The origin is Old Irish linn (drink, liquid, brew), but in the plural can refer to bodily humors.

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 9

 Cerve - another Spanish nickname for beer, obviously a shortening of the longer cerveza.  The short form shows some similarity with the Welsh cwrw, which, being a Celtic word, is probably related.  Of course, some people just have to insist that absolutely everything comes from the Romans, in spite of the fact that beer was admittedly not popular among Roman people and closely associated with Barbarian tribes outside the empire, like the Germans and Celts.  Notice how even the Slavic pivo is ultimately Latin in origin.  Some people...

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 8

Birrote - another nickname for beer in Spanish, based on the borrowed word birra.  The appreciative suffix -ote is often used to indicate something bigger or better than normal, although its origin seems to be from the French diminutive suffix -ot.  In Mexican usage especially the suffix may be related to the Nahuatl -otl (according to Wiktionary, anyway).  The birrote is an especially strong or impressive beer.

old fashioned diet watcher

It's still regular summer temperatures, but somehow it's worse than what it was before.  Maybe because we can't marvel at the numbers, so we just sit and suffer as usual.  As much as I like my stouts (and there will be some more) it is a good set of conditions for lighter beers, especially ales, and pale ales at that.  Just before Cervecissimus closed up shop for their summer vacation I picked up a new one for me, (full flavored) Pale Ale from 28 Brewery.  Their little blurb on the back gives some history to the brand, saying it was already in existence in 1842, and their website says they were established "100 years ago".  Later they say 1912 is the year they expanded from the basis of their most successful (I guess) beer, Perle 28.  Interestingly, it's touted as a low-carb beer, which is not something craft beers have paid much attention to.  There must be a time for everything.

For such a light colored beer it has a powerful aroma.  It's plenty ale-y too, with good notes of citrus and fruit, not a lot of more traditional elements.  The head doesn't disappear completely, but it does die back pretty quick.  The flavor is on the oddly sour side, with just a bit of bitter chasing it down.  It's generally clean, but there's a touch of astringency too, trying to clean up after.  There isn't much grain or bread, and the bitterness has more of a healthy fruit sensation to it than regular old beer bitter.  I'm not sure if I notice any particular lightness to it, but maybe if I focused on this line of beers I would find myself with less of a beer belly, you know, magically.

Supplier: Cervecissimus

Price: €3

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Beoir - is the Irish Gaelic word for beer.  It is used for blond beers rather than dark beers, and for a beer in general such as, "We had some beers." (Bhí cúpla gloine bheorach againn).  It shares the same etymology as English beer, German Bier, Italina birra, and more, but was taken into Old Irish from Old Norse bjórr.

attack ready

Temperatures are still high, but staying at more "normal" levels these days.  Still makes you want to relax with a good wet glass of something, though.  I got a second-hand Instagram recommendation for a book on the modern British brewing industry, specifically how it wiggled out from the thumb of its own macros.  Brew Britannia, for those interested.  I'm deeply bothered by how much I don't know culturally about our forbear.  Well, that's what collected information is for!  Anyway, a British beer seems like a fitting choice, something to keep me in the mood for learning while being gobsmacked by unsuspected attitudes.  A hundred years behind Spain in fully accepting lagers, can you believe it?  Of course, the most available British beers are ales, and this one is premium, so high expectations here!  Its name, Bombardier, makes you think it's going to squash your summer doldrums for sure.  Gonna fly high for me Eagle?

Certainly not a pale ale, although it has a pretty classic beer color and aroma.  It's a little bready, not sharp or fruity.  I'm expecting more of a bitter punch, but it's bready in taste too, although also crusty-warm feeling, like a loaf just out of the oven.  It dances between sweet and bitter, with a flavor that feels very herb-like.  The feeling is rather heavy, but it disappears immediately after swallowing, so not a difficult beer to drink.  It's subdued, a companion beer, one that supports conversations with friends, strong-flavored dinners, not demanding the spotlight for itself.  I'm not overwhelmed, but I'm not upset about it at all.  It makes me think I should get myself a pizza and dig out some classic movies.

Supplier: Cervecissimus

Price: €3.80

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 6

 Birra - a nickname for beer in Spain, as well as in several other Spanish speaking countries.  It seems to be a double loan - to Spanish from Italian, but to Italian from German Bier.  It can be seen in puns in Spanish taking the place of "vida" (life), e.g. Hay birra después de la muerte (There is beer after death) and El sentido de la birra (The meaning of beer).

summer buds

I double checked some timetables and Cervecissimus is going on vacation for the month, but I managed to sneak in before they closed their doors for a couple of weeks.  I could not resist grabbing a stout, especially one connected to the home zone: Peninsula is one part of the producing and Rio Azul is the other, giving us the result of Entre Amigos, an Oat Imperial Stout.

Along with a pleasant, cakey aroma, the beer sports a dark tan and heavy looking head.  Even liquid, it looks like it wants to be solid.  Along with the cake comes a tinge of fruit scent, raisins or plums, and a crispy undertone of smoke and toast.  Despite its powerful entrance, the head dies back quickly, leaving the demon's-heart-black brew behind.  There is a strong note of dried fruit in the flavor, not terribly sweet, but with a presence on the tongue.  It doesn't have much of an aftertaste, although there is a sensation of stickiness after the beer leaves the mouth.  It has the smoothness of an oat stout, but it's pretty weighty.  Eventually there's even a touch of wood sneaking in.  Finally, just the barest hint of chocolate also makes it's appearance.  It's a beer that has surprises if you're willing to look for them.  Like a lot of potential friends, I guess.

Supplier: Cervecissimus

Price: €4.30

tradewinds

It's vacation month here and things are slow and at odd hours.  Of course, if I were a better planner it wouldn't make any difference because these are things I know ahead of time, I just choose not to do anything about it.  A macro beer, getting back to "roots", is still easy enough to pick up, though.  You can't have supermarkets closing for an entire month.  You can't even really have them altering their hours significantly.  Essential work, that's what that is.  Sipping San Miguel's Manila India Pale Lager is really more of a luxury task.  Yes, it is San Miguel, but I was told it was really alright, and Cruzcampo's IPA wasn't bad.  So, might as well give it a try.

A relatively strongly aroma-ed lager, dark orangey color, and rather abundant head.  It's very heavy on the grain, but mildly sweet and bready, not grassy or toasty.  The flavor follows closely with the scent at first, but lets in a little bit of deeper bitter at the end.  It has a heavy, kind of old-fashioned lager feel, definitely not pilsner, which is interesting given the origins of San Miguel.  Still, in a warmer climate you want to feel well stocked with energy as much as you want to be refreshed.  Overall it's smooth, no spikiness or bite on the way down, but there is some feeling of lingering bitterness.  It's less an aftertaste than a vague sensation, the shadow of bitter if you will.  It develops a little more lager round feeling as it gets warmer, but the aroma maintains itself at a fresh and inviting state.

Speaking of poor planning, I found out about a beer store a couple weeks ago, put off and put off and put off going, and then this last week I was making the time - only to find it was closed for good!  Too bad, Lambeer, it wasn't meant to be.

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 Brewski - is an informal term for beer in English.  It is associated with US usage.  The word is a compound of "brew", referring to the brewing process of making beer, and the suffix -ski, giving the word humorous Slavic tone.  It may have been invented to go along with Polish jokes, once a staple of American humor, although the first recorded use is late for that, being in 1977 on a Saturday Night Live skit.

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 4

 Pivo - is the Czech word for beer.   It is also the word found in Slavic languages in general.  It comes from an Indo-European root, meaning drink, and has a related word in modern Czech: pit, to drink.  It is also cognate with Ancient Greek πῖνον, apparently meaning "beer" as well.

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 3

 Bier - is the German word for beer.  Like the English term, it comes from old Indo-European roots, but the exact ones are undetermined.  It could be related to words for barley or for cooking, are from Latin bibere - to drink.

Germany is the home of the famous Reinheitsgebot, which limits the ingredients of beer to water, malt, yeast and hops (actually a later addition).  While it sounds good for marketing a pure and traditional beverage, there are large numbers of beer drinkers who will happily take a glass of more creative brew, with other plants giving aroma, flavor, color or feel to the beverage.  German beer is divided into categories according to strength, as well as into different styles.  Craft beer is Germany follows similar trends as in other countries in terms of tastes.

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 2

Cerveza - the Spanish word for beer, from Latin as one would expect.  What one doesn't expect is that the Latin word could be a borrowing, or be influenced by, a Celtic language.  The Proto-Celtic *kormi- could be related to Latin cremare (to burn), as well as having produced a number of Celtic words for a fermented beverage.  The experts doubt that there is any connection to ceres (grain) despite the use of grain in brewing, possibly because it wasn't that popular among the Romans. 

The Wonderful Words Of Beer Draft 1

 Beer - the most basic of our words, the basis for our collection in fact. It's an old, old word too, from the depths of our linguistic origins, although the exact original meaning is lost in the seas of time.  It might have to do the yeast that produces alcohol, or with the barley that feeds the yeast, or even something completely out of our logical deductions.

In English, the oldest form is beor, but that particular beverage was not what we consider beer today.  A bitter, fermented malt drink, possibly with hops, was an ealu (more on that later), while beor was sweeter and maybe made from fruit rather than grain.  More of a cider than a modern idea of beer.  Over time, with outside influences from the continent, the word beer became limited to a grain-based alcoholic drink.

Modern beer is defined as an alcoholic drink brewed from water, malt, hops, and yeast, the malt traditionally being derived from barley.  Quite a number of modern breweries use a different source for their malt, either because of cost cutting or because of local traditions.  Beer today is the umbrella term, taking in ales and lagers, as well as lambics.