Kudos to Stonch for picking Beer People as the subject of Session Number 14. As frequenters of this blog know, more than beer beer itself, we’re all about beer people (well, that and pictures of beer). Why? Because beer seems to be a social glue that brings the most unlikely of people together.

None of folks with whom Molly and I regularly drink work with us, live near us, have kids that go to school with ours, or know us from childhood. They’re an assortment of accountants, engineers, insurance reps, real estate brokers, contractors, businesspeople, retirees, brewers, and bar owners — and were it not for beer, we would not have the privilege of calling them friends.

So, in true MyBeerPix.com style, here’s a visual tribute to our beer people.

Cheers to all our friends and hooray for beer!

This month’s Session is beer and music and comes to us courtesy of Lost Abbey brewer, blogger and good friend Tomme Arthur. Other Session 9 posts can be found here.

It’s funny how beer and music come together to mark significant milestones in a life.

There’s a picture of my brother and I that hangs in my parent’s living room. It’s a black and white photo taken when I was about five or six and my brother three or four. Our hair is immaculately combed and we’re wearing matching crew neck t-shirts that look a lot like the shirts Captain Kirk wore in the original Star Trek series. In it, my brother is staring intensely, maybe a little expectantly, at a can of classic Coors Banquet beer I have pinned against my body with my right hand as I attempt to wrestle the pop top off with my left.

The year was 1969 and I remember when the photo was taken (a Sunday, right after church) because it was the first time my dad let me open one of his beers for him. I also remember that Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison was playing on the scratchy Sears phonograph in our living room.

Dad let me taste that beer once I’d wrestled off the pop top. It was sour and nasty. Something only adults would like. But the music, well, even a kid could love that. In fact, I still love that album to this very day.

Flash forward a dozen years and I’m 17 — almost 18 — in college, and away from my parents for the first time. The first week of school there’s a party in my dorm and I wind up with a big, clear plastic cup of whatever beer they’re pulling out of the keg. I’m not a beer drinker and the stuff tastes sour and nasty, but it gets me introduced to the blonde girl who lives two floors up in the same dorm.

We talked, laughed, we went to her room and she made a man out of me while Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon played in the background.
It’s still one of my favorite albums. Never did find out what the beer was.

Jump ahead to 1987 and I was out of school, in my mid twenties and back in Southern California. A couple of friends and I decided to head to Tijuana for a night of drinking and whatever. A cute blonde several years our junior tagged along.

We went to clubs and ordered Coronas, Carta Blancas, Dos Equis, Tecates, and Pacificos with lots of tequila chasers. We drank it all to Duran Duran, The Cure, White Snake, New Order, Ratt, and more –all played at 110 decibals and above.

We saw a cigarette show, a quarters show and a donkey show. Then we staggered back to America.

We sped home at 70 miles an hour listening to Depeche Mode on the tape deck. Somewhere north of San Diego the cute blonde rolled down her window and barfed, etching my car’s paint permanently and creating a giant vomit fan for those who followed us on I 5.

Two years later I married that cute blonde. You know her as Beer Molly. I still have the car and the Depeche Mode tape too. Sometimes as I’m driving I’ll listen to it and smile as I remember how I met my wife.

» to be continued…

I’m playing catch up this week and just noticed that beer blogging Session #9 has been announced. The subject is “Beer & Music” and will be hosted by Port Brewing / Lost Abbey head brewer (and GABF small brewer of the year) Tomme Arthur.

From his blog:

For this session, I am looking towards my fellow bloggers to share a music and beer moment with. It could be that Pearl Jam show I attended 7 years ago where I was forced to drink 5 Coronas to stay warm. But more likely, it could be an album or song that you’re always listening to. I, for my part, will be writing two blogs. One will be about a particular memory and the other will be about musical stylings and my beers.

Session #9 is slated for November 2, 2007. You can get all the details right here.

Well, we’ve reached the end of Session 8 and beer blogging Friday. Beer Sage, who did most of the Session blogging today is sleeping soundly, so it’s just me and Barnum out on the deck by our bar now.

Before bed we’re doing a triple pairing of sorts (if it’s possible to triple pair) — Guinness Extra Stout, Jameson’s Whisky, Baily’s Irish Cream and Ding Dongs — aka an Irish Car Bomb and Ding Dongs. I like the creamy taste of the Irish cream balanced with the caramel maltiness of Guinness and the slight bite of the Jameson’s. (Plus Barnum and I like racing each other to the bottom of the glass.) Ding Dongs, which are good anyway, are the perfect chocolately complement to a beer drink like this.

Well, I hope you enjoyed our daylong Session posts. I know we did. Have a good night.

9:00 pm - Dinner

(NOTE:This is a day-long continuation of the Session 8 Beer & Food post, so make sure you start with Breakfast.)

We enjoy eating late, so we wandered over to Churchill’s Pub for dinner a little past 9pm. Churchill’s is one of our favorite beer & food beer places because the tap selection is quite large (24 or so), and the food — unlike many good beer places — is always outstanding.

Tomme Arthur joined Molly and I and we all shared a plate of Irish Nachos over pints of Black Butte Porter (Molly), cask conditioned Wipeout IPA (Tomme), and Lagunitas IPA (Me).

For dinner Molly had buffalo wings, I had a French dip, and Tomme chicken strips (sometimes I think we should just buy him a Happy Meal). You’re looking at Molly’s chicken there. Very tasty.

Next up: a nightcap

5:30 pm - snack

(NOTE:This is a day-long continuation of the Session 8 Beer & Food post, so make sure you start with Breakfast.)

We’ve moved on over to Port Brewing where we’re holding down the tasting room bar for the evening. We were really hungry but unfortunately the popcorn machine once again caught fire and we had to send it flaming down the delivery ramp outside (do other breweries have these problems?).

That leaves us with no snack but beer. Which, of course, is what we have maintained from the very beginning. Beer is food.

So for snack I’m having a pint or two… or three of Red Barn from Lost Abbey. Hopefully not too much — the tasting room closes at 8 pm and then there’s dinner. (PS: you’re invited)

See you at dinner.

12:45 pm - Lunch

(NOTE:This is a day-long continuation of the Session 8 Beer & Food post, so make sure you start with Breakfast.)

Last night was pizza night here at the ranch, so that naturally makes today’s lunch leftover pizza. I’ve paired my two slices of pepperoni, sausage, bell pepper, tomato and onion with 12 ounces of cold, refreshing Stone IPA.

Originally brewed with extra hoppy goodness to keep it fresh on its voyage from North County San Diego to the rest of San Diego County, Stone’s IPA now ships throughout North America and a few places beyond.

I’m particularly fond of Stone’s IPA because I think it’s excellent early example of the West Coast IPA style. A deep amber color, rich white head, big floral hop bouquet and excellent flavor balance of big malt and hop combination, it’s a perfect offset for the strong flavors and aromatics of the cured meats and fresh veggies of my pizza.

Plus it does a great job of cooling the molten blobs of cheese that weld themselves to the roof of my mouth every time I take a bite of pizza. (You think I’d learn about microwave ovens and hot cheese, but I don’t.)

The only drawback to a Stone IPA at lunch is, even though it’s really good, you have to limit yourself to just one. At 7% ABV, two or so of those and you might as well forget about operating heavy equipment, flying jets, doing open heart surgery, or any of the numerous other things we all do after lunch.

Next up: snack time!

The subject of this month’s Session (graciously hosted by Beer Haiku Daily) is beer and food. Molly and I have long held the opinion that beer is food, but if everyone wants to do beer and food, fine, we’re flexible. We can do that too.

Undoubtedly a good many of our beer blogging fellows will be writing about pairing a fine beers meats, cheeses, fruits and breads. Or about a favorite pub that has great food and beer. Or perhaps a recipe or two based on beer.

Well, we’re not that cultured or imaginative, so we’ve decided to go the pedestrian route of simply drinking a beer at every meal throughout the day and blogging about it (let’s call it a series of sub-sessions). We invite you to follow along and enjoy.

Let’s begin with the most important meal of the day.

7:15 am — Breakfast
Some of my ancestors were tossed out of England in the mid-1700’s for some petty crime or another and wound up in Hartford, Connecticut. (Molly’s relatives were still living a dismal beer-free existence living in teepees and hunting buffalo.) Back then it was a tradition to start your day with a good breakfast so you’d have strength for the labors of the coming day. This naturally meant strong beer and some sort of meat or gruel or something.

In keeping with our founder’s tradition, we’re starting today with a hearty breakfast of Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout and Cocoa Puffs.

Some people claim that the Founder’s is much better with pancakes, but honestly, who has time to make pancakes on a weekday morning?

We’ve found that the deep bourbon maltiness and caramel flavors of the Founder’s blends perfectly with the chocolately goodeness of the 12 essential minerals and vitamins in Cocoa Puffs. Another great breakfast combo is one we affectionately refer to as “Count Viscosity”, which is a hearty glass of Port Brewing’s Old Viscosity and Count Chocula. (Either one is a great way to kick off the day.)

See you at lunch.