HELLO WINE AND BEER LOVERS

Hello Beer and Wine lovers, Friday the 13th  is not known for great things normally, here’s to changing a trend.  Tonight at Ralphs from 5pm to 8pm  we are offering an early Irish Beer tasting of Guinness Harp and  Smithwicks.  These are the few foremost beer’s Miller Brand offers around the famed Irish holiday.  We are starting on Friday to catch the Irish in us all of us.  With the March Madness at the Staples Center I thought it a great time to break out the beer along with corned beef sandwiches and good sour pickles!  As an added bonus to the evening the Guinness Girls will be attending the event handing out trinkets and beads to get into the Irish spirit of the evening.  Inoculating kegs of beer with green dye seems a bit too college fraternity for my taste so I opted for a nice classy tasting with cute ladies to lure the guys in for a sip of great beer.  

 As far as the history of Guinness Beer, legend history, and a sum of money start our tale of old.  It would seem that a local monk from a monastery just outside of Dublin Township  a few centuries ago  owed a debt to a tavern owner in town. Being of monastic origin, the monk was very poor.  The Tavern owner was understanding of the monk’s position but told him he would take the recipe and brewing instructions as payment in full in lieu of cash the monk owed.  The monk considered the offer and produced the recipe, and more importantly the technique in which the rich stout was made. The Tavern keeper went about producing the rich creamy stout in his tavern and became quite popular far and wide.  Anyone who has traveled to this part of Ireland knows how important pub life is to the local culture.  A friend once told me after spending a night in a bed and breakfast above a local pub he counted no less than 22 empty!  Guinness kegs along the curbside in the morning.  He later mentioned not getting too  much sleep due to the merry sounds of tavern songs and general laughter well into the morning.

 Harp Beer is a lighter companion to Guinness beer.  Used in the famed black and tan that is a half Harp and half Guinness  floated in a glass served divided and chilled.  I enjoy Harp on its own as a refreshing brew served very cold on tap at many Irish pubs.  When I was a young fellow in Seal Beach St Patrick’s Day was the biggest holiday besides 4th of July.  The city  at the time had four  Irish themed bars on Main Street alone.  The Irisher,  Clancy’sHennessey’s, and O’Malley’s.  These were all local hangouts and served many fine Irish whiskeys beer  and typical pub fare. Many a night was  spent there  having fun  and  quickly walking home along the boardwalk to my home across from the beach. Well I am looking forward to seeing those who enjoy the Black stout and its cast 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *