I Can't Fathom.......

Fathom IPA

Ballast Point Brewing Co., San Diego, CA. / 6.0% ABV

 

Do you remember the phrase that begins with, "I can't fathom"?  For example, I can't fathom that Joe just died or I can't fathom that Mary and Bill finally got married?  It's an older phrase that does not pop up as much as it used to, but I use it all the time.  When I decided to write this beer blog, I said to myself and Mrs. Meister that I would not bring politics into it in any way, shape or form.  I am going to break this promise since in today's political world there are many things that I can't fathom.   

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So what are some of the things that I can't fathom?  Well, I can't fathom the weather that we are having in NEPA right now.  The forecast always seems to be rain, followed by intermittent showers in the evening and torrential downpours with high wind gusts and potential hail for the next day.  It seems like the 7 day forecast is for partly cloudy sky's with a chance of either showers or rain.  Sometimes I feel like I live in Seattle or Ireland.

I also can't fathom a lot of things like Donald Trump being President of the United States, people still not believing that climate change is for real and that aliens do exist.  I can't fathom that the roads in Pennsylvania are horrible, that our veterans don't have the best healthcare on the planet available to them and that marijuana is not legal in all 50 states.  I can't fathom that American's are taxed on everything we buy and do (except breathing and that's coming next) and that people in this country are starving and homeless.  I can't fathom that we are still totally reliant on fossil fuels and that wind and solar power are not being embraced by the government or the general public.  I can't fathom that kids are going into schools and shooting classmates and that nothing is being done to prevent it.  This is not meant to be a political knock on anyone who reads this blog, it's just some things that I personally can't fathom.  Your beliefs our yours and I will respect them. 

However the one big thing that I could not fathom would be a world without beer.  Could you imagine living in America from 1920 to 1933 during the Prohibition Era?  During this time period, the sale of alcohol was prohibited by the federal government.  It was banned because alcoholism, family violence and saloon-based political corruption prompted activists to end the alcoholic beverage trade to cure what they thought were the ills of society and to weaken the political opposition. One result was that many communities in the late 19th and early 20th centuries introduced alcohol prohibition, with the subsequent enforcement in law becoming a hotly debated issue.  Prohibition supporters, who were called "drys", presented it as a victory for public morals and health.  Promoted by the "dry" crusaders, the movement was led by pietistic Protestants and social Progressives in the Prohibition era in both the Democratic and Republican parties.  Holy cow, something both parties agreed upon!  It gained a national grass roots base through the Woman's Christian Temperance Union and after 1900 it was coordinated by the Anti-Saloon League, an organization that I would not have joined. 

Opposition from the beer industry mobilized "wet" supporters from the Catholic and German Lutheran communities to fight back against the prohibition campaign. They had considerable funding to fight back, but by 1917–18 the German community had been marginalized by the nation's war against Germany and the brewing industry was shut down in state after state by the legislatures and finally nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1920.  By enabling this legislation, known as the Volstead Act, it set down the rules for enforcing the federal ban and defined the types of alcoholic beverages that were prohibited. For example, religious use of wine was allowed. Private ownership and consumption of alcohol were not made illegal under federal law, but local laws were stricter in many areas, with some states banning possession outright.

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Of course, criminal gangs were able to gain control of the beer and liquor supply for many cities and by the late 1920s a new opposition mobilized nationwide.  "Wets" attacked prohibition stating that it was causing crime, lowering local revenues and imposing rural Protestant religious values on urban America. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933.  Some states continued statewide prohibition, marking one of the last stages of what was called the Progressive Era.  Although popular opinion believes that Prohibition failed, it succeeded in cutting overall alcohol consumption in half during the 1920's and consumption remained below pre-Prohibition levels until the 1940's. Also, statistics show that rates of liver cirrhosis fell by 50% early in Prohibition and recovered promptly after its repeal in 1933.  Criticism remains that Prohibition led to unintended consequences such as a century of Prohibition-influenced legislation and the growth of urban crime organizations, though some scholars have argued that violent crime did not increase dramatically, while others have argued that crime during the Prohibition era was properly attributed to increased urbanization, rather than the criminalization of alcohol use.  As an experiment it lost supporters every year and lost tax revenue that governments needed when the Great Depression began in 1929. 

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How does Ballast Point Fathom IPA have anything to do with all of this?  Nothing really.  I was intrigued by the nautical themed can and the word fathom got me thinking.  So, what about this beer? 

THE REVIEW

SIGHT:  When I poured by Fathom IPA, I saw a nice yellow color with a slight orange tint especially when held up to a light.  Once poured into a glass, it had a very nice pure white head of about a half inch in thickness that lasted for close to 5 minutes.  I really like a beer that has a strong head that lasts.  This was a solid looking beer.

AROMA:   When I took a sniff, I could smell a typical American West Coast IPA hoppy aroma.  I also got hints of grapefruit with back notes of orange and a little pine.  I thought I may have even smelled a very, very slight aroma of watermelon and mango in there.  

TASTE:   Now for a taste.  With my first sip I could taste hops and lots of them up front which is standard for a West Coast IPA.  If you are not a fan of IPA's, you will not like this beer.  Along with this hoppy attitude, I could taste the typical grapefruit and citrus flavors.  This also had nice back notes of pine and nuts along with what I thought was mango.  This was a Good tasting IPA with a rainbow of flavors that hit your palate one at a time.    

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Overall, I really liked Fathom IPA.  It's good looks, nice aromas and a painter's palette of flavor make for a nice drink.  If you are a fan of IPA's, you will really like this beer.  I was not a fan of IPA's for a long time, but have really warmed up to them due to their overall flavor complexities.  I am going to try more beers from Ballast Point and I recommend that you do as well.  For more information on Ballast Point Brewing Company you can go to their web site at www.ballastpoint.com.  Wait until you see what their brew pub looks like...

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5= Outstanding

4= Very Good

3= Good

2=Fair

1=Skunk

NEPA Mining &Thirsty Miners

Thirsty Miner / American IPA

Rhinelander Brewing Co., Monroe, WI. / 6.8% ABV

 As many of my readers in Northeast PA. know our area once had many thriving coal mines.  In fact, the cities of Wilkes-Barre and Scranton were known and are still known for being in the Anthracite Region of Pennsylvania.  We celebrate the history of the mines every year by remembering the Knox Mining Disaster of 1959, visiting Eckley Miners Village in Hazleton, and by taking a ride at the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour in Scranton.  Believe it or not, I have never toured Eckley Village nor have I gone down into the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour.  However, I have watched many historical shows on the coal mines of NEPA.  I did watch the movie The Molly Maguires and I visited the jail in Jim Thorpe where a few of the Molly Maguires were hung.  I remember my Grandfather Evan coming home from the mines where he was an electrician.  My Grandmother would make him come in through the cellar door because he was always covered from head to toe in black coal dust.  With all of the history surrounding the coal mines of NEPA, the history that seems to be missing is information about the mining pubs, and what did the miners drink?    

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As you can imagine, mining was a physically difficult and dangerous job.  Miners knew this but once down in the mine they went to work and didn't think much of it.  Back in the hay days of the mines in NEPA, the mining company pretty much owned everything including the miner himself.  They owned the mine, all of the equipment, the houses that the miners and their families lived in, and the stores that they shopped in.  Many of the mines paid their miners in tokens or mining company tender which they could only spend at company owned businesses.  Most lived in beaten down homes that they rented from the mining company and ate basic foods like eggs, bread, basic meats and fish.  There was nothing fancy.

Since this work was so hard and their lives so difficult, at the end of the work week when the miners got paid, they would take care of their bills and then head to the bar to drink with their fellow miners.  Often, miners drank to excess to forget about their lives or to remember a fellow miner who may have died in an accident.  Of course, since the bar was in the mining town, it was owned by the mining company and often the beer was warm and watered down.  This made the miners spend more money which went right back into the pockets of the mine owners.  Some miners would brew their own beer and then meet at a gathering place to drink with other miners.

After spending over 2 hours trying to research Anthracite Coal Mining and beer drinking I was dumbfounded to find that there was not much information on this topic on the internet.  I did find that miners worked very hard and they did drink beer sometimes in excess.  This kind of sounds like the NEPA of today which brings me to the beer that I bought last week named Thirsty Miner American IPA.  When I saw it in the beer store the owner Leo said that it was popular and that I should try it.     

THE REVIEW

SIGHT:  When I poured my Thirsty Miner, I saw a nice amber color throughout with a sturdy white head of about an inch or so in thickness that lasted through several sips.  This looked like a nice hearty beer. 

AROMA:   When I lifted my glass of beer to my nose, I immediately knew that this was not a typical IPA.  There was not much of an aroma other than hops and bread malts.  I thought I may have smelled the slightest hint of citrus which was negligible.

      

TASTE:  Again, I would say that this is not your typical IPA.  Thirsty Miner had a mild hoppy flavor with bready malts and grains that taste bitter on the back of your throat.  Other than this, I could not taste anything else.  I was so stunned by the lack of flavor, I actually had 3 other people taste it and they verified my findings.    

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Overall, Thirsty Miner American IPA was just OK.  As I mentioned it is not a typical IPA, in fact I would say it is an IPA for rookies on a low budget.  It has that hoppiness of an IPA, but not much else.  If you are thinking of getting into IPA's, you can start with this one and then work your way up to some of the more complex IPA's that are now being brewed.  You can pair Thirsty Miner IPA with barbecue chicken on the grill or smoked trout or catfish.  To find out more about Rhinelander Brewing Company check out their web site at www.rhinelanderbrewery.com   

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5= Outstanding

4= Very Good

3= Good

2=Fair

1=Skunk

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