beernesday

"Speaking of invention, did you know that the tin can was invented in 1811, but can openers weren't invented until 1855?  It's a fact.  During the forty-four years in between, hungry citizens had to access their pork 'n' beans with a hammer and chisel.  They were pretty lucky, don't you think, that in those days beer didn't come in cans?" Tom Robbins B is for Beer

"For whatever reason, the ancient Egyptians weren't satisfied with mere survival.  They wanted to be remembered forever, which is why they built the pyramids, and they wanted to ensure that they'd be sufficiently glad and dizzy during their lifetime, which is why they invented beer." Tom Robbins B is for Beer

a children's book for grown-ups - definitely a grown-up book for children - not so much gracie perkel is a fabulous character and tom robbins' prose is as witty as ever.  it was a very quick, very enjoyable read.  but i wouldn't suggest reading it to your child, no matter how precocious! probably the most fun way to read up on the how-to of beer.  a must have for every beer library. "A hop is some funky vegetable that even vegans won't eat.  Farmers dry the flowers of this plant and call them 'hops'.  I should mention that only the female hop plants are used in making beer, which may be why men are so attracted to it.  It's a mating instinct... when brewers combine hops with yeast and grain and water, and allow the mixture to ferment - to rot - it magically produces an elixir so gassy with blue-collar cheer, so regal with glints of gold, so titillating with potential mischief, so triumphantly refreshing, that it seizes the soul and thrusts it tow...