The warehouse that accommodates Bob's Books also houses a craft brewery, and brewing beer is aromatic business. Some mornings we're greeted by the fresh scent of hops, herbal and citrusy. Some mornings it's yeast. Some mornings it's rich, sweet, toasted malt. The lovely fat essence of organic esters. The ingredients of a wholesome, nutritious beer that will really stick to your ribs.
I'm told that not everyone appreciates the whiffy aspects of brewing beer. My mom says my granddad used to brew beer, and my grandma wasn't crazy about the smell. Or the occasional bottle that would explode in the basement. I've always enjoyed the olfactory experience, myself. Good thing, because Scarecrow has been a homebrewer for 20 years, and the process is every bit as aromatic when carried out on a smaller scale. While I could do without the sticky malt residue that covers every surface in the kitchen after a brewing session – Scarecrow is a congenitally messy guy – I've always enjoyed the smell. Well, that, and the beer. The beer is almost always good. (If you've never tried it yourself, it's not hard to make good beer. Scarecrow's first batch was one of his best ever. What's hard is making beer that is consistent from batch to batch. But it's almost always good.)
Another advantage to having a brewery next door is that Scarecrow could get yeast from them. He'll miss that.
Update from previous post: Sparky is planning to spring my pop from the joint this afternoon. Apparently he's looking and feeling better, although he's very weak, easily tired and a little confused. They never found out where he was leaking this time, but seem to think they got it plugged up for now.
I tell you, gettin' old is not for wimps.
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Sorry about your Dad's problems, but glad that they didn't take long to spring him loose.
ReplyDeleteBeer isn't my thing. I used to have friends who LOVED the stuff, and we used to go pub hopping in Seattle back in the day. They would keep trying me on lighter and lighter brews, but it all was wasted on me. I'm a wino, I guess. Or was. Now I'd just be a cheap date.
olfactory experience's - jog the memory - evoke emotions - Ok so I need to go sniff something peaceful.
ReplyDeletePops is sprung from the joint - sounds so Dept. of Corrections LOL watch now you will get lots of visits from convicts LOL LOL
Glad to hear your dad is doing better.
ReplyDeleteSmell is so powerful for bringing back memories for me. Bob's sounds like quite the unique place.
Homebrewing...I've always heard the consistency was the challenge. That takes me back to many years ago in New Zealand. After setting a record for days without a shower (eleven) after backpacking in the mountains, we hitched out and met a fellow at the hostel. He drove us hours down the NW coast of the south island and let us stay at his place for three days while he went to his girlfriend's. He pointed out the washing machine to clean our dirty grimy stuff and said, "Please help yourself to my homebrew."
Heaven.