Happy Cinco de Mayo! Will you dare to go out on what has become a drinking holiday? I plan to, but it will be an early night for my friends and me.
For years, my kids thought that Cinco de Mayo was all about the Titanic which, as the story goes, was transporting cases of Hellman’s mayonnaise. As I told my kids, Sinko de Mayo was in remembrance of the sinking of the Titanic and the cargo of mayo.
The real Cinco de Mayo celebrates the defeat of the French invaders at the battle of Puebla. The greatly outnumbered and outgunned 4,000 Mexican troops defeated the French army of 8,000 men on May 5, 1862. Although the schools in Mexico are closed on Cinco de Mayo, it is not a Mexican national holiday. In the US, commercial interests have embraced this celebration by enthusiastically offering Mexican-themed alcoholic beverages, food, and music.
Beer Reads
So it’s Saturday and I’ve found a few “beer reads” for this beautiful weekend. When you have a quiet moment, grab a beer (perhaps a Mexican craft beer) and catch up on the beer world.
Looking for alternatives to Corona for Cinco de Mayo? Chowhound has a few Mexican craft beer suggestions. BTW, did you know Mikkeller hosts the largest Mexican craft beer festival in the US? Also, I’ve chilled down a Xocovesa just for today.
Maxim has picked out their favorite beer labels.
I like IPAs but I’m definitely not a “hophead”. Although I love the California brewery, Bear Republic’s Racer 5, I’m not often a fan of the California-style IPA – too much piny bitterness for me. On the other hand, I’m a big fan of the NE IPA. I am looking forward to the opening of the Columbia, MD brewery, Sapwood Cellars. The Mad Fermentationist (part-owner of Sapwood) offers his recipe of Denali Hazy Daze, an NE IPA.
Speaking of new breweries, Food and Wine suggests that growth in breweries now is mostly in new breweries. As their article suggests, the growth of mid-sized breweries has slowed to nearly a halt. The message, you can start a brewery but the odds are your brewery will not be the next Dog Fish Head.
The warm weather of the past week has seen an explosion of dandelions in the area. I’ve spent the week pulling the colorful weeds from my yard. Although many people recommend eating the greens, my wife and my experiment with dandelion greens was a culinary disappointment. Like the California IPA, I found them too bitter for my taste. Surprisingly, at this Wednesday’s Stone Pint Night at Frisco Tap House, I enjoyed two California IPAs very much, Stone Scorpion Bowl IPA and Stone Tangerine Express IPA. It just goes to show, everyone’s tastes are different.
Beer consumption per adult by state shows Maryland to be 48th in the US. Interesting…
Cheers!
Warren