IPA 'Stone Ruination' [potentially stomach ruination as well] goes very nicely with Abbaye de Belloc
Since it's October (Oktoberfest) I thought that a post on beer would be appropriate. So, with a nod to our German friends (in Bavaria and Austria), here we go.
There is no doubt about it Belloc was interested in beer from both a cultural and practical perspective. More specifically he was interested in real ale and if CAMRA were to have a patron saint it should be him. Belloc went so far as to openly defend real beer in the House of Commons. On the very odd occasion when I am drinking real ale in the very reasonably priced House of Commons Strangers' Bar I am reminded of his prescient attitude towards traditional brewing methods.
Anyway let the great man speak for himself. Here are a few references to beer culled from The Path to Rome:
Pages 1 - 10 of 10 in book for beer.
| Page 34 Those great men — Marlowe and Jonson, Shakespeare, and Spenser before him — drank beer at rising, and tamed it with a little bread. ... | |
| Page 75 Or she would put her head in and say — “I can recommend our excellent beer. It is really preferable to this local wine.” And my neighbour, a tourist, ... | |
| Page 98 said I. “Beer,” said she. “Anything else?” said I. “No,” said she. “Why, then, give me some of that excellent beer.” I drank this with delight, ... | |
| Page 121 For my part, I sat silent, crippled with fatigue, trying to forget my wounded feet, drinking stoup after stoup of beer and watching the ... | |
| Page 122 ... which are so many yards and so many yards, . . .“ &c., and so forth . . exactly like a mill. I meanwhile sat on still silent, still drinking beer ... | |
| Page 130 ... we separated; I had no time to preach my full doctrine, but gave him instead a deep and misty glass of cool beer, and pledged him brotherhood, freedom, ... | |
| Page 154 Let him (said I) drink red wine and white, good beer and mead — if he could get it — liqueurs made by monks, and, in a word, all those feeding, ... | |
| Page 187 THE GOOD SAVAGES 187 there ordering beer for myself and for a number of peasants (who but for this would have me their butt, and even as it was found ... | |
| Page 317 ... will return to the simpler life, and there will be dogs, and beer, and catches upon ... [and finally] - She showed me my bed then much more kindly, and when I woke, which was long after dusk, she gave me in the living room of the hut eggs beaten up with ham, and I ate brown bread and said grace. Then (my wine was not yet finished, but it is an abominable thing to drink your own wine in another person's house) I asked whether I could have something to drink. 'What you like,' she said. 'What have you?' said I. 'Beer,' said she. 'Anything else?' said I. 'No,' said she. 'Why, then, give me some of that excellent beer.' I drank this with delight, paid all my bill (which was that of a labourer), and said good-night to them. |
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