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| Down in the cellars of PU in 2005; in 2010 this unfiltered PU came in a plastic cup… |
In his perceptive essay Pivo at the Heart of
Europe (Drinking Cultures), Timothy O’Hall starts off with a quote: ‘A Czech
never says that he’s going out to have “a few beers”, and he never counts the
beers while he’s having them. You go out for a beer. A beer is like a woman:
when you’re with a woman, you never think of women you have been with before,
and you never think of the next woman. It would be disrespectful. It’s the same
with a beer. You go out and you have one beer… and maybe, when the unfortunate
time comes that you reach the end of your relationship with your beer, then
maybe you’ll have another.’
I like this theme of universality, which was similarly expressed, albeit on a human level, by Borges in his poem You.
I like this theme of universality, which was similarly expressed, albeit on a human level, by Borges in his poem You.
Garrett Oliver talks about a good beer always making you want to have another one, which (I think) isn't just about it being session strength, but also, or sometimes alternatively, balance and accessibility.
ReplyDeleteIs Drinking Cultures worth picking up?
Nick
Hi Nick, yes it is worth picking up, there’s some interesting stuff in there, it’s not just beer mind
ReplyDeleteThe other day I heard someone speaking about a third person in a way that could be translated (from Czech) like this "We don't go for a beer together, but I know him well".
ReplyDeleteFor Czechs, "Going for a beer" isn't something you do just with anyone.
PS: Many a time I have gone with someone for "a beer" that turned out to be over a dozen...
Quality bit of Swiss Tony, there.
ReplyDelete