Friday, August 2, 2013

"How Beer Saved the World"

So a little while ago I was bored, browsing netflix and came across this documentary called "How Beer Saved the World." 

The documentary was equal parts ridiculous and interesting.  Basically it talks about different aspects of how Man's love of drinking beer has played a direct role in the development of major technologies and traditions. 
Some pretty remarkable and unjustified claims are made in the movie (such as beer is solely resposible for the development of agriculture, civilization, mathematics etc) most of which I would strongly discourage people from believing but I support them as hypotheses and topics worth thinking about.
Some of the other more specific topics seem a lot more viable and evidence-backed such as the fact that the wort-making process actually pasteurizes the water providing people with a fairly clean and nutritious alternative to foul drinking water in the middle ages.  Also in the documentary a chemist is interviewed who (possibly) finds traces of the antibiotic "tetracycline" in the residue in old brewing vessels from thousands of years ago as a natural byproduct of brewing making beer a legitimate medicine at the time.
Like I said, the movie had a lot of ridiculous aspects to it and the narrator jumps to some pretty lofty conclusions making it hard to watch at times but I did feel like I learned something from it and gained a deeper appreciation for beer from watching it so I'll link it to you guys (it's on youtube) here if you want to watch it:




Running Log of All Official HBK Beers

I thought it would be a good thing for members and followers of the HBK if somewhere easily accessible to everyone there was a running log of all the HBK beers listed in chronological order.  I expect it will start out as a pretty simple list of the beer types and names and I can add on details as suggested by any members/readers: let me hear your suggestions!  In other words this particular post will be continually updated as new beers are made and as more particular information on the beers is requested (i.e. ingredients, %Alc etc...)

So here it is folks! I'll addend the list shortly with brew dates and %Alc.

HBK #1.
Name: Jumping Juniper
Type: Pale Ale



HBK #2.
Name: Choc Full of Love
Type: Stout

HBK #3.
Name: Muddy Waters
Type: Brown Ale
HBK #4.
Name: Char-Cole Porter
Type: Porter


HBK #5.
Name: Wanna-Be Winter
Type: Winter Ale



HBK #6.
Name: Mary & Ginger
Type: Amber Aler


HBK #7.
Name: Black Cat
Type: Pale Ale


HBK #8.
Name: ???
Type: Ale


HBK #9.
Name: Cream Corn Ale
Type: Cream Ale


HBK #10.
Name: ClaraBale Amber Ale
Type: Amber Ale




HBK #11.
Name: Adam's Apple
Type: Hard Cider




HBK #12.
Name: Punch in the Face Pumpkin Ale
Type: Ale




HBK #13.
Name: Hardcore Vanilla Porter
Type: Porter




HBK #14.
Name: Fool's Gold

Type: German Wheat


HBK #15.
Name: Rye Don't You Love Me?
Type: Rye CDA




HBK #16. 
Name: There Hefenitely Will Be Blood
Type: Blood Orange Raspberry Hef




HBK #17.
Name: ???
Type: Kolsch



HBK #18

Name: ???
Type: Belgian Strong Blonde