I interrupt a lady at the Hawthorne Hop House who is playing solitaire on her phone, sitting next to a friend, both of whom have Mug Club glasses-they come here often. But I interrupt anyway, and I ask her what she’s drinking and if she likes it. She does. And then I let her go back to her phone, so I can order Hopworks Abominale on nitro.
It strikes me again; I had not considered how things had changed even since I did this theme last: the ability to isolate oneself even from your companion has increased dramatically since I was asking people what beer they had.
And while I don’t want to judge, nor do I think I have any right to just take up anyone’s time who doesn’t want to participate, but…she’s playing solitaire while sitting next to another human whom she is, presumably, out with. That feels weird.
Then again: I don’t know what the circumstances are. Sometimes you want to be out of the house, but you still want some solitude. So let’s get to the beer.
The ale has a nice nose: reminds me of the Warrior hops I brewed today with: resin and forest. It fades pretty quickly, as nitro ales tend to, and I’m left with a reasonably tasty beer that is unreasonably smooth on my palate that has just a bit too much bitterness on the finish with no effervescence to clear it. With not much in the middle to round the beer out, the bitterness takes a bigger role than it should. It isn’t that the beer is bad-far from it-it is that the effect of the nitro on this ale is, I think, more detrimental than beneficial.
The woman finishes her ale and the bartender asks her if she’s done. She nods and her companion says, “She’s hit her ‘limit’,” with a not-unpleasant laugh. The bartender raises his hands in a ‘I give’ kind of motion, “I won’t push it,” he replies, smiling. She steps outside leaving her companion to pay.
So it goes, as the master said.
This week’s second pint goes toward the Pedals for a Purpose team fundraising for Parkenson’s research. Disclaimer: I know one of the people involved in this.
A pint for Dionysus 