These are the words, images, and beers that inspired the GBH Collective this week. Drinking alone just got better, because now you’re drinking with all of us.
READ.// “Making oneself vulnerable is an act of trust and respect, as is receiving and honoring the vulnerability of another.” Respect: An Exploration, by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, contains stories from a teacher, a pediatrician, a photographer, a professor, a birth center professional, and a hospice pastoral therapist. The book aids in demonstrating various forms of respect, from attention to dialogue, and how they can be applied in our personal and professional lives. Each section or case study observes these practitioners’ own relationships to respect and empathy.
LOOK.// Artist Stephen Magsig’s recent “Citylights” series is like a Rorschach test: Look at each canvas and recall your own past nights out on the town. These oil paintings evoke the bokeh effect in nighttime photography, and are expressionistic enough to provoke a longing for former or future outings. For every dozen or so paintings in his Instagram grid, Magsig also shares cute photos of his cat.
DRINK.// Bissell Brothers Brewing’s Lux Pale Rye Ale
This is probably my favorite Bissell Brothers offering. I love its rye spiciness and Mosaic hop profile. It was previously branded as a Pale Rye Ale, but is now called a Mosaic Pale Ale, perhaps to appeal to a greater audience. I liked it back when it was overshadowed by Bissell’s core lineup, but I still enjoy it now. Something about a single hop variety complemented with a 20% rye grist impresses me so much that each time I have my first sip of this beer, I do that comical gesture of holding the drink out to look at it from afar—both inspecting and admiring its glory.
READ.// “‘Set along the vibrant coast, the route offers a sensory experience of the role of rum and sugarcane in Guyana’s economy and its indelible mark on the landscape and people,’ said Brian Mullis, Director of the Guyana Tourism Authority. ‘Rum flows throughout the Caribbean, connects us culturally, and is known to heighten the Caribbean experience.’” I was introduced to El Dorado Rum in Stamford, Connecticut during the National Day of Mourning in 2014. My Guyanese girlfriend (now my wife) invited me to celebrate with her family. Her uncles thought it would be a great idea to plow me with glass after glass of this rum as an initiation. Since then, I’ve been a huge fan of El Dorado, and of Guyanese culture. Recently, on a Fervent Few Zoom call on the topic of fermentation, a conversation was had about rum—I was practically frothing at the mouth to pour on my knowledge of El Dorado.
LOOK.// Staying on the Guyanese theme, I ask my wife constantly, “Yo, when are we going?” I have to admit, I didn’t know much about the country prior to meeting her. Since then, I’ve obsessively logged information about it. COVID has really monkey-wrenched travel plans now and probably for the next year or so. But I can’t wait to finally visit Guayana—both for personal reasons but more so for our son.
DRINK.// Banks Beer
Aside from the El Dorado, my wife’s father made sure my right hand was always occupied with this International Lager. Though I’m not a huge fan of the style, Banks really complements Guyanese food.
READ.// “Foam is unique to beer. Lots of drinks have bubbles, of course, but in no other drinks do those bubbles naturally form into foam.” We often talk about the liquid in the our glass, but it’s rare to find an article that focuses on the bubbles above it—despite the fact that foam is a vital part of the aroma and texture in beer. One of my favorite beer writers, Mark Dredge, explains the technicalities of a beer’s head, as well as its importance, in this great short piece for Ferment.
LOOK.// I’ve become obsessed with the day-to-day life of one man who took the enforced isolation of COVID-19 as a chance to buy a ghost town and abandoned silver mine in California and slowly—so slowly—turn it into a destination for vacationers. It’s great slow TV with the odd jump scare.
DRINK.// Oliver’s Cider’s Pet Nat Perry
I’ve finally done the cliche beer geek thing of getting into natural cider, and have fallen in love with this pet nat perry from Oliver’s Cider. It’s juicy, honeyed, and floral, but with a decent kick of tannin to clean it up. It’s the first natural fruit ferment I’ve ever had that could legitimately be described as “crushable.”
Curated by The GBH Collective
