Brewed Musings

Brewed Beverage of Choice: A Stange of Rock Bottom Kolsch or a pot of green tea depending on the time of day…

The ocean is a bitch!

Try to control her, corral her, put a leash on her and you will lose her. She is a Bull Mastiff carrying you down the street. She is a bronco not wanting to be ridden. She is nothing but pure energy not wanting to be split. There is no prediction to crest…no prediction to tide. If I were shackled to her, I would try for desperate escape. She is a bitch and I want nothing to do with her. The only answer is meteorology…

Meteorolgy is a bitch!

Brewed Beverage of Choice: A Stange of Evolution Altbier

Sometimes my brain likes to take a vacation.  Writing seems to take a back seat on the ride to where ever we are headed.  And in the back seat with writing is rhythm looking all somber and bored.  But this morning on the way to work, rhythm snuck up to the front seat and provided some inspiration.  Without further ado, the gift rhythm gave me…

Hawk and geese fighting
Outside the brewery, while
Inside the mash rests.

(I sat and watched a hawk fighting with these two Canadian geese this morning.  Instantly I knew I should capture the moment…for some reason in haiku.)

After months with grey
clouds and rain reigning,
through the brewery window,
a welcome surprise:
the morning sunrise.

Distant snow peaked mountains
An afterthought.
The geese and pear blossoms:
a sign of springs arrival.
When will you appear?

Brewed Beverage of Choice:  A Glass of Czechvar (They have it on tap at the Blue Monk!)

The other brewer at the pub broke his finger last week, which means I have been quite busy making sure that our beloved customers have the required daily dose of quality, full flavoured beer at their disposal.  But a few months ago a did have the luxury of taking my dog for a long walk down to the lower SE Portland area to one of my favourite coffee houses in town, Redwing.  There I sat in the sun with the White Wonder and wrote the following musings which I was going to share with you then.  They somehow got lost in the coastal storm of the summer of a brewer.  Here you go!  Enjoy ‘em with friends and a pint.

The transition
Winter to Spring
Today I walked the dog
20 blocks further west
to greet the sun.

With dog in tow
I sit drinking my morning coffee.
No sign of you though.

Sitting at the pub
Unexpected meeting of neighbours
A good pint is added
To our shared interests

Wind keeping it cool
yet outside I still sit
The sun is the main attraction
in this double-billed show.

Warehouses and factories:
My garden in the city.
The buzz of workers
as pleasant as any hummingbird
darting through the flowers

Prost!

the confucian brewer

Brewed Beverage of Choice:  Dharma Bum IPA in an Imperial Pint Glass

Over the past few years I have become used to living a simple life without a car, a digital camera, a laptop (good one…), and any of life’s “luxuries.”  I do not mind because most of the time I really do not desire any of these objects.  I have a great job, good friends, an awesome dog, and an awesome family.  What more do I really need?  But now I sit here on a sunny Wednesday afternoon with a dilemma:  get a new and desperately needed bike or get a new and desperately needed education in brewing.

With the dentist bills mounting, as well as the usual other bills we all have, I have to decide on a newer bike - mine has not been the same since I had an accident - or spend the same money on a deposit for a Concise Brewing Course at Siebel Institute in Chicago.  For the past several weeks I have been working on the application for the Glen Hay Falconer Memorial Scholarship which would pay for the course at Siebel.  By the beginning of the week I had come to realize that along with the application they require a deposit to accompany all the other materials.  The newer bike was looking more like the option to go with.  That is, until this afternoon.

While at work, I discovered a letter in my mailbox.   It was from the HQ, leading to me to respond, “What did I do now.”  But before I opened it, it dawned on me that this was the Letter of Recommendation from the General Manager of the Breweries.  Crap!  So I opened and read what my boss had written.  Shite!  With one fell swoop, his words clouded the decision between bike and education.

As a Confucian, one cannot be too educated.  As a bike commuter, one cannot be too comfortable.  See my dilemma?  If I get the scholarship, I get to go to Chicago for two weeks…PAID!!!  If I do not get it, then they hold the deposit for 4 years until I take the course.  If I get the bike…well…I get to ride to work in comfort.  Either way I cannot lose in my mind.  Unfortunately for me, the deadline for the application is Friday.  And so my next few hours are going to be decisive.

So as I leave you to go decide, I leave you with some words inspired by Ryokan.  The last post was just too deep, so I thought I could turn to the lighter side of life.  So enjoy!  Because for the next few hours I will not be able to.

Prost!

the confucian brewer with a dilemma

Enticed by her beauty.
My friend remarks
on the technical reasons
for the sway of a woman’s hips,
while I stare at the metronome
of her gentle stride.
Even in simplistic admiration,
we are still little pigs!

Brewed Beverage of Choice:  A cup of Green Tea

A sky of clouds remains,
though the rain has ceased
I wish the sun would appear.
The pear blossoms seem more brilliant
on a sunny spring afternoon.
But my thoughts create more clouds.

Prost!

the confucian brewer

Brewed Beverage of Choice: A Cup o’ Joe from Stumptown (34th and Belmont…across the street from happening)

What The Fuck?!?

Gunshot…34th and Belmont
4 p.m. - Sunny Sunday afternoon
Quiet Neighbourhood. Armed robbery
Suspect, escaped!
Store clerk in critical condition.
Our neighbourhood:shaken
What the fuck?

Confused,
the confucian brewer

Brewed Beverage of Choice: Lakefront Bock Beer

A few months ago I received 100 free downloads from eMusic for, I think, downloading Winamp so I can listen to WMSE streaming live on the web. It took me to January of this new year to take them up on their offer. One of the many downloads I got my hands on was an album by Gil Scott Heron. On this album was a version of “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” The following is an inspiration poem with a more modern spin on the Revolution.

The revolution will not be televised.

It will not sound any better
in Dolby Stereo Surround,
and will not look any better
in high definition. You will not
be able to view the revolution
on a 55″ projection screen t.v.
as you lounge comfortably
in your lazy boy because…
The revolution will not be televised

The revolution will not be brought
to you commercial free
thanks to Budweiser. It is not taped
in front of a live studio audience.
It has no laugh track and no sound track.
The revolution will not be pre-empted
by the Super Bowl because…

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution has no season
premiere or no cliff-hanger season
finale. The revolution does not have
a two-part episode nor will the revolution
be thwarted by Jack Bauer in 24
one hour long episodes because…

The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be won
in either a red or blue state.
Tom Brokaw, Ted Koppel, and Dan Rather
will not falsely predict the outcome
of the revolution before the night ends.
The revolution will not have a news scroll
at the bottom of the screen with the latest
news from todays events in the revolution because…

The revolution will not be televised.

Prost!

the confucian brewer

Brewed Beverage of Choice: Lakefront Brewing Bock Beer

Prior to this post, I was going to wax poetically about how lately I have been unable to wax poetically. But as I was transporting myself bi-pedal-ly to Stumptown for a nice warm cup o’ joe, I came up with these two poems continuing my Milwaukee Blues started in late in the year 2000. Enjoy!

the confucian brewer

Milwaukee Blues No. 2

Above your hallowed ground
rise a sea of steeples
ever their watchful eyes
over your calm, working neighbourhoods.

St. Stanislaus
St. Mary of Czestochowa
St. Hedwig
The Bascilica of St. Josaphat
Our Lady of Guadeloupe
St. John’s Cathedral

The haloed saints
keeping your masses safe.

Milwaukee Blues No. 3

Riverwest! O! Riverwest!
How many times have we
sat at the bar at Linnemann’s
crying in our beers, the tears
flowing - a tributary
to our beloved Milwaukee river.

Brewed Beverage of Choice:  A Cup of Anodyne Coffee from my Milwaukee

This will be short but I have to share.  Last night, after a weekend of high annoying stress caused by amongst other things my dog having to be rushed to the hospital because of a careless dog owner (not me) who allows his aggressive Akita to roam around in front of his house unleashed to attack my defenseless white wonder on Christmas morning, I was listening to a Radiohead song I listen to every so often, Where I End and You Begin (The Sky is Falling In).  There are songs out there that can just push my emotions and this is just one of those songs.

The song inspired a poem not long ago when I was taking a class on Native American history and was writing a research paper on the significance of Raven in Tribal religions and society.  For this paper, I had to do research into the Ghost Dance religion that swept through the tribes of the midwest and southwest.  The culmination of the song by Radiohead and the deep research led me to write the following which has a title but I have forgotten it at the moment so live with it.

The Raven spoke!
The Raven spoke!

“The shadows
are our friends.
The shadows
are our neglected friends.”

I was a fool
not to believe him,
kept the nightlight on
whilst I slept.

Fools sleep
without darkness.

The rains came!
The rains came!
Pummeled the ground.
Blew out my light.

My shadow’s
My companion.
Through the storm,
My only companion’s
my shadow.

“Fools sleep
without darkness,”
The Raven spoke.

Prost!

the confucian brewer

Brewed Beverage of Choice:  A Chalice of Maredsous 8 Abbey Style Belgian Brown

Yesterday morning I woke up to a bitter, Eastern-like, winter cold and some snow, but I decided to ride my bike to work anyway.  My brewery is out in the west hills where the elevation is a bit higher and the weather is cooler.  As many of my friends can attest because I whine about it so much, I love the snow.  My favourite statement is, ‘Portland would be so much better if, in the winter, the temperature dropped 10 degrees and it snowed.’  So you can imagine my delight to see the light fluffy stuff as I got off the train.

There was another cyclist with me…one of those hipster cyclists who don’t wear helmets and ride ‘fixies.’  He crossed over the snowy-icy road and upon reaching the other side toppled over.  Instead of picking up his bike and getting back on, thus showing up the weather, he walked the rest of the way to work.  Just witnessing this ‘accident’ made me wary of getting on the bike to get to work, but the weather was too cold so I hopped on and rode cautiously.

So riding down 231st, I was pondering what I saw, what I had just read - I am reading a book on a Japanese Tanka writer who suffered with tuberculosis for seven years but kept on writing despite his illness - and a tanka about my delight of the weather.  As I turned onto Evergreen, I hit an icy patch and went down where I jammed my index finger as I tried to break my fall.  If I would have fallen like a snowboarder like I usually do, I would have slid into traffic.  So obviously I will take a swollen finger over that.  But unlike the other cyclist, I picked myself up, got back on my bike and rode the rest of the way to work.  It is not that I am trying to conquer the weather, to show it up by riding on.  My response is one of respect, one of ‘I am sorry I let my mind wander off when it should be more focused.’

Typing has become somewhat painful with the use of only 9 of my 10 fingers (8 fingers and 2 thumbs for you smartasses out there.)  I will leave you with two tankas written when I got to the brewery.  Enjoy!

Prost!

the confucian brewer

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